What
Type of Server Should You Use for Your
Web Pages?
The
type of server you need for your site
depends on what type of site you have.
If you have a basic website with no
database or "dynamic" components,
then the server type usually does
not matter. If you have a more complex
website, or an ecommerce website that
has database functions and serves
up dynamic pages, then the server
type will depend on what technologies
your website will be using, such as
ASP, .NET, PHP, Perl, and what type
of database it will use.
HostW3 offers two types of server
systems to choose from.
Linux
|
Linux is
one of the more popular operating
systems on the Internet, mostly
because of the lower cost to setup
and maintain. This enables us
to offer a lower cost on comparable
linux hosting plans. |
| Windows |
Windows
is another popular operating system
because it supports most of Microsoft's
software products such as Microsoft
FrontPage and Microsoft Office.
Windows based web sites are typically
the choice for new webmasters
as there is sometimes less "hands
on" programming required
to get everything working. |
Differences
between Linux and Windows hosting.
»
Your
computer
One of the biggest misconceptions
is that you have to run Linux on your
local computer in order for you to
host your website on a Linux platform.
Which operating system you run on
your computer is irrelevant to what
you need for your website. This means,
if you are running Windows 98, Windows
XP, Windows® 2000 or using an
Apple Macintosh, you can still choose
Linux or Windows as your hosting platform.
»
Price
Linux holds
an edge due to the fact that most
of the software we use is open source
and that it's less cost to maintain
Linux servers than Windows servers
for the same level of service.
»
Security
Many people argue that Linux servers
has less vulnerabilities than Windows
servers. But the reality is, out of
the box, neither Linux or Windows
is very secure for Internet use. HostW3
makes numerous modifications, removes
unnecessary components and updates
software to ensure that both platforms
are secure. We also continue to maintain
our servers with the latest security
and performance patches.
»
Reliability
The general consensus is that Linux
is more reliable. Our experience agrees
with this as we have had servers up
for over a year without any downtime.
On the other hand, Windows 2003 server
is much more stable and reliable than
previous versions, but there are still
cases where a server will require
a reboot to resolve an issue. You
really can't go wrong with either
choice here.
»
Server
access
The main difference here is how you
can access the server. Both our Windows
and Linux plans offer FTP access to
your files, but only Linux offers
ssh access. SSH is a way to open a
window directly on the web server
and directly manage files using Unix
commands. FTP is a way of transferring
your files from your hard drive to
your Web server. Also, both Windows
and Linux plans offer FrontPage extensions
to manage you website with Microsoft
FrontPage
»
Databases
This is where these two platforms
differ the most. There isn't much
that can be achieved using one platform
that can't be done on the other one.
The main difference are the underlying
technologies. For example, you can
choose either PHP/MySQL combination
under Linux hosting plans or ASP/Microsoft
SQL combination under Windows hosting
plans.
Linux
Advantage
|
·
Cheaper
hosting fees
·
Servers
are generally more reliable
·
Lots of free programs and scripts
available
·
Greater access and control of
files and permissions
·
Control panel
·
General
features of FrontPage can be used
(except ASP and database generated
pages) |
Windows
Advantage |
·
Easier to get web site started
·
Well supported
·
Intergrates better with other
Microsoft applications
· All features of
FrontPage can be used (including
ASP and database generated pages)
|
»
The Bottom
Line
The differences between the operating
systems is much less than you might
think. We would recommend choosing the
plan that has the options you want,
rather than worrying about what operating
system they are running on.
|
