Windows Or Linux Web Hosting?

Your website is now ready to be published and you’re searching for a web hosting plan. Going through several providers, you’re finally more confused over the available platforms and features. At this point you’ve probably noticed that providers offer Linux hosting while other have Windows servers. So what’s the difference and which one should you choose?

Most people are familiar with Microsoft Windows for having used it at home or office. Microsoft Windows Server is therefore easier to manage for less experienced users since it uses a graphical user interface. You can simply click and point your way through applications and folders.

On the other hand, there are also Unix and Linux servers which are both very similar, the difference being that Unix can’t run on x86-based computers. Linux can run on high-powered servers and x86 processors.

Linux is an open-source operating system which means you can have access to its source code. It is available in many flavors (called distributions) such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, CentOS, SuSE Linux, Debian, Ubuntu, etc. While there are all good operating systems, you will mostly see Red Hat or CentOS web servers. CentOS is free and based on its commercial equivalent, Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Managing a Linux-based server can be somewhat more complex than running a Windows server since most of it is done through a command line. Fortunately, most virtual and dedicated Linux servers are bundled with a web-based control panel such as cPanel, DirectAdmin or vDeck.

Both Linux and Windows platforms can handle high traffic websites with ease. The difference resides in pricing and software compatibility. Because you need to buy a license to run a Windows server, hosting plans are usually more expensive than Linux-based packages. Also, as most Windows-based plans are bundled with Microsoft SQL Server database, this increases the price even more as it requires an additional license.

As for Linux servers, they come with either MySQL or PostgreSQL database servers (or both) which are free.

As far as programming languages goes, both platforms can handle popular scripting like PHP, Perl or Java. While it is possible to run ASP on Linux, it can be buggy and therefore you’d be better with a Windows-based server if you need to have active server pages.

If you’re still unsure about which platform is the best for you, I recommend you check with your website developer: he (or she) will be able to tell you the web hosting requirements for your website.

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