Most importantly - the alpha releases are for developers to test functionality, and feedback into the next build. They definitely are not for newbie users as they will cause you headaches, and there is no support for them (ie you have to be able to install them on your own, without support). They are definitely not for production systems.
The first releases that you can reasonably expect to be able to use in production rather than debugging, and expect to get support on, will be the betas when they come out. Although you may want to wait until an RC or final release.
Secondly, traditionally, the AMD64 version has been less stable than the i386 version. Given that you aren't going to get a performance boost from 64bit (its just not that kind of workload), I would suggest you download 0710-i386 and try that.
Tips: use the DVD not CD versions - it is faster and simpler to install. The CDs are for specific purposes; download using the torrents not the mirror sites as there is less chance of a corruption; use the md5sum tool to verify your download; burn to DVD on the slowest possible speed your drive supports - this one is very important to prevent corrupted burns (which are extremely common on all drives with higher burn rates)
Finally - you have got 2 NICs in this machine haven't you? Check here -
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Network_Setup