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Just because you use a Windows desktop PC in your office, does not mean you
necessarily should use a Windows-based operating system for your hosting server
(and the reverse is true with Linux). The operating system you use on your desktop
has little to do with your choice of server operating systems. You can use either
operating system equally as well for your hosting server, as long as you understand
how to use your administration interface
and web publishing software (such as FTP, or Microsoft Front Page).
When it comes to Web hosting, Linux has been widely considered the best
operating system choice. Linux is typically found to be the most reliable,
stable, secure, cost effective and efficient system and is the most popular choice
for the demanding environment of Web, database and mail servers. The real question
that will help you decide which Operating System is right for you is to examine the
applications you plan to use on your server such as the administrative control panel, specific
scripting languages you plan to use, what type of database your specific applications are
written to work with, etc. While Linux is the preferred choice by most (because there is
far more compatible open source (free) software available for use such as web forums, blogs,
mail tools, and more), Linux lacks complete support for Microsoft specific applications
such as Microsoft SQL Server, ASP, VB, Front Page, and IIS (Microsoft Internet Information server).
If you need any of those specific Microsoft software technologies then you should select
Windows Server 2008 as your operating system. Both Linux and Windows Server 2008 can run the most
popular web-enabled technologies such as PHP, Perl, MySQL, Apache, etc., but you typically
have to manually install those applications on Windows Server 2008, unless using the Parallels® Plesk Panel premium
control panel on your server.
Linux is considered the best for hosting PHP, Perl, MySQL and Apache-based web sites since
those technologies are embedded in the server and optimized from the start. You need to examine
which technologies your web site(s) need, and what you may need in the future as the basis of choosing the
right Operating System for your hosting server.
Operating System Application Support
Comparison |
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Windows
|
Linux |
Internet Information Server (Windows Web Server)
|
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|
Apache Web Server |
* |
|
Apache with Mod Rewrite (popular for most PHP applications) |
 |
|
cPanel web hosting control panel |
 |
|
| Plesk web hosting control panel |
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|
Microsoft® FrontPage
Extensions |
|
*
|
Perl 5.x |
* |

|
PHP 4.x & 5.x |
* |

|
| ASP (Active Server Pages) |
|
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| ASP.NET Framework |
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| VB (Visual Basic) |
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|
MySQL 4.x & 5.x |
* |

|
| MS Access |
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Microsoft SQL Server Database |
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Microsoft Dot Net (.NET) |
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|
ColdFusion |
|
|
| Server Side Includes |
|
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| Client-Side Javascript |
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Items marked with * may require additional administration, setup, support and may not be fully compatible for some applications compared to the Linux version. |
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