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Windows 2003 vs Linux
We are often asked which web hosting platform one should choose, Linux or Windows®2003. Below, we’ve listed the major differences between the two that you should consider in making your final decision. In the process, we have also tried to dispel any common misconceptions regarding these platforms.
Important:
One of the biggest misconceptions is that you have to run Linux on your own computer in order for you to use a Linux web hosting platform or you need to have Windows 2003 to use a Windows web hosting platform. That is not true. Which operating system you run on your computer is irrelevant in making your web hosting decision. This means that if you are running Windows98 or Windows®2003 on your computer, you can still choose Linux.
Ecommerce plans:
In the case of Hostway's Merchant Manager driven ecommerce plans, the main thing you need to take into account is that only the front end of your ecommerce website will be affected by your choice of platform. All other customisation of the Merchant Manager platform and store must be undertaken by using html or any other client (not server) side scripting.
Operating System Features |
Linux
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Windows 2003
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| Ease of Use |
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| Reliability |
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| Speed |
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| Functionality |
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| Price |
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| Free/Open Source Software |
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Supported Features |
| MS FrontPage 2000,2002 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Flash |
Yes |
Yes |
| Shockwave |
Yes |
Yes |
| RealAudio/Video |
Yes |
Yes |
| CGI-Bin/Script |
Yes |
Yes |
| Perl |
Yes |
Yes |
| PHP |
Yes |
Yes |
| SSH (Secure Telnet) |
Yes |
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| MySQL |
Yes |
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| Merchant Manager Shopping Cart |
Yes |
Yes |
| ASP 3.0 (Active Server Pages) |
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Yes |
| .NET Framework 1.1 Server |
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Yes |
| MS Access |
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Yes |
| MS SQL |
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Yes |
| Visual Basic Scripts |
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Yes |
| Windows Media |
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Yes |
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Hostway-specific Features |
| SiteControl |
Yes |
Yes |
| SiteBuilder |
Yes |
Yes |
| CleanMail |
Yes |
Yes |
| Mailing List |
Yes |
Yes |
| Weekly Webstats |
Yes |
Yes |
| Web Based Email |
Yes |
Yes |
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Technical information for advanced users |
| Web Server |
Apache |
IIS 6.0 |
Ease of use
Over the years, many resources have been poured into both Linux and Windows®2003 platforms to make web hosting as easy as possible. Today, there are no real differences in terms of ease of use between these web hosting platforms. If you are an advanced user who prefers to work in shell environment, then Linux is your choice. However, if you are a beginner, or using Microsoft technologies/interfaces you will find Windows a much better choice. Hostway's Control Panel allows easy management of both systems.
Reliability
The industry consensus is that Linux is slightly more reliable. However, Hostway has made sure that the reliability of the Windows®2003 platform closely matches that of Linux's. What this means is that you can make your decision based on the differences in features rather than on reliability.
Speed
There is no real difference in terms of speed between the two web hosting platforms. However Linux is slighlty faster processing basic web page data.
Functionality
This is where two platforms differ the most. There isn’t much that can be achieved in one platform that can’t be on the other one. The main difference is how the end is achieved. For example, if you need a database driven website, you can choose either PHP/MySQL combination under Linux or ASP/.NET/MS SQL combination under Windows®2003. The trend is for solutions to be supported in both platforms. For example, Microsoft FrontPage, one of the most popular website editors out there, is supported on both Linux and Windows®2003. Please see below for the list of supported features.
Price
Here Linux holds a slight edge due to the fact that the most of the software licenses are open source and that it’s easier to maintain Linux servers than Windows®2003 servers for the same level of reliability and performance. Unless you specifically plan to use Windows®2003 platform specific features (see above), it probably makes sense to choose the Linux platform.
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