> We don't even have a password for our root user. We'll want to select something random and complex.

So you're taking something secure by default -- no password means no login allowed, and making it less secure. And if you have hundreds of these servers, you'll need to rotate them whenever someone on the team leaves. This is painful.

Simple solution: leave root password blank, don't forget your sudo password. If you can't get in, use grub or a liveCD. Or tie auth to ldap or kerberos so you _can't_ forget. This is one area where Windows has a distinct advantage: AD more or less requires admins to think at the level of network of servers, and provides a baseline set of services always present.