Can Ubuntu be used as a decent server? Say a web server, a file server, or a mail server? Also, does Ubuntu play nice with virtualbox? Or should I use another brand of Linux to accomplish these things?
Yes, Ubuntu is great. We use it for at least 5 difference production web servers, and works just fine for web, file, and mail servers.
It is not possible nor accurate to say one Linux distribution is better or worse than another, especially based on the very tiny bit of information you provided.
All Linux versions use the Linux kernel, and kernels can easily be built, rebuilt or modified. The rest is just organization, configuration management, etc.
Don't be fooled by opinions based on favorites and personal choices.
In addition, there are more factors to consider when choosing a distribution, including supportability, maintainability and how the distribution fits into your organization, if you have one.
Finally, it is against forum rules to provide opinions of one OS or distribution over another, especially based on such small requirements and knowledge of the problem, skills of the user, the organization, the budget, the purpose, etc.
Ubuntu is a fine distribution and will work as well as any other for this simple application you vaguely describe.
---------- Post updated at 08:10 ---------- Previous update was at 06:11 ----------
OBTW, you might find our poll on Linux distributions useful:
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Ubuntu does have a server release:
http : //www.ubuntu.com/server
Ive used this as our company cloning server. It holds all the images, so its basically a file server/DHCP server.
That function creates to have more opportunities in activities like web, file and mail server.