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In today’s fast-paced world online, speed is of the essence. A few seconds slower and a website may lose a potential visitor whose attention is easily diverted by a competitive website. On the internet, everyone seems to be afflicted with fickleness. With so much information online and things to do with it, it’s hardly a surprise why everyone is easily distracted.

If you own a website, you must realize the importance of having fast web hosting. If your website takes forever to load, how will you be able to sustain the attention of your visitors? Although the speed of the internet connection your visitors are using largely determine how quickly they can access a site, the speed of the site’s host plays a huge role, too. To ensure that everything runs smoothly on your end, you have to get fast web hosting.

Just how fast should fast web hosting be? It all depends on what kind of website you’re planning to run. A graphics-heavy site will require much more bandwidth than one that is text-centric, for example. The features your website has will determine just how much bandwidth it will need to load quickly.

If you know that your site will be chock-full of features, consider choosing a fast web hosting company that offers ‘un-metered’ transfer and not unlimited bandwidth. In reality, web hosting companies will be hard-pressed to deliver unlimited bandwidth because once they have a huge clientele, their expenses will run up higher than their profit. So what’s the catch behind web hosting companies offering so-called unlimited bandwidth? They put restrictions on the amount of bytes that get transferred or loaded onscreen per second. These restrictions hamper real-time speed. A genuinely fast web hosting company may put restrictions to your site’s total bandwidth but will not put restrictions to your site’s transfer rate.

Of course, a fast web hosting company needs your cooperation to ensure that you and all of their clients do get speed. If your website is for strictly-download purposes only, eventually it’ll slow down as more visitors come and download stuff. Even if you have very fast web hosting, such extreme usage will affect your site’s performance. In many cases, it’ll slow down other client’s sites, too, if the fast web hosting company you signed up for has one server on which all of their customers’ sites are hosted.

If your website is heavy-duty, be prepared to shell out some bucks. You can have the quickest transfer rate and the biggest bandwidth any fast web hosting company can offer, if you have the budget for it. Space and speed cost money, but many website owners are wiling to pay for them because of the stiff competition for visitors’ undivided attention. If you don’t want to share bandwidth with other clients of your chosen fast web hosting, you may want to consider taking dedicated hosting instead of shared. With dedicated hosting, a server is assigned to your website alone. Shared hosting can seriously slow your site down if other clients abuse the services of the fast web hosting company you’re both under.

DWHS Inc. delivers cost efficient Web Hosting for your personal or commercial website with 24/7 online tech support and full customer satisfaction guarantee. For details visit http://www.dwhs.net

Author: Charles Yarbrough
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing

For those not in the know, this article will first explain what cPanel is exactly and how it applies to you in the wonderful world of web hosting. What it is actually is a web hosting panel that controls the applications within the website itself, and the program is actually based on Linux code with a graphical interface. It is a lot like Dreamweaver in a sense of the control issues and the layout, but the functions are pretty different. There is no code for you to wrap your head around, all you need to do to work with cPanel is the use of mouse gestures and normal point n click routines. What this does is give the end user, or administrator, the simple tools needed to host a web site as well as build it by installing applications onto its structure.

What is does is it utilizes something called a tier 3 structure, which allows everyone from admins, resellers, and even the user of the website to have some sort of control over the web host, but of course this is limited to the type of identity you have. An administrator would of course have function over all of cPanel and the website itself, while the end user might be able to do some limited things with it. You can access the panel through a web browser and by logging on to a web address.

The great thing about the cPanel is that apart from its graphical interface, it also has a command line and API function, which in geek speak, allows third party vendors and anyone with any knowledge of its code to add in automated functions and even their own processes – as long as they have permission from the admin. It has always been designed from the get go to be a standalone and dedicated server, also a virtual serve r and can support a multitude of operating systems. Another great thing about the cPanel is that it comes with a on board Web Hosting Manager, which allows anyone to access the web host and make changes easily. Many people are using this cPanel to interface with their web hosting business and the popularity is growing.

This is mainly down to the fact that it has a GUI or graphical interface, which means that you do not need to have a degree in rocket science just to be able to use it. When it first came out, it was quite buggy and had many compatibility issues, but the evolution of the product saw it becoming one of the most popular products out there. You will find it offered on plenty of web hosting solutions all over the Internet and would come stock standard within the package offered to you. Another great thing about this technology is the automatic upgrade function, which allows your product to be upgraded every time there is a release. You do not need to do anything, it downloads the updates on its own.

Vodien Internet Solutions provides all-in-one web hosting packages. Find out more details about their Singapore web hosting packages at their website.

Author: James Koh
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Web hosting has become an industry in itself because of its growing demand in the IT services sector. From the times when these services were meant for just designing HTML pages to the times when programming platforms like PHP and ASP are incorporated, web hosting has indeed come a long way. But even these software platforms only pay off on certain operating systems where their usability can be thoroughly exploited. Linux webhosting India services have become very popular in the web hosting industry because of the features, benefits and lastly, the versatility offered by the software platform. The platform is a safe haven for applications made with open source code as the administrators will always have the liberty to make changes suiting their professional requirements and further modify the program to their own handiness.

