Unix vs. Windows Hosting
The following
discussion gives insight into our opinions regarding which platform
should be used for virtual server hosting. For UNIX, we use a
modified version of Linux. Unlike Windows, UNIX comes in many
different flavors, such as Solaris, Red Hat Linux, and FreeBSD. This
discussion examines the difference between these two operating
systems from various perspectives, all of which should be considered
when determining which platform you should use for virtual server
hosting.
Important: One of the biggest misconceptions is that you have
to run UNIX on your own computer in order for you to host your site on UNIX
platform. That is not true. Which operating system you run on your computer is
irrelevant in making your decision. This means that if you are running Windows98
or Windows®2000/XP/Vista on your computer, you can still choose UNIX.
| |
UNIX |
Windows |
| Ease of use |
|
|
| Reliability |
|
|
| Speed |
|
|
| Functionality |
|
|
| Price |
|
|
| Integration
with Microsoft solutions |
|
|
| Free/Open
Source Software |
|
|
User
Friendliness
While the consensus holds that UNIX based webhosting is more
user friendly than Windows, it is our belief that with our Control
Panel's for both the UNIX and Windows platforms make both user friendly.
However, UNIX does have some features, such as Telnet/SSH that makes
it easier to administer your webhosting account.
Stability
Without question, we feel that UNIX is far more stable than
Windows in a shared-server, or multi-user environment. Given the
background of UNIX, which dates back into the early 1960's versus
Windows birth in the 1990's, UNIX has had far more time to improve
in efficiency and stability. It is our opinion that Windows
was not developed for the multi-user, shared-server hosting environment
(which can be a high demanding environment at times) where UNIX
kernal has been developed under these conditions.
Functionality
Many commercial applications, especially e-commerce packages,
are developed for the Windows environment. While UNIX does have
commercial support for popular application such as Real Networks
G2, Miva and now WebTrends, the history of UNIX software development
is Open Source, or GNU software (non-commercial). Therefore, many
more commercial applications for e-commerce and web development
are developed for the Windows environment. On the flip side, may
open source applications which have gained tremendous popularity,
such as Perl, PHP, and mySQL were developed for UNIX operating systems
under the GNU license. Commercial applications versus GNU software
can easily distinguish which platform should be used when considering
functionality.
Our Experience
Nexus has been working with Linux for over 5 years now, and
general UNIX OS's including Open Source software (Slackware, Open
BSD, Free BSD) for about 6 years. However, we have been working
with Windows for only 6 years now, so our experience much heavily
weighted towards UNIX, especially the Linux Operating System.
Price
Here UNIX holds a slight edge due to the fact that the most
of the software licenses are free and that it’s easier to maintain UNIX
servers than Windows® servers for the same level of reliability and
performance. You will see that our hosting prices reflect this. Unless you
specifically plan to use Windows® platform specific features (see below),
it probably makes sense to choose the UNIX platform.
Our Final
Opinion
It is our opinion
that the Linux platform is much more suited for multi-user
functionality than the Windows platform. For clients looking to
create a simple website with little experience or dynamic features
with GNU software (Perl, PHP), we recommend a UNIX-based virtual
server. However, clients looking for custom scripting and e-commerce add-ons for their
virtual server or with high-end databasing or development needs, we
recommend the Windows platform.
Business
Hosting Solutions |
