What is Windows Hosting?
Love it or hate it, Windows hosting is here to stay.
Now there has been a great debate about Windows on the desktop for years. Should you use it? Should you switch? I would be willing to bet money though that you didn’t know the same fight existed in the web hosting world too. Unlike the desktop PC market, Windows is not on top. Linux really rules the roost in this world of server administration.
Where with a Linux-based server you have reliability, with Windows-based servers you have ease of use. As far as security goes, Linux is on top and with Windows your left patching holes left and right. On the range of price, Linux for the server is often cheap or free while Windows costs much more money than you really have to spend.
With that said your probably wondering, what does Windows hosting provide for the end user?
Well, as I mentioned before they have “easy of use” to hang over Linux’s head. That means that a web host can spend less time trying to train their staff on the ins and outs of how to administer the server. Windows can also support a number of database types, such as: MS Access, Microsoft SQL, MYSQL and Excel. Also you can’t forget about the ASP and ASP.net - Microsoft’s Active Server Pages technology.
When push comes to shove, you really shouldn’t pick the operating system of your server because of who it is. You should be picking it because of what it can do for you. If the scripts, services and technologies you want to use are on Windows - go with a Windows hosting account. If they are not? Then a Linux-based server might be the bets way to go.
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