What is the difference between Linux hosting and Windows hosting?
Posted By CheapHostingChoice
Linux and Windows are two different operating system types.
On a personal computer you should have operating system like Windows XP, NT or something similar. A web hosting server also needs running on an operating system. The hosting operating system is the core software on your web hosting package. It takes care of basic functions and lets you run other programs.
Linux is one of the more popular operating systems on the Web, mostly because it is so cheap to install and get up and running. Windows operating system allows web sites to run Active Server Pages (ASP). The Microsoft servers also allow the integration of SQL databases. The only problem of the Microsof web hosting servers is that they are very expensive.
What’s the differences?
Windows applications which require a Windows server, such as, ASP.NET, MSSQL, MS Access, Visual Basic development, and so on.
One other difference is that Linux files are case-sensitive and Windows files are not. Example: On a Linux server, home.html and Home.html are different names. On a Windows server, home.html, Home.html, and HOME.HTML are the same name.
You can only create certain types of database with each operating system.
* With Linux you can build databases in MySQL.
* With Windows you can use Microsoft SQL or Microsoft Access databases.
MySQL often forms the basis for websites that use content management systems or blogging engines (like WordPress).
Which operating system is best for you?
There are differences between the scripting languages which come with each operating system. So if you need to use a particular programming language or database system, then this will influence your choice.
If you are looking for compatibility with all Windows products, then choose Windows. Linux also has more of the features web designers expect, so unless you have websites which need specific Windows applications, Linux is the preferred choice.
The main advantage of Linux is that is compatible with PHP. Also it’s very stable and has a great security. Many content management systems and blogging software are designed and built for Linux.
Reliable and affordable Linux and Windows web hosting companies
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About The Author
Hi, I am personnaly using Ubuntu Server for my hosting solution but I am afraid a few errors slipped in your article:
- “The only problem of the Microsof web hosting servers is that they are very expensive.”
This is a very subjective point of view. Actually, you can find some mutualized Windows hostings for quite cheap. As soon as you talk about a dedicated server, the prices are usually very comparable between Linux and Windows. The licenses you will have to buy for Windows cannot be considered to my point of view as part as the hosting costs.
- “You can only create certain types of database with each operating system.
* With Linux you can build databases in MySQL.
* With Windows you can use Microsoft SQL or Microsoft Access databases.”
This is in most cases false. MS SQL Server indeed is limited to Windows but most of the other db are supported on both environments (MySQL, SQLLite, PosGreSQL, Oracle, etc).
And actually, Access db is not even worth mentionning. It is clearly not meant to be run on the web (access security issues, concurrencies issues, performance problems etc).
- “Linux also has more of the features web designers expect”
Considering that a web site will only produce HTML at the end, there is absolutely no difference between Windows and Linux in this area.
If you are talking about design tools, Windows is supporting more tools than Linux (DreamWeaver, Web Expression, or for design FireWorks, Photoshop etc). Anyway, the development platform has nothing to do with the hosting solution.
- “The main advantage of Linux is that is compatible with PHP”
Windows is too, as it is with python, ruby, Java, etc.
- “[linux] has a great security”
This depends on how you set it up. When talking about hosting, the rules are basically the same for all platforms. Windows is more vulnerable to viruses but this should not be a problem for a hosting server.
IIs and Apache are quite safe too. But if your site is open to SQL injection, XHR exploits or uses an accessible SQLite file as db, you are not safe at all, even on Linux.
- “Many content management systems and blogging software are designed and built for Linux”
Most of them are more focused on the development platform than on the OS. The most popular, by far being PHP+MySQL, this is not again a criteria for choice.
Finally, Linux can run .Net applications using Mono.
To sum up, if you have classic needs, the hosting choice is simple:
- Windows is not free. You will have to pay for the licence.
If you are using additional server tools (MS CMS, MS Commerce, MS SQL Server etc, you will also need to consider these costs).
(Again, the hosting costs are comparable though)
For regular usage, a Linux hosting will be fine. Only switch to Windows if you really need it, and that’s it.
[Reply]
CheapHostingChoice Reply:
August 10th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Hello Gabouel,
Thanks for making comments on our article.
Your points are great and quite helpful!
[Reply]