Which hosting is better - Linux or Windows

For a long time webmasters looking for a hosting package have been wondering which hosting – Windows or Linux, they should select for their websites. If you are just an ordinary webmaster and your website has only static HTML pages, you are probably hosted on a Linux server.
When the time comes for your site to have more complicated characteristics, e.g. e-commerce capabilities, live support, etc., then the type of server operating system will be significant. Interactive features for your website depend on server side programs that handle your site visitor’s input adequately. Among the various programmes offering such interactivity, the most widespread ones are ASP, PHP and Perl.

If you have a windows desktop PC, it is not obligatory to select Windows web hosting (the reverse is also valid). The operating system used on the desktop should not influence your choice. You have to learn how to use your FTP or web publishing software. Then, your web host can use whatever operating system you prefer.

The essential thing is that you should realize what you want your website to do and what you are going to offer on it. This will affect your decision on the type of hosting that will best suit your needs.

Interactive websites rely on ASP, PHP or Perl type languages. Each of them has their advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes one can offer something the others can’t. PHP and Perl are Linux based. ASP is based on Windows. So, selecting ASP to power your web site means that you will need Windows hosting. In fact there is ASP on Linux hosting packages as well. However, it won’t operate as flawless on a Linux server as it does on Windows.

The same is valid if you use PHP or Perl on a Windows server. Since they were not designed for this platform, they won’t work perfectly. Some hosts, but not all, have effectively put these programming languages into service for the different platforms.

You should exactly know what scripts you are going to use since server configurations for Windows are not the same as Linux. Otherwise, the script can fall short or not run using the whole of its potential. The ideal case is to choose the platform for which the scripting language was designed.
The major differences between Windows and Linux hosting that you need to bear in mind are described below.

Reliability
The commonly accepted opinion is that Linux is more dependable. Our practice has shown that servers have not experienced downtime for more than a year. Although Microsoft Windows 2000 is more steady and secure than the previous releases, sometimes you have to restart the server to cope with a problem.

Functionality
The two platforms differ considerably with respect to this feature. Usually what can be accomplished with one of the platforms can be done with the other as well. The basic distinction is the underlying technologies. Requiring a database driven web site means that you should choose PHP/MySQL combination under Linux or ASP/MS SQL combination under Windows 2000.

Security
Customizations and modifications are necessary for both Linux and Windows to make them secure for Internet use.

Cost
Linux has an advantage in this respect because greater part of its software is free and it is less difficult to keep Linux servers in good condition than Windows servers for a certain degree of efficiency and reliability. Web server on Linux apache is almost invulnerable, very stable and effective.

Host selection
Linux has long been regarded as the most suitable OS for Web servers. In fact, it is considered to be most stable and dependable and that is why it is usually used for the exacting environment of Web and mail servers. Linux should be preferred if you use PHP, Perl and MySQL. For Microsoft-specific apps, Windows is recommended. In any case you should bear in mind that more than 75% of all sites are hosted on Unix platform.

Speed
The two platforms are identical with respect to speed.

File types
Linux web servers support most of the file types. The supported extensions are: .cgi, .html, .htm, .pl, .php, .shtml, .asp, .xml. So, you can host web sites using different types of server side scripts including .cgi, .pl, .php and .asp (with plug-in).

Flexibility in switching to another host
If a web site is intended for hosting on a Linux based web server, it can be hosted on a Windows web server quite simply, while the reverse can not always be done.

Expansion capacity
A web site typically has several pages of html in the beginning and after some time it expands to fit the customers’ needs. So, it’s better to bear this necessity in mind when you set up a web site. When a web site is intended to match with a Linux/Unix based web server, it is certain that it meets the requirement for expansion capability. Moreover, serious modifications to the site design are not necessary.

Therefore, in order to choose between a Windows and Linux host, you should have a clear idea about what you require from your site at present and in the future.