Windows Linux And The Bottomline

By Matt Ewing


Windows web hosting is one of the more famous solutions offered to individuals and organizations who want their presence felt in the worldwide web. A good number of web hosts or companies are using Windows-based web hosting in view of the many benefits that using a windows hosting service can offer.

Linux and Windows are the two most popular and ubiquitous OS. Both have their strengths which is why there are many advantages in using the Linux or the Windows platform. In choosing between the two, the final arbiter would be the user who would usually ask the question --- Which is best for my site?

Customer support for websites created with FrontPage is guaranteed due to its no-nonsense approach to hosting. On others hosts that are Unix/Linux-based, there is still the need to verify if the FrontPage extensions used by the company's site is supported. In practice, Unix/Linux-based web hosts do not at all support other Microsoft applications, which scenario can indeed pose serious problems for customers.

Another benefit is bandwidth which is defined as the measure of the quantity of data exchange that occurs between all other internet sites and your beloved website. The shorter the time that elapses in loading media, the greater pleasure it delivers to consumers.

In terms of CGI, CGI and Peri access is more on the Linux side, than Windows. Depending on your needs, make sure that your web hosting service has them.

In terms of Other Server-Side Scripts, ColdFusion can be found in both Windows-based and Linux-based platforms, though ASP is more on Windows web hosting, while PHP for Linux. Hence, no one is ever without a choice if Peri does not meet your needs.

A site that desires to be dynamic must have a database. The databases that are popular are mySQL and Access. While mySQL and Access can be found on Windows servers, Linux-based hosting cannot offer Access.

Having gone to the preliminaries, we go back to the question of windows web hosting. First of all, it is not web hosting that is Linux, Macintosh, or Unix based. Based on general observations, Linux-based hosting is more popular of the three above mentioned in view of the fact that it is relatively affordable and it is easy to install.

In terms of security, a few will assert that Windows servers are more susceptible than Linux ones, however, that is not true. In reality, both Windows servers and Linux servers have security problems. More importantly, security is an issue that is more appropriately a concern of the administration of the host. However, should problems arise, the Windows platform is more able to provide the needed support, compared with Linux. That is the edge that Windows based hosting offers. Hence, since every website needs all the support that it can get when problems arise, and Windows hosting that are created with FrontPage are assured of support, Windows based hosting appears to be the more prudent choice.




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