Sadain asked:


One of the most confusing decisions someone new to web hosting will have to make is which platform their server should be on. There are a number of different choices out there but the main two are Linux and Windows web servers. There are also a lot of sources of information about hosting, but the majority of them are tainted by the author’s biased personal opinion unfortunately confusing the issue. Having just put in some solid hours researching the topic I have come to the conclusion that in general it quite probably does not matter which server you use. For the majority of people it will be far more important to choose a really good web host than to worry about the server-type that they implement.

Microsoft developed and owns the Windows operating system. Linux is open source and generally free. This means it can often be more expensive to set up and run a Windows server. However, this fact doesn’t really affect you unless you are actually setting up a server for yourself and if you’re reading this article then I’m guessing that it’s safe to assume you’re not. This article is going to offer information for those trying to decide which hosting company to go with. The cost involved in running a server does not affect the cost of a web-hosting package as much as you may think. Despite the general opinion that Windows servers are more expensive to run, buying a Windows hosting package can often turn out to be just as cheap or even cheaper than an equivalent Linux hosting package.

Some people naturally assume that because their PC runs Windows they need to buy a Windows hosting package. This isn’t true. Access to your web account will most likely be through FTP or a control panel and both servers support these methods. The main difference is that some of the FTP commands are slightly different between Linux and Windows and some FTP programs will be designed with one or the other in mind. This means you may occasionally find that when you try and get your FTP program to do something it returns an error message, but it won’t happen very often.

Your choice of server platforms should be dictated by the use to which you intend to put it. The majority of web features run fine on both platforms including PHP, mySQL, POP3 etc. If you intend to create your site using ASP, FrontPage, the .NET environment, Windows Streaming Media, Access, MSSQL, or any of the other Microsoft proprietary technologies then you probably need to use a Windows host. There is limited support for a number of these technologies in Linux, but they can be expensive and are usually lacking in features. It is probably worth considering the fact that if you use server specific technologies and then change hosts you’ll have a much harder time of it than if you use technologies that can be run on any system. Having it run generic technologies removes the need to focus on specifics and allows you to focus on the quality of service itself.

The reliability and stability of the different platforms have been the topic of many long arguments. The main reason that Windows is seen as being insecure is that it is the most widely used operating system for home PC’s. People spend more time looking for flaws in the most common system. With Linux being the most common server type, it has a surprising number of successful hack attempts made on it. In the end the security of both platforms comes down to the competency of the system administrators. If you are security minded then you’ll do better to make sure that the hosting company is reputable and highly skilled than to worry about the server they use.

In terms of performance there’s not a huge difference between the two servers. Linux reportedly performs faster because Windows (as usual) attempts to offer an ‘all in one’ package instead of the extendable Linux implementation. You’ll generally not notice a difference but if performance is of utmost importance to you then maybe this will influence your decision.

I’ve come to the conclusion that unless you are specifically using features that are unique to one platform or another your time will be much better spent looking for a really good quality host than a really good quality server. Developers are constantly improving both Linux and Windows so they should be fairly close in terms of features, security, and reliability for a long time. It’s the people implementing them that you should be basing your decision on.

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John Micheal asked:


Are you planning for hosting a website, but couldn’t able to decide which web hosting service will match with your needs? May be after deciding a lot again you come into dilemma between the better two, Windows service or the Linux service. In online web hosting service, Linux is popular because of its fast upgrading services around the world.

Linux server comes under one of the popular hosting plans in web hosting, where you can host unlimited domains with hi speed technologies. With every Linux hosting services you can get unlimited numbers of packed features with some popular control panels. If your web hosting is mainly focusing on simple platform of customer section with PHP / My SQL then Linux hosting services are the best options for your requirements. Linux server hosting is regarded as the safest, most reliable, and cost effective web hosting in website environments.

Normally, your hosting a website choice depends upon the scripting language that is used in your website. The languages like PHP, MySQL and Perl are preferable for Linux web hosting services. Due to its high frequency results, Linux server hosting is the most widely used web host.

