Web hosting is at the core of any website launch. But what exactly is web hosting? An online service that provides space on the Internet for websites is what is called Web Hosting. If you want other people to see your website after making it, the next thing to do is to publish (or upload) it to a web hosting service. This is what makes it possible for visitors to connect to your web server to surf and download the pages of your website. However with advancement in technology, there are now different types of web hosting services and one of them is Linux web hosting.
By definition, Linux Web hosting is when a company is allowed to use Linux, a free, open-source operating system that is based on Unix to build their web sites. In other words, it is the provision of servers that use Linux as their operating system for hosting a website. It is as a matter of fact, one of the most common open source platform used for web development these days and it has the ability to support a variety of hardware platforms. This package is made up of Linux Dedicated Hosting and Linux Dedicated Server which are dedicated hosting servers that use Linux as an operating program.
Linux web hosting offers numerous benefits which include but not limited to the following:
Less Expensive
Compared to Windows web hosting which is proprietary, Linux web hosting is considerably cheaper. It is not only considered as being very affordable but quite reliable too. It is open-source and is free to download and use. Unlike the Windows, the hosting company does not have to pay for the operating system. This is why Linux hosting is usually less expensive. For as low as $3/month, one can get a suitable Linux hosting package that meets all demands for a full-fledged website. There are abound online several cheap Linux hosting services to choose from.
Ease of Access
Another important thing to consider in web hosting is convenience in accessing your account. Linux offers access through a control panel or through a FTP session. Typically the control panel represents a graphical user interface (GUI) which makes it possible to access the server in a non-complex and straightforward manner.
Supports latest technologies
Linux web hosting packages support PHP, MySQL and other open source web development technologies. However, if you have a website which depends solely on Microsoft's proprietary technology, then you will have no option but to go for a Windows host as Linux does not support ASP, FrontPage, the .NET environment and Windows Streaming media or MSSQL.
Down Time
Linux is reputed to have a longer up time than Windows. This implies that many of the tasks that Windows requires a reboot for can be done on Linux without having to reboot the system. This makes Linux less vulnerable. Even though Linux hosts are prone to malicious attacks due to down time, they are not as often as Windows hosts. While Windows servers can remain in production for months without any downtime, Linux system administrators often schedule down time on a regular basis. Reputable Linux hosting companies often take measures to protect their clients from any form of security risk.
Choosing Between Linux and Windows Web Hosting
Even though Linux is now widely acknowledged as one of the best web hosting platforms, it is yet to level up with Windows in terms of popularity. But for its great features which has made it well-adopted, the level of popularity of Linux hosting has continued to increase steadily. In some cases, it is even preferred by many more than Windows. Moreover, the whole thing still boils down to the type of functions you want to be incorporated into your website. You can't consider using Linux web hosting when you intend to build a website that is based on applications like .NET and ASP because these are applications that are only Windows-compatible. In addition, most people have discovered Linux hosting to be quite as secure and as reliable too. Because of this, it is indeed highly difficult to recommend one at the expense of the other. Therefore this makes it is impossible to say whether Windows hosting is better or Linux.
In a nutshell, the choice of web hosting relies much heavily on the owner who decides what features is required for the website which will in turn determine the right operating system that is applicable. This factor also determines the choice of online web hosting service to go for. It is however imperative to mention that it is important to ensure compatibility of the chosen platform before going ahead with development work. It is difficult to point out the superior out of the two as both Linux and Windows hosting platforms come with their own shares of advantages and disadvantages. Either of the two platforms can be picked as far as such meets your web hosting demands.
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