Minimalist Distro for managing VMs to create a virtual learning/self-teaching environ

[amadolabonte]

Mostly self-taught so no certifications or schooling. I've been out of anything even vaguely related to IT for over 15 years. Looking to get caught up and maybe get back in the game. I've recently purchased a powerful laptop (specs below in case it matters in regards to distro support), and am thinking for both security and flexibility that I'd install a minimal OS on the "bare metal" to run VMs on top of. The VMs would allow me to use Windows, multiple Linux distros, & maybe a BSD variant simultaneously, simulate a network lab type of setup, or a client-server/cloud setup. I'd want the distro to provide a server to share a common data partition among the VMs.

I've virtually no knowledge or experience with VMs, containers, or any other possibly related things. Any pointers to resources to learn this stuff that don't talk down to you like a complete newb, but also don't assume too much knowledge would be much appreciated - my knowledge is dated & full of gaps, but I know & understand the basics.

TIA to any and all who take the time to try to help me!

Hardware specs:
Virtual Learning Environment(s)

HP ENVY x360 Convertible 15-ds1083cl

AMD Ryzen 7 4700U

32GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM

2TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD

AMD Radeon Graphics

15.6" diagonal FHD (1920 x 1080) multitouch-enabled IPS

Intel