Linux hosting traces its birth from 'Linux',
an open-source computer operating system based upon
the concept of free software available to anyone to
freely use, improve, modify and even redistribute.
Windows hosting, on the other hand, relates to Windows
operating system wherein the software is proprietary
item of Microsoft. Since being an open-source operating
system, Linux hosting tends to be cheaper than Windows
hosting. Besides, Linux hosting is considered as one
of the main pillars of the LAMP server-software combination
- Linux, Apache, MySQL and Php/Perl/Python. Popularity
of Linux hosting among web developers can be judged
from the fact that a great many open-source software
have been created and are being continuously created
for free use among discerning web enthusiasts. Whether
one chooses Linux hosting or Windows hosting will
to a great extent depend on what the webmaster proposes
to do with his website. Here is a quick rundown of
both Linux hosting and Windows hosting.
Linux Hosting
Linux hosting is a good choice if you consider that you have perpetual options of using open-source software for your hosting needs. Linux hosting would mean that the operating system is fully compatible with PHP, which is steadily becoming the most popular programming language.
It is important to remember that Linux is a breeding ground of practicing programmers all over the globe and innumerable applications are being authored, re-written and tested all the time. What this means in simple terms is Linux hosting will always keep the door open to let in fresh air of new discoveries. For an avid user, nothing beats Linux hosting in this aspect.
The other advantage with Linux hosting is that it
is cheap. Why? Since most application software are
free to install and use, the hosting cost is reduced
to only maintenance of servers. Since proprietary
software are not installed, many overhead expenses
are avoided in case of Linux hosting. This enables
hosting providers to pass on the cost-advantage to
its customers of Linux hosting. Here are some examples
of popular open-source application software, mostly
in PHP, that can be easily used in Linux hosting.
Ecommerce Shopping Cart : OS Commerce,
Zen-Cart
Content Management System : Drupal,
PHP-Nuke, Mambo
Blog : Wordpress, Nucleus CMS
Photo Gallery : 4Images, Coppermine
Windows Hosting
Windows hosting makes use of Microsoft's proprietary
Windows software for the host server. In contrast
with Linux hosting, Windows hosting allows integration
primarily with Microsoft's own products and services.
For example, if you plan dynamic web content, you
have to use ASP (Active Server Pages) or the advanced
ASP.NET as your programming language, both created
by Microsoft to be linked to SQL databases. Interestingly,
if you choose MySQL as your database, you may opt
for either Linux hosting or Windows hosting, but in
case your choice for database is MS Access, your option
is only Windows hosting.
Windows hosting has limited support for CGI / Perl,
so if your favorite scripts are in Perl, it has to
be Linux hosting for you. On the other hand, good
news for FrontPage users is that though it is essentially
a proprietary Microsoft-owned software application,
many Linux hosting do support FrontPage extensions.
There is an argument that the user interface for Windows
hosting is much simpler between the two. However,
of late Linux hosting too has improved on this score.
Coming to cost analysis, Windows hosting is costly
not only because of proprietary software, but also
due to the fact that Windows servers as such are costly,
compared to servers used for Linux hosting.
Summing Up
Glossing over, what emerges is that it is the purpose of your website and its future plan that are the determining factors between choosing Linux hosting and Windows hosting. To be sure, all serious hosting providers will, in varying combination, offer a choice of both Windows hosting and Linux hosting.
Article by Josh-admin@hostingfrenzy.com Josh is the webmasterof
www.hostingfrenzy.comVisit his site for a comprehensive
web hosting directory, articles, tools, and much more.
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