Choose The Right Operating System
by: Pegasus
Shared or virtual hosting can be availed on UNIX or Windows platform.
The difference between Window Servers and UNIX operating systems.
Windows Servers:
Windows Servers are developed to accommodate advanced Microsoft applications.
They also integrate back office offerings such as FrontPage, Access and MS SQL and offer specific programming environments such as Active Server Pages (ASP), Visual Basic Scripts, and Cold Fusion, which mainly link database applications to the Web.
They are accessible through GUI-based remote administration packages such as PCA anywhere or through a customized control panel.
These packages allow you to log into the servers desktop as chief administrator only if you have complete control over the server.
Windows hosting is a great alternative for shared and dedicated servers. .NET technology manages and multiplexes Windows servers quite easily.
Windows is also an exceptional operating system to use if you intend to run your own dedicated server.
Windows servers guarantees support, security and integration for the Microsoft family of products. It is advisable to use Windows hosting to link a Microsoft-based service to their Internet hosting requirements.
However, Windows hosting, is complex and labor-intensive and can be used if the webmaster has in-depth experience in maintaining Windows systems. In case the webmaster lacks experience they can choose the UNIX platform.
UNIX platform:
UNIX platform is specially designed to accommodate heavy Web traffic and server loads. UNIX servers are known to host multiple sites and serve out gigabytes of traffic.
The UNIX platform is favored by most webmasters due to their technical advantages.
UNIX servers provide a wider degree of flexibility due to their shell environment. Shell environments are interactive, text-based systems that allow webmasters to interact and customize their services in real-time from any computer system worldwide.
UNIX system can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet without special or expensive software.
UNIX platform is preferred because of its uptime. UNIX systems with heavy traffic can provide 99 per cent uptime. Windows servers cannot provide good uptime unless specially configured. For this reason, average webmasters should select UNIX as their OS.
For a beginner it is always suitable to use a UNIX hosting system rather then Windows as UNIX has more advantage over Windows as explained above.
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