Windows vs. Linux hosting

One of the first choices anyone choosing a hosting plan with have to make is whether to choose a Windows or Linux hosting plan. This article is designed to help you choose between the two.

What is Linux?

Linux is a Unix-like Operating System which is a very popular from which to run Internet Servers. Linux is Open Source, which means anyone can get access to the underlying source code and modify it free of charge. Linux is not only free but also very stable and secure, leading it to become very popular with web hosting companies.

What is Windows?

Well I ask this question only for completeness. Windows is Microsoft’s flagship operating system and anyone who has used a PC has probably already encountered one its desktop incarnations, Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP and the soon to be released Windows Vista.

Windows also comes in a Server version, the current version being Windows 2003 Server. Unlike Linux, Windows is a paid for Operating System, this means that Windows hosting plans tend to cost a little more than comparable Linux plans.

Which should I choose?

If you plan to use Microsoft Technologies such as Active Server Pages (ASP), Access Databases or Microsoft SQL Server then you should always choose a Windows web hosting plan as none of the above are supported on Linux hosting plans.

Linux hosting plans in contrast has better support for Open Source technologies such as Perl Scripting, PHP and MySQL Databases, though it is perfectly possible to run Perl, PHP & MySQL on a Windows Platform. However, only a limited number of hosting companies (including Nuclear Internet) offer these Open Source Technologies with Windows hosting plans.

What about security?

Traditionally Linux has always being thought of as a more secure hosting platform than Windows, but since Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 this simply just hasn’t been the case. Windows, particularly Windows Server 2003 is just as secure as any of the rival Linux incarnations. When correctly administered both operating systems offer a very secure and stable hosting environment. That said it is now arguably easier to administer Windows correctly than it is to correctly administer Linux.

The verdict

Neither platform is inherently better than the other; it really depends on the web host concerned. Generally though, whilst many hosts will offer a choice of Windows or Linux, they tend to specialise in one or the other. The advice is therefore clear: unless you need to use a technology which is native to only Windows or to Linux, then always pick the platform which your chosen host specialises in.

That said there are a select number of Windows Web Hosts who will support Open Source Technologies (Perl, PHP, MySQL) on their Windows Servers. Such hosts are few and far between, but they give you flexibility by being ‘technology neutral’ and are worth looking out for.