When it comes to hosting websites, 2 operating systems dominate. The question is which is the best operating system to use for our website? What are their advantage and disadvantage over one another? Here I discuss each of it one by one.
Windows web hosting
Windows is an operating system developed by Microsoft and is the most popular operating system for beginner and average user to date. It is one of the most popular operating systems around therefore everyone has a lot of applications to choose from. This is one of the greatest advantage of Windows: ease of use and a number of applications to choose from. As a web host, Windows is no different. There are a lot of applications around just waiting for you to install. Moreover, Windows take advantage of .NET framework and ASP to create dynamic applications.
But having using a Windows web hosting is expensive, you will need to pay for licenses and the necessary fees before you can start hosting websites. The good news is you don’t need any of these as the windows web hosting provider covers these necessary fees. Compared to hosting your own website, Windows web hosting under the web hosting companies could cost for only $5 to $10 a month.
| Recommended Windows hosting: InterServer |
Linux Web Hosting
Linux is a free and open-source operating system developed to make a stable system that is contributed by the free community worldwide. It is the most stable operating system for made for servers because it is immune to viruses like what Windows web hosting has and is faster to run compared to a windows operating system. A great plus is their file systems are faster compared to Windows file system so expect faster transfer rates if you use a Linux web hosting. Linux takes advantage of free and open source tools as its web application and programming interface. PHP and Mono is the counterpart of ASP and .NET framework which is almost ready to compete with its paid counterparts.
The disadvantage is if you are not comfortable with using the command line or don’t want to tinker with stuffs, you will be disappointed with Linux web hosting. Additionally, you cannot run Windows applications to a Linux operating system. It may be possible to use a virtualization software but it is often buggy and full of annoyances.
| Recommended Linux hosting companies: Bluehost, WebHostingHub |
What is your choice?
If you are comfortable with using Windows operating system and is liking its features and functionality, shifting to Linux web hosting will be a bit hard and frustrating but if you are open to change and do need to experiment on stuffs, you are free to try Linux web hosting and take advantage of it speed and robustness.
Both windows web hosting and Linux web hosting have the same price per month and both have the same pre-defined package for starting a website. Some even combine Linux and Windows features like Windows in ASP.NET or PHP or Linux in PHP or ASP.NET with Mono.
But the real difference if you can compare Linux and Windows web hosting is speed and reliability. In my opinion, you can run a Linux web hosting for weeks without problems not like a Windows web hosting which could get buggy after just a few days of its running time.