Linux operating systems have grown onto become one of the most preferred ones on the block. The system was initially released as an open source GNU GPL with freely available source code. Because of this virtue, IT developers across the world have been able to make drastic changes and mould the code to their convenience. The contribution of many software stalwarts across the world has made Linux a very stable and consistent platform on which Linux web hosting India services have flourished and thrived well. Because of these changes, the platform has seen many variations that tend to add a lot of value to the applications developed. Open source code ensures that whenever applications need to be restructured in a certain way, they can be streamlined accordingly.

The biggest advantage provided by Linux hosting India is the high level of reliability. The operating system provides space to write critical applications which is of huge importance to organizations. Linux web hosting services are very adaptable to corporate environments and let developers change the coding structure top their comfort. Because of the efficient web server and some robust hardware, Linux webhosting services give users an uptime of up to 99.99 per cent. Also, Linux web hosting services are highly cost efficient and less expensive compared to its counterparts making it very viable. The GPL feature allows lots of variations to be incorporated by web masters and developers.

Hosting solutions should also allow website expansion. Linux webhosting India services allow that to the hilt. The space provided by the services to incorporate changes ensures that whenever the applications need changes according to the situation, the developers have the liberty and freedom to make them. The Linux platform is compatible and the web hosting services made on it are made with a vision of changing times. The system is quite compatible with MySQL, which is basically a database server and also its contemporaries like Ruby and Python. Commercial products such as the Microsoft FrontPage can also be easily run on these hosting services and for business website owners, the Linux webhosting India services will always be a delight to work on.

Author: David S Maria
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Times

When you figure out the requirement to form a website, you will also have to zero out which web hosting firm to select. There are several platforms which you are open to make your pick from. The most famous amongst them is Linux Web Hosting. Linux hosting is taken to be as an alternate for making use of technology based on Microsoft Windows for working a website. Linux, an open source system was designed subsequent to Unix. This suggests that Linux is absolutely free, which a factor is considered by some people while making a choice. Apart from being free, it is also taken as extremely steady even in between long-lasting multitasking. Its flexibility, portability as well as power make it more credible in usage.

Other factor which contributes in making Linux Web Hosting a hit among the users is that the distribution cost is very small. With this you also avail free applications to assist the server run swiftly and consistently. Some of these applications you will also very well acquainted with such as HTTP server, File Server, FTP, DNS server among various others. With the technology of PHP, it is able to produce web pages having dynamic content and is also visually attractive. Such pages can change in terms of appearance as well as content. This is mainly keeping in consideration the interest of the person watching it has to so something like getting a form filled. Another most important advantage that plays a crucial role is that it is extremely easy in terms of its scalability. The provider of Linux based services offers practically a website, small as well as large as per your needs.

The system of data base which is used by Linux web hosts for varied websites is MySQL. Python, the programming language that is much valued by the programmers is also used in Linux hosting. It is comparatively refined and at the same time is very simple to learn too. It often makes use of words commonly used in English unlike other programming languages which make use of symbols.

It also renders you with the flexibility to make alterations and check them instantly without even making those changes everlasting. Extensible Markup Language, abbreviated as, XML is another technology made use by the Linux Web hosting. It is an extremely flexible way of regulating the information that contributes in formation of a website. With HTML, the previous system that was used every information piece was marked mainly for manifestation. With XML, this phenomenon has undergone a change and now you can use any kind of marker that pleases you. The owner of the website can now manage the website in their own way with XML. With Linux web hosting you can own all these benefits and mould them according to your needs.

Author: Anand Maheshwari
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cellphone news

The web server uses the operating system called the Linux. It is a lot more functional than some others. Linux operating systems and software is very reliable and well known. This software has been proven to be a good option to be reliable web hosting and running online applications.

There are a lot of advantages to using Linux web hosting such as reliability, price and security. There are some situations where Linux servers running for an entire year having no down time what so ever because of technical problems. Servers using other software have been known to need regular reboots and maintenance and still continue having issues. While their security is said to be better than others they usually come out with patches as security threats are found.

A benefit of Linux web hosting is that it costs less. You can find a number of versions, whatever the size of your budget. And since Linux is open source, there’s all sorts of Linux freeware accessible to webmasters and web hosting companies.

You will find that, with Linux web hosting, there can be a few disadvantages. For example, there are a number of applications it is not compatible with, as well as some coding conventions. However, if you can find a dedicated server hosting company that is really good at what they do, these problems can be avoided. Consoles that allow viewing of the Linux servers can be used. This problem is most widely experienced by programmers and not viewers. Still, the problem does exist.

The benefits are enough to negate any of the the above concerns. Along with price, free programs and scripts, there is also better control of your files and permissions. These servers are more reliable and the hosting fees are usually cheaper. There are easy to use control panels for administration. If a site is already created then the codes already used will affect which operating system that is chosen.

Typically the majority of web hosting companies will offer several plans and packages to pick from, such as Linux web hosting. You may wish to set aside the time in order to familiarize yourself with each selection provided in order to make the finest choice for your website or recent coding project.

Author: Karl Stadler
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Linux web hosting refers to web hosting services that are based on a server that is running the Linux operating system. It is probably the most widely used type of web hosting, especially for individuals and small to medium sized businesses, simply because Linux web hosting is cheaper than other options like Windows based hosting. The reason for this is