On 1: Autoseeding ISOs over bittorrent is pretty easy, helps strengthening the commumity distribution, and makes sure you already have the latest stable locally when you need it.

While a bit more resource intensive, running a full distribution package mirror is very nice if you can justify it. No more waiting for registry sync and package downloads on installs and upgrades. apt-mirror if you are curious. While not as resilient there is also apt-cacher-ng to at least get a seamless shared package cache on the local network.