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What operating system is better for my website?
In the last two articles I talked about web space [server space] and bandwidth, but I did not mention anything about the two options you have in the world of web hosting. I spend a lot of time to cover those two, because they are far more important than what we will discuss here [in my personal opinion]. They limit what you will be able to use and are crucial to your actual hosting. Now we will move from the world of numbers to the world of operating systems.
What operating system is better for my website? Linux or Windows?
I know what you think: “Another smart ass trying to convince us Linux is better, than Windows…”, but I need to disappoint you right here. I will not tell you what way to go. I will just explain you what platform suits what needs and what are the basic differences, because at the end of the day it will be the technology you use to build and run your website, that will decide this topic.
There are wars between Windows and Linux users fighting about what’s better, but in the world of hosting it’s a different story. The majority of hosting companies I came across relied on Linux or used both these platforms, but there are plenty of hosting companies using only Windows Server products to run their hosting packages. So my guess is you will meet more Linux based companies as their support and cost is lower than the cost of running a Windows Server OS, but the big guys in hosting will offer you the ability to choose between both of them.
Linux has been for a long time considered to be the server operating system and Windows the home user/desktop operating system, but the times change and Microsoft has been on the server market for a long time, too. They offer solid products, although they do have some problems, but Linux has it’s problems, too.
What should decide which operating system to choose?
Well, as I said earlier. At the end of the day it will be the technology your site will need to be operative, that will decide! When you run a web site which really needs MySQL you will definitely need to go the Linux way, but as soon as your web site needs ASP.NET technology you need to go with a Windows server!
My advice is to go and look at your web site and what it requires to work properly and only than decide what way to go! Else you could be in big trouble and you could loose money.
Basically Linux should be better at security. Not because it is more safer [although it's harder to compromise a very good set-up Linux system than a Windows one], but because the majority of vulnerabilities is discovered on Windows platform as it is the primary target of hackers and virus writers.
What way to go is a matter of technology used and your own taste. You do not need to go with Windows if you are able to work only with Windows and did not work with Linux anytime before, because what’s many times not clear to people is, that the most of the time you will work with a Control Panel and you will thus not see the underlying system! The difference is only what you will be able to run on a Linux and a Windows server, because not every software works on both of them although there are substitutes for different software.
What should you remember:
- The technology your website needs to run decides what operating system you need [ASP.NET and MS SQL are Windows technologies...]
- Linux and Windows are both safe, but it depends on the knowledge of the people who configured them
- Big companies will offer you both alternatives, but the smaller ones offer most of the time only one of them – most probably Linux [Debian, CentOS, etc. ]
- Most of the time you will not need to worry what OS is running on your server as you will use a control panel to configure, run, update and/or manage your web space/site
I hope I helped you with your decision and hopefully now you understand, that although you never really worked with Linux/Windows you will most probably not realize what system your server runs on [you will not need to worry about it], because most of the time you will be able to do a lot of the tasks trough your Control Panel. Have a nice day and do not forget to ask any questions related to this topic in the comments area.
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