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I'm fairly new to the Linux world, however I have a requirement to install Debian on a server. This server is a Dell Poweredge, and is currently running Windows Server 2003 - I intend to completely wipe the server, and install Debian, however I'm lost as to what I need to download from:

http://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/

Also, do I then burn the ISO to dvd, and boot from it, as per installing windows? Will it give me the option to format drive etc...?

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Does it have to be Debian? Because I hear that Ubuntu is somewhat more user-friendly, which might be good for you as a relatively new Linux user. – David Zaslavsky Sep 25 '09 at 19:01
@David, the installer for Ubuntu server is nearly identical to the installer for Debian. It really wouldn't make much a difference either way. The bigger difference between the two is in the release cycle and availability commercial support. – Zoredache Sep 25 '09 at 19:14
Exact server model please. – XTZ Sep 25 '09 at 19:14
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up vote 3 down vote accepted

Assuming you have network access all you will need is the netinst image, everything else will be retrieved from the Internet.

Yes, all you should have to do, is burn the iso to a disk, pop the disk into the drive and run the installer. You will asked to partition, and you can choose the automatic option.

Past that, there is lots of useful information in the Installation Guide.

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Actually, the ia64 is for Itanium processors, not x86-64/x64/AMD64/Intel64/EM64T (that is, Intel Core-type) processors. – wfaulk Sep 25 '09 at 18:40
@Zoredache: guh. screwed up removing my vote. I guess you get a +1 now. You're welcome. ;) – wfaulk Sep 25 '09 at 19:08
Please change "5.0.3" to "current" in the URLs, since the exact version number have changed and will change again, but "current" always works. – Teddy May 6 '10 at 7:30
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up vote 3 down vote

You probably want the stable version.

You want the smaller, 650MB-ish download as long as you have internet access for the computer you're installing on.

For an x86-type machine, download either the i386 version, for 32-bit CPUs, or the amd64 version, for 64-bit CPUs. (Yes, even Intel ones. AMD defined the architecture.) Also, you can run the 32-bit version on 64-bit CPUs if you want.

And, yes, you just burn the image to a disc and boot from it.

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