Linux website can easily be transformed to a Windows website. Also, the website can easily modify itself according to the requirement of the user. Cheap Linux hosting is a user friendly web hosting. Around the world many businesses are using linux server hosting for best quality in their systems. With different kinds of procedures linux hosting is used by billion dollars turn around businesses to newly zero balanced individual business. Cheap Linux hosting services is known all over the world for its committed service.

The basics of Linux server hosting



Linux can be used in every operating system. Among various programming languages it is very much assessable with PHP. Apart form several challenging factors, the accurate security record with stable operating system placing Lunix hosting into a unique position.





Linux server hosting is providing lots of low cost or free software such as APF, Apache, Firewall, Send mail, BIND etc.





The various benefits provided by Linux web hosting are PHP and MySQL Support, Apache Web Server, Mod Rewrite Support, Chmod file permissions and many more.



A linux server hosting is a good option for web hosting business due to its good track record. Linux web hosting is very easy for its user. Perhaps one of the most beneficial reasons that Linux web hosting is that it’s simple and easy in regards to scalability. Linux hosting can host any sized web sites whether a small or a large one, for every sites it work with the same loyalty and consistency.

Now you are most probably aware with the admired reasons for choosing Linux server hosting plan. Now it is up to you, what do you want to select for your web hosting plans. May be with the help of Linux hosting you can build a very much popular website.



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Webhosting Website asked:


In case one is a newbie and his site is non-revenue generating with static HTML pages created from boxed software, then it is most probable that he is hosted on a Linux server. In such circumstances it is considered as a best solution for a user as Linux hosting costs less and one can work with the features provided, as there is no need of advanced services. Here server operating system is also not a problem and what all is required is just to have a good host provider.

The problems start when one decides to have his site up with most complicated features like member’s only area, e-commerce, live help etc. In that case the server operating system is important because interactive features rely on server side programs that process one’s site visitor’s input and returns with important result. In addition to server there are many other useful things like choice of ASP, PHP and Perl.

Is O.S important for selecting web host?

In case user is running windows desktop it doesn’t mean that he must opt for Windows web hosting. It is true for vice versa as well. User should avoid this misconception and should keep in mind that the operating system has nothing to do with the hosting services, what makes a point to consider is one should understand his FTP or web publishing software, and then any operating system can be his host.

Objectives of Website

Thus instead of O.S what is most important to keep in mind is the objective of one’s website. One should know why he has developed that site and what he wants to offer on his site. This point will serve as a best while selecting a right type of hosting. As stated above, interactive sites usually rely on ASP, PHP or Perl type languages and each of this programming language has it’s own plus points as well as weak points. It is quite often that one programming language can serve the purpose of the user while other not. However it is not in every case. PHP and Perl are Linux based and ASP Windows.

In case one opts for ASP to power his web site, then one needs to use Windows hosting. Again there is one important point, which a user should keep in mind that ASP is available on Linux hosting packages. However one should keep in mind that it is not always the same that the working on Linux is same as on Windows. One can have PHP or Perl on a Windows web host, but they are not developed for Windows and might not work there as well properly. In addition there are other disclaimers as well, for using these languages on Windows servers.

There are several hosts who have successfully implemented these programming languages for the different platforms. However it is important to act carefully while using the scripts, as the server configurations for Windows are totally different from that of Linux. Due to this malfunction can come in the scripts. Thus it is always advisable to opt for that programming language for which the operating system is built.

Security

As a general rule UNIX based servers are considered to have better security. It is mainly due to the fact that these operating systems have a good and reliable background as against Windows, which is having a bad background because of exploitation. One should keep in mind that it hardly matters how secure the operating system is, is one’s site cannot be secured, if one’s host has not configured it correctly and has not updated it often.

In terms of speed and performance they both are good performers. However hardware is considered as a big factor. It is advisable again that one should look to his host and should check if they upgrade well ahead or do they just max out the resources before doing so?

