centOS configuration suggestions

Okay, I'm new to VMware (just bought Workstation last week with the academic discount
) and I'm also new to Linux. Just for grins, I want to configure centOS to be my home server and have my other VMs (openSUSE 11 and XP) authenticate. Nothing fancy really, I just want to gain some experience configuring servers and managing users. I found this article to be a promising start: The Perfect Server - CentOS 5.3 x86_64 [ISPConfig 2] | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials
Does anybody have any suggestions (i.e. choosing NIS or LDAP, enabling Kerberos, etc.)? How are your VM servers configured and why?

Does anybody have any suggestions (i.e. choosing NIS or LDAP, enabling Kerberos, etc.)? How are your VM servers configured and why?
Usus magister est optimus
Comments
I should probably get my hands on Windows Server 200x and start my virtual server adventures from there. Linux is an entirely different beast. I should focus on setting up a Windows server (a familiar environment) before setting up a Linux server (a new environment).
Depends what he is after.
It's not a production network dude, dive in! It's the best way to learn