Windows Hosting versus Linux Hosting – Which is right for you

[jayadev]

There are literally hundreds of thousands of web hosting companies out there. Many of these companies offer both Windows hosting and Linux hosting plans. Windows plans usually cost more because of the license costs imposed by Microsoft. Knowing this, how can you know when you need Windows hosting and when Linux hosting will work just as well or better? Keep reading to find out.
Windows operating systems are found on something like 95% of all personal computers in the world. With such a total dominance, Microsoft Windows is top of mind to most new people looking for web hosting.
In the web server world though, Windows based servers are behind less than 20% of all websites on the internet. This is according to the latest web server survey from securityspace.com. By choosing a Linux hosting plan, you will find yourself in good company.
When do you have to use Windows Hosting?
1. .NET technologies including ASP.net are not available on Linux platforms. If you have a website built with Microsoft .NET technologies you will have to choose a Windows hosting plan. In fact, if you need ASP without .NET features, most Linux hosting plans do not offer support for it.
2. Access Databases are only available with a Windows hosting plan. Access runs on a Microsoft Windows platform and cannot run on a Linux Operating system.
3. MSSQL is an enterprise class database put out by Microsoft. If you need an enterprise class database there are some alternatives that run on a Linux platform but if you need Microsoft's MSSQL database, a Windows hosting plan will have to be your choice.
4. If you are using Microsoft's Sharepoint services like some of the Sharepoint features found in Frontpage 2003, a Windows Hosting plan is your only choice.
What is the advantage to choosing Linux Hosting?
All the major services you need to run an enterprise class website are available on Linux based systems for free. Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP are being used together to provide the infrastructure behind some of the most traffic intensive sites on the internet.
PHP runs better on a Linux server than on a Windows server. Having said that, unless you are putting a heavy load on your PHP scripts, this will not be noticable.
In general, Linux hosting plans are at least 20% cheaper than Windows hosting plans. If you don't need any of the features mentioned above, Linux hosting is a fine choice for your needs.
For Microsoft specific technologies, Windows hosting plans are usually your best bet. For everthing else, Linux hosting plans will usually do quite well. With the cost savings usually found with Linux hosting plans, Linux hosting is usually the right choice for you.
This article was written by Joe Duchesne, president of http://www.yowling.com/, a web hosting company that offers Linux Hosting plans. Copyright 2004 Yowling. Reprint Freely as long as you provide a clickable link back to my website from this resource box.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

[monaghan]

Windows hosting does not have to be more expensive than Linux hosting, the thing I find that makes the difference is the cost of the control panel software. If you have a small DC they will probably not get as good a deal on cPanel as the bigger ones, so potentially you could get the same Windows server on SPLA cheaper than a cPanel box

PHP will run fine on Windows, earlier versions would often be better on Linux, however there should be no problem now.

If you need .Net on a non Windows platform, then read up on Mono, if however you need to access Windows specific functionality, then a Windows platform is required.

Windows hosting is not required for MS-SQL, you can make ODBC/JDBC connections from a Linux platform to a MS-SQL server. Ideally a MS-SQL server should not be run on an IIS box unless you're only running small databases. The hosting server and database server should ideally be on the same physical network though to remove any network latency.

[brian]

A potentially better article on WHW about Linux vs Windows hosting here:http://www.webhostingworld.co.uk/win...linux-145.html