Help Me Choose: Linux vs. Windows Web Hosting
To help you choose the best operating system (OS) for your Web
site to reside on, we have developed the following guide:
First let's start with a definition of an operating system,
which is the software platform on which a web server runs.
Red Hat Linux:
Linux is an excellent operating system that is well suited to
meet your web hosting needs. It handles the functions of
mailing, and serving up Web sites and files especially well.
Additionally, there are a huge amount of free applications
available on the Internet for Linux and it uses less hardware
resources than Windows 2003. Whether you are a fairly
experienced webmaster or new to web hosting, we recommend that
you choose Red Hat Linux as your hosting platform.
Red Hat Linux is most widely used hosting platform in the world.
Microsoft Windows 2003:
Microsoft Windows 20003 server provides a suitable platform for
serving up Web sites, files, and streaming media. Additionally,
it integrates well with other Microsoft applications and there
are a large amount of commercial applications available for this
OS. We recommend you choose Windows 2003 as your hosting
platform only if you are using specific applications that
require Microsoft Windows to run such as Access, Cold Fusion,
ASP, .Net, and Microsoft SQL.
Note: Microsoft FrontPage may be used on both the Linux and
Windows platforms.
Please Note:
One of the biggest misconceptions is that you have to select the
same operating system for your hosting account that you use on
your own computer. That is simply not true. This means you can
select Linux for your hosting account if you currently use
Windows 95, 98, NT/200, or XP on your own computer. We suggest
that everyone who chooses a shared hosting plan, host their Web
site on Linux if they are not utilizing ASP, Cold Fusion, or
MSSQL 2000.