To conclude with, one can say that, the key that decides if one should go for a Windows or Linux host is the purpose of site for which it is built as well as its future prospect and purpose.



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Sean.Ray asked:


It’s more and more common that a person owns a web site, which can be for blog, family web site, small business web site or even a forum. And the majority of those small-size or medium-size web sites are hosted in Linux environment. Why so many webmasters would like to make this decision?

I think below are 3 key reasons for it.

1) Stable

As an open source operating system, code of Linux is open to the public so that anyone can read it and suggest improvements or point out bugs. Over the years, Linux has been developed in various flavors (the most famous one is Red Hat). Thousands and thousands of people have contributed their time and effort to making Linux web hosting run faster and to provide simpler, more efficient and bug free code. With an open programming environment, improvements are made on a continual basis and problems are seen relatively quickly and solved with a minimum of difficulty.

And the same reason as why it’s stable, the security level of Linux is also higher than Windows.

2) Cheap

Linux is free to all. Unlike Windows, you have to pay thousands of dollars for a license. And this is also part of reason why the list price of Linux web hosting package is much lower than that of windows web hosting packages.

3) A lot of Free Scripts to Help Setting up the Web Site

Open source world is just as beautiful as it could be. A lot of people contribute to it from different perspectives, such as OS, software development tools or applications. Linux, php, and MySQL have been a very popular platform to build an application. Right now, you can find many very good open source application to set up a forum, blog, image galleries, etc. And all those are free and easy to be installed. Even php and My SQL can work on Windows, Linux just a perfect platform for them.

There are more reasons that the webmasters want to choose Linux to host their web site. But a general guideline is that only if you want to use asp.net or sql server to build your web site, otherwise, Linux is always your best choice.

Reference:

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Rodrigo Rehn asked:


The internet has assumed unfathomable popularity leading to advanced developments that has helped the dreams of visionaries to take concrete shape. The shaping up of websites from the plain simple ones to the modern one where use of high end applications is prevalent speaks volumes about this medium that has provided us with enormous opportunities. Who would have thought that internet would one day help us in bridging the gap and facilitate business potentials to unassuming proportions?

What is Linux?

Nowadays online business is conducted in a sophisticated manner with the help of technologies like ASP, PHP, JSP and others. These technologies need a platform called operating systems to help assimilate all the web based components for our utility. These operating systems are the mainframe for hosting of websites. The most commonly used operating systems are Linux and Microsoft Windows. These are the servers on which you host your website and conduct business effortlessly.

Reasons for Linux being the chosen one

The Linux server has been designed jointly by several IT companies like Suse, Mandrake and Red Hat especially for professional application of the community. Because of its backup unit Linux is a strong, reliable and inexpensive of all the platforms that are used.

Maintenance of quality and security

Linux has proved its mettle in the security and quality departments without causing a dent in the pocket. No wonder there is so much demand for Linux. As far as advanced technologies are concerned Linux is most compatible to help in the efficient functioning of ASP, PERL, PHP and MySQL. You can get a Linux server that provides you with the desktop applications and server applications like FTP, DNS Server, File Server, and Web Server known for their stability at no cost at all. Linux is known to provide an uptime of approximately 99.9 percent.

Protection against any undesirable attacks

Linux is known to withstand any virus attacks, spam and hacking and cause less damage. The infrastructure is something to contend with along with the software that makes up for the robust nature of the Linux server.

User Friendly

It is very easy to host your website on a Linux server. When you use a web based tool like Front Page ensure the presence of the relevant extensions such as .cgi, .php, .html, .xml, .htm, .shtml etc. This is necessary when uploading any HTTP features. Thus it is vital to choose the Front Page extensions while designing the site. Nowadays you can purchase the Front Page extensions that can be installed

Accessibility

A web site that is suitable for uploading on a Linux based server can be hosted on a Windows server also but the process is not reversible as in the case of Windows based server websites.



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Ashok Jindal asked:


Reliable, Affordable and Business web hosting service is necessary element for online transaction companies. hosting are many type such as reseller hosting, virtual private server, free web hosting, collocation web hosting, managed dedicated servers and shared dedicated hosting etc.

