| |
|
|
| Webmaster Resources: Web Hosting Information | |
|
|
|
Linux vs. Windows Web Hosting, Does It Make A Difference?
One of the most confusing decisions someone new to web hosting will have to make is which platform their server should be on. There are a number of different choices out there but the main two are Linux and Windows web servers. There are also a lot of sources of information about hosting, but the majority of them are tainted by the author's biased personal opinion unfortunately confusing the issue. Having just put in some solid hours researching the topic I have come to the conclusion that in general it quite probably does not matter which server you use. For the majority of people it will be far more important to choose a really good web host than to worry about the server-type that they implement. Microsoft developed and owns the Windows operating system. Linux is open source and generally free. This means it can often be more expensive to set up and run a Windows server. However, this fact doesn't really affect you unless you are actually setting up a server for yourself and if you're reading this article then I'm guessing that it's safe to assume you're not. This article is going to offer information for those trying to decide which hosting company to go with. The cost involved in running a server does not affect the cost of a web-hosting package as much as you may think. Despite the general opinion that Windows servers are more expensive to run, buying a Windows hosting package can often turn out to be just as cheap or even cheaper than an equivalent Linux hosting package. Some people naturally assume that because their PC runs Windows they need to buy a Windows hosting package. This isn't true. Access to your web account will most likely be through FTP or a control panel and both servers support these methods. The main difference is that some of the FTP commands are slightly different between Linux and Windows and some FTP programs will be designed with one or the other in mind. This means you may occasionally find that when you try and get your FTP program to do something it returns an error message, but it won't happen very often. Your choice of server platforms should be dictated by the use to which you intend to put it. The majority of web features run fine on both platforms including PHP, mySQL, POP3 etc. If you intend to create your site using ASP, FrontPage, the .NET environment, Windows Streaming Media, Access, MSSQL, or any of the other Microsoft proprietary technologies then you probably need to use a Windows host. There is limited support for a number of these technologies in Linux, but they can be expensive and are usually lacking in features. It is probably worth considering the fact that if you use server specific technologies and then change hosts you'll have a much harder time of it than if you use technologies that can be run on any system. Having it run generic technologies removes the need to focus on specifics and allows you to focus on the quality of service itself. The reliability and stability of the different platforms have been the topic of many long arguments. The main reason that Windows is seen as being insecure is that it is the most widely used operating system for home PC's. People spend more time looking for flaws in the most common system. With Linux being the most common server type, it has a surprising number of successful hack attempts made on it. In the end the security of both platforms comes down to the competency of the system administrators. If you are security minded then you'll do better to make sure that the hosting company is reputable and highly skilled than to worry about the server they use. In terms of performance there's not a huge difference between the two servers. Linux reportedly performs faster because Windows (as usual) attempts to offer an 'all in one' package instead of the extendable Linux implementation. You'll generally not notice a difference but if performance is of utmost importance to you then maybe this will influence your decision. I've come to the conclusion that unless you are specifically using features that are unique to one platform or another your time will be much better spent looking for a really good quality host than a really good quality server. Developers are constantly improving both Linux and Windows so they should be fairly close in terms of features, security, and reliability for a long time. It's the people implementing them that you should be basing your decision on. Daniel Punch
Add to these social bookmarking sites: 
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Are Free Webhosting Accounts Really Free? - 5 Critical Things to Consider Before Choosing a Free Web Many free web hosting accounts are free to use, however they will cost you a lot of money, time, and customers as well if you have a site that is meant for business purposes and is more than the simplest site imaginable. Consider the following items as to why free web hosting might cost you more than you had bargained for when you signed up. In Search of Webhosting: First Understand the Industry In search of a webhosting company for personal or small business purposes? We advise you to take a look at this article to understand the hosting industry and study its dynamics to know what to look for before you make your choice.First, a brief introduction to the webhosting chain: the end consumer is served by about 3 upstream providers: the webhosting provider that they have direct contact with, the webhost's upstream company who maintains the servers and sells space to webhosts, and above that, the datacenter that provides the connection and houses the servers. Dedicated / Virtual Dedicated Servers and Its Benefits! What is a Dedicated / Virtual Dedicated server and why is it different than normal web hosting. Web hosting offers you limited control of how the server your web site is hosted on behaves. Dedicated Server Price Check The price of dedicated hosting services has really come down in the past couple of years. In fact, prices have dropped so much for the "budget dedicated server" market. Finding a Home for Your Internet Enterprise - A Point by Point List After much Net surfing and looking at all the offers you've decided to take the plunge! You've investigated a good name for your idea. You've decided it's time to start searching for a home for your Internet vision. How to Find Good Web Hosting for Your Site! When building your first site the main things that you will probably think about is what types of content you will be adding to your site, how you are going to get visitors to your site and how you are going to generate good revenue from your site.Well, all of the things mentioned above are crucial things to consider, but then again, what's the point in thinking about them if you can't even get a good Web host to host your site with. Web Hosting: Which Is The Host With The Most? So you want to publish a web site do you? Welcome to the club. These days it seems that almost everyone has a web site of some kind, and thousands more continue to be launched every day. Web Hosting in 2005 --- Finding the Niche and Cashing in! Web Hosting in 2005 --- Finding the Niche and Cashing in!Over this past year, web hosting has grown to be the biggest it has ever been. With more companies appearing every day, the demand for web hosting has never been higher. Cheap Web Hosting Package? eCommerce Web Hosting? - Choosing A Web Hosting Provider One of the important decisions you'll make when you decide to put your business on the web is which web hosting provider to use. The web hosting company that hosts your personal page may not offer the best plan for your business needs. Back To School Web Hosting Every year as school starts web hosts see an up tick in orders as entrepreneurs and stay at home parents have more free time and the vacation summer season winds down to the shorter days of winter. Many hosting companies plan special fall campaigns designed for these small business startups. Dedicated Web Hosting Explained Why is dedicated hosting such a big hit on the business web hosting market? If you look at the costs it involves, usually ranging from $150 - $1000 per month, another question comes into your mind: Does it even worth it?Why is dedicated hosting such a big hit on the business web hosting market? If you look at the costs it involves, usually ranging from $150 - $1000 per month, another question comes into your mind: Does it even worth it?When you have one single web server is rented to a single customer by the web hosting provider, you have dedicated web hosting. There are two similar solutions quite common too in the web hosting industry: virtual dedicated servers and co-location web hosting. How to Choose the Web Hosting Provider? 1. Does the company offer telephone support or 24/7 email support?24/7 Email support is always nice to have available, they can reply you within 1-2 hours. Free Web Hosting There is no concept of free lunch in the world, this is exactly true when we talk about free Web hosting for the webmasters. Before going ahead we must talk about what hosting exactly is; Hosting is the process of storing files onto a web server so that it can be accessible to viewers through a web browser. Windows vs Linux : Hosting The Basics of Linux & Windows :Linux (and its close relation Unix) and Windows 2000 (and its close cousin Windows NT) are types of software (known as operating systems) that web servers use to do the kind of things that web servers do. You do not need to know any real detail of either to make a decision as to which you need but here a few guidelines. Web Hosting Data Transfer: How Much Is Too Much? Bandwidth in its simplest terms refers to the amount of data that flows across a network wire in a given time period. For most web hosting providers, that time period is measured in a month. Fun with DNS: Three Useful Commands The DNS is a distributed, hierarchical database where authority flows from the top (or root) of the hierarchy downward.When thinking of the structure of the DNS, imagine an inverted tree. Dedicated Server vs. Co-location Web Hosting So - you know shared hosting no longer cuts it, and your single office connection is not enough to host a web server - so which is best, leasing a dedicated server or buying your own server and co-locating it someone's data center? Difference For those that are unsure of the difference, here it is in a nutshell. When you co-locate, you are simply renting space within someone else's facility to store your own server or servers. Web Hosting Services Absolutely Necessary for Your Websites Success Web hosting services play a vital part in your website's success. Without a web host you will not have any way to support your site on the Internet, so you must make sure that you choose a quality hosting account that provides a wide variety of features and services. Beware of the Hidden Perils of Low Cost Hosting Some folks classify low cost web hosting on the same level as free web hosting and while this may seem a little harsh, there are certain factors one needs to be very careful about when going for low cost web hosts.One of these is downtime. Web Hosting Woes for Beginners Every individual when it starts surfing the net for choosing its hosting partner get confused by variety of offers. Most of the beginners usually fall into trap of free hosting, cheaper hosting and other stuff that lead them to land in no man's land later on.
|
| Home | Site Map |
|
| © 2006 | |