When we want to run of website on Internet then we require a space on Internet. This space provided by web hosting company. Web hosting service provider offer many attractive package but these packages may be fraud. Actually we require cheap web hosting and dedicated servers.

Now most popular hosting servers are Linux dedicated hosting servers and windows hosting servers. When we select company to web hosting service we should be notice following features:-

Web space 100MB and 1500MB etc.

Bandwidth/Month such as 500MB, 1000MB, 2000MB, 3000MB and 5000MB etc.

Other features such as Install activation, secure c panel and web mail, .htaccess support, MySQL database, phphmydmin GUI, web logs and reports, anti virus protection, own SMTP sever, FTP accounts, multi language control panel and company charged according features.

Free Web Hosting: free cpanel hosting, free Linux hosting and other web hosting service offer only for advertisement supported and limited functionality.

Shared dedicated hosting: multiple users share same server such as cpanel hosting and plesk hosting.

Reseller Hosting: Linux or windows reseller hosting provides total control themselves clients. Reseller Hosting web hosting offer lot of unlimited features such as unlimited MySQL database, change password, unlimited FTP access, unlimited SMTP server, unlimited sub domains and many other features.

Virtual Private Server: this is also popular as Virtual Dedicated Server. In this technology a big server divided into multiple servers and each server can reboot independently.

In India has many companies those provide windows and Linux website hosting service. Some company offer low cost reseller hosting, free Linux hosting, banner exchange and ecommerce web hosting service solution.

The hosting services should be dedicated and reliable because all IT and other companies depend on online transactions. Now offshore outsourcing work is requirement for all countries and Time to time need information from whole world. Any query or important information can come from any where to company. If hosting company server down then lot of dolor amount will be destroy. So hosting companies responsibility increase round the clock.



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Charles Yarbrough asked:


Microsoft Windows is the most popular operating system (OS); thus, most web hosting companies cater to sites running on Windows, as expected. However, there is an increasing demand for hosts that can support websites running on other platforms such as Mac OS and Linux, just to name a few. For this article, we will focus on Linux web hosting.

Why do some people choose Linux web hosting? To start with, Linux is an open source OS designed after Unix. It means Linux is free, which is a fact that is easily a factor in some people’s choice of operating system. Aside from being free, Linux is also known to be very stable even in the midst of some heavy-duty multitasking. It’s also known to be flexible, powerful, and portable. The graphical user interface (GUI) looks great, too.

Whatever the reason may be, there’s no denying that more and more people are turning to Linux web hosting. If you’re comfortable with using Linux with Perl programming language, now is the right time to go for Linux web hosting. It has its place in mainstream, so any worries you may have about lack of suitable choices for Linux web hosting should be thrown out the window. There are a lot of affordable packages being marketed by web hosting companies for the Linux user.

Surprisingly, even if Windows is the most popular OS, Linux web hosting has more presence on the internet than Windows web hosting. The reason behind this is Linux’s open source nature. A lot of technological developments in web hosting are also open source. It’s easier for developers and programmers to experiment with different innovations when high fees and licenses are not part of the equation. Thus, Linux web hosting provides you with a lot of flexibility at almost no cost. When technologies update, you can go along with them without worrying about your budget because they are free.

Linux web hosting is also highly standardized because Linux, as an OS, is a standard platform. Thus, you can easily add to your website without too much hassle since everything is streamlined. You’ll appreciate this more as your website steadily and quickly grows. Long-term management with diligent maintenance is one of the most difficult things you need to do as a webmaster; luckily Linux web hosting can help in that aspect.

Take note, though, that there’s a downside to all the good stuff, and it’s up to you if it’s worth looking over when you finally choose Linux web hosting. Since Windows still dominates as the number one OS, Linux web hosting does not have a lot of technical support available for applications and languages that are based on Windows. Sure, you have a wide range of Linux-based applications and languages to choose from, but there are very useful ones that are Windows-based. You either don’t use them at all, or prepare yourself to encounter difficulties when you do.

Weigh your needs and wants before choosing Linux web hosting over Windows web hosting. Both have positive and negative aspects to them, and choosing what works better for your website is something only you can decide.



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Host Gator asked:


In Large enterprises Linux is adopted, however there are many people who don’t know that there are sizeable numbers of installations in small and medium businesses (SMBs) as well. Now –a-days use of Linux servers and applications at SMBs is growing.

As per country manager, pSeries & Open power, IBM, “Unlike large enterprises, SMBs do not have to face the challenge of migrating legacy applications. The popularity with SMBs has helped Linux grow at 30 percent globally”.

As per general consensus Linux did better in 2004 than predicted. Director Enterprise Marketing & alliances, Customers solution Group, HP India says, “ As per IDC India, Linux in the server market grew by 48 percent in OND, 2004 over JAS, 2004, while the windows and Unix markets showed a modest 3 percent and 3.4 percent growth respectively during the same period.”

Success of any operating system depends upon the availability of required applications. As such SMBs serves as a boon for Linux servers as it offers them lower TCO and tighter control on their IT spends. However as many SMBs already have home grown applications, a proprietary OS will be the single largest area of spending. This point makes Linux most advantageous.

Vertical scability has grown a lot due to the availability of version 2.6 of the Linux kernel in Red hat Enterprise Linux 4 and Novell’s SuSE 9 .Due to emerging role of SMBs in global supply chain; they demand enterprise applications on Linux to keep their investment low. This helps in enabling Linux server market grows worldwide.

Why to opt for Linux Based servers?

Two factors on which Linux serves best are cost and better security as the source code of proprietary software is always kept a secret. Due to the support of community, any security hole in Linux is quickly found and patched.

Linux helps in saving not only software costs but also offers long term saving on hardware. SMB instead of upgrading software with Linux can take control of its IT strategy. Chief technology officer of IDBI bank says, “You decide when you wish to upgrade, not the vendor, hence you get tighter control on your spending.” This is very important particularly for users, such as SMBs that cannot afford to keep up with the pace of change in commercial software.

Business application and Linux

All credit goes to Oracle for driving the Linux server market. In beginning of 2004,Oracle came up with a value offering. Among other features it offered pre- configured Oracle E-Business Suite special edition on Lintel Boxes for a 10 user License for $36,000USD. The traction of this offering was seen towards the end of 2004 when we closed a dozen deals that were in various stages of implementation, says General Manager, Oracle India. This is an authentication that SMBs are opting for Linux servers. In other hand SAP is following Oracle in making application available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Customized and certified

The importance of Linux is growing as all server vendors including HP, IBM and SGI are opting for Linux and each has a SMB specific business strategy in order to make them grow.

In one its announcements HP told that some of its high end computing tools from the HP-UX environment are ported onto Linux and made available to SMBs.It includes a clustering solution termed as HP service guard for high availability of applications and management tools such as Systems insight Manager (SIM) and open view that offer third party integration. In addition to that HP is creating a reference architecture stack, including hardware, OS, database and Middleware. In order to increase confidence in customers, HP certifies a stack so that customers can confidently deploy their core business application on Linux. Linux servers are quite popular in high performance computing (HPC) environments such as research labs.

Recently IBM has launched a new family of eserver Openpower systems based on its Power5 processor specially designed for Linux. The Power5 comes with a micropartitioning technology called Virtualization Engine (VE) wherein each processor can be sliced into ten virtual partitions with each partition acting as a new server. IBM’s eserver Openpower 710 is a single CPU processor with 3 HDDs and 512 MB memory with RAID level 1 and 5. This eserver offers SMBs an affordable alternative against higher priced entry-level Unix or Linux system. Openpower offers a 64bit platform at a price point of a 32-bit offering. It is believed to be the right product for the mass market.

Sun Microsystems has the Sun fire V20 and V40 severs based on the 64-bit AMD Opteron processor, which has been successful with SMBs. It also offers the Solaris 10 Opetron combination. Sun is promoting Solaris 10 to take the fight to commercial Linux by offering several features such as support of email, phone and onsite at a comparatively low price. The list of Sun customers is quite big which includes advanced scientific research, elite foods, Sage Design systems, Centre for DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics etc.

The uses of Linux servers are very much like they are used by SMBs for CAD analysis, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and FEA (Finite Element Analysis). Linux systems are rugged as they come with SGI Propack over and above the standard Linux Kernel. This provides the ability to customers to scale there computing environments with independent I/O, memory and power supply.

Banking on Support

Linux is taking place in most of the commercial business applications in verticals like in manufacturing, small banking and hospitality. To add more points to Linux server market now tally o Linux is available .Red hat has 950 ISV partners who are indulged in developing applications that run on its Linux distributions. In order to meet SMB requirements, Linux offers secure and scalable solutions. IBM also has 35 to 40 pure Linux partners offering consultancy and helps it in integrating and implementing services for its customers using Linux.



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Arpit Sharma asked:


The Basics of Linux & Windows : Linux (and its close relation Unix) and Windows 2000 (and its close cousin Windows NT) are types of software (known as operating systems) that web servers use to do the kind of things that web servers do. You do not need to know any real detail of either to make a decision as to which you need but here a few guidelines.

Just because you use a windows desktop PC doesn’t mean you have to opt for Windows web hosting (and the reverse is true as well). The operating system you use on your desktop has little to do with your choice of web hosts. As long as you understand how to use your FTP or web publishing software, your can use either operating system.

But what is important is that you know what you want your website to do and what you want to offer on it. This is what will ultimately help determine the type of web hosting that will work best for you. As mentioned earlier, interactive websites usually rely on ASP, PHP, or Perl type languages.

Linux Web Hosting or Windows 2000 Web Hosting ? Make your Choice !

When it comes to Web hosting, Linux has, for some time, been widely considered the best OS for Web servers. It’s typically found to be the most reliable, stable and efficient system and, as such, it’s commonly used for the demanding environment of Web and mail servers. Indeed,Most of the clients websites of aalpha NET runs on the Linux OS precisely because of this traditional stability.

The million-dollar question is what application are you looking to use for your hosting? Consider the tools and scripting languages you plan to use – if you use PHP, Perl or MySQL, Linux is the way forward. If apps are Microsoft-specific, then Windows is what you need.

If your site, like most web sites, is what might be termed “brochure-ware” then Linux servers are ideal. By brochure-ware I mean a site that offers the kind of information that in the past might have been provided on paper in the form of brochures, newsletters or data sheets. Brochure-ware sites will offer some interaction through enquiry forms and can certainly incorporate online purchasing and other routine e-commerce functions.

If however your site incorporates an online searchable database or interactive chat facilities then Windows 2000 or NT will be a better bet in most cases. It will cost a bit more but you’ll get that back in reduced development time and simply better functionality.

The following are the advantages of using Linux based web server compared to Windows based web server :

Stable: Linux/Unix operating systems has traditionally been believed to be very stable and robust. A web site housed on a Linux operating system will have very high up-time (of the order of 99.9%). Of course, other factors such as power supply, network admin skills, and network load etc. also matter when it comes to maintaining the system uptime.

Low cost of ownership: The Linux OS comes free of cost (or at very insignificant cost, usually cost of distribution). Also, it has full fledged server, and desk top applications that comes free along with the OS. These server applications (such as FTP, Web Server, DNS Server, File Server etc.) being free, are also very stable.

Ease of use : When it comes to web hosting, it is easy to host on Linux web servers. The process of uploading and hosting is almost same for both Linux and Windows web servers. If you want to use a Windows based tool such as Front Page for uploading a web site on to a Linux based web server, make sure that the Front Page extensions are enabled. This is only required if you are uploading using HTTP feature (http://www.yourwebsite.com) of Front Page. Front Page also makes it possible to upload a web site using FTP. You need to select ftp://www.yourwebsite.com for up loading using front page FTP option. Note that if you select “Front Page Extensions” during web site design, you must enable Front Page extensions on a Linux web server also. These days, all Linux web servers are coming with installable Front Page extensions, and this should pose no problem for hosting on a Linux platform.

You can use almost all types of file extensions (or scripts) when using Linux web server. Commonly, the following extensions are supported: .cgi, .html, .htm, .pl, .php, .shtml, .xml, and others. Basically it means that you can host web sites that use different types of server side scripts including .cgi, .pl, ..php, and .asp (with plug-in).

Easy to move between hosts : A web site designed to be hosted on a Linux based web server can be hosted on a Windows web server easily, where as the reverse is not always true.

Most widely used : Linux/Unix based web hosting is most widely used compared to Windows based web hosting.

Scalability : A web site is dynamic. Usually, a web site starts with a few pages of html and grows over a period of time to suit the customers requirements. It is preferable to design a web site keeping this requirements in mind. A web site designed for compatibility with a Linux/Unix based web server meets the scalability requirement easily without making any site wide design changes.

On the downside, Linux based web server is not fully compatible with Microsoft technologies. If you are using any specialized applications or VB for development of your web site, it is preferable to host with a Windows based web server.

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Host Gator asked:


Any website mainly comprises the following – Domain name, Web space, WebPages.

After getting the Domain Name the next step is to check for a good hosting service provider to have one’s own files uploaded in the domain. The following are the important features one must consider while selecting a Linux Based Hosting Plan-

1. Control Panel – This is the most important feature that is mainly required if one wants to maintain his/her website by own. With Control Panel, popularly known as CP, one can do anything means any sort of modification. The moment one signs up for a Hosting Pack, he/she must be immediately provided a control panel for managing the web space.

2. POP3 email Ids & Aliases – One must be provided with plentiful of POP3 email ids and it depends on the Package size as well.

3. FTP Accounts & Virtual FTP – This is the place where one can make any modifications like uploading of files, deletion, updating etc. This is again provided along with the control panel. One must be sure that he/she must have plenty of FTP sub-accounts also to provide his/her clients/users password protected directories. This is the most important feature wherein the clients / users can use the FTP to upload /download files from particular password protected folder of one’s website.

4. Backup – This the feature which is mostly overlooked by the users but is quite important .One must check if the Hosts take Automated Backups.

5. Web Statistics -Visitors plays a key role in the success of one’s website. One must review the report using Statistics Application that run in the server backend in order to see the number of visits each day so as to take proper action.

6. Bandwidth –One must choose the Hosting Plan that offers sufficient Bandwidth for one’s website. As it is not possible to judge the exact requirement in the beginning, still there is facility to deduct the bandwidth required with the passage of time.

7. PHP & Mysql Support – All the Linux Plans support PHP & Mysql. One must make sure that he/she must get this free of cost along with the hosting plan. There are some Hosting Providers that charges extra for MYSQL Database Support & PhpMyAdmin therefore one must check this is advance.

8. Web mail & SMTP – Email forms a most important part in launching the website. One must check if the Hosts provide with WEBMAIL in order to check mails through a web based interface using Squirrelmail or Horde. Corporate Users mostly prefer downloading mails through Email Clients such as Eudora or Outlook Express. One can avail this option only if SMTP or IMAP support is enabled. Therefore one must check in advance if SMTP support is provided or not.

9. SPAM ASSASIN – This is the most important component as no email user is free from a Spam attack. Therefore one must ask for Spam Filters installed on the server where his/her website resides.

10. IP – Dedicated IP is required if one’s website prefers SSL Support (https://) with a passage of time. Most of the websites are hosted on shared IPs.One must ask his/her Hosting Provider for the extra charges involved in getting a dedicated IP and SSL Support. There is important to note that for SSL (https://), one needs to buy a Digital Certificate.

Thus the above were 10 most important ingredients that one must consider while choosing a Linux based hosting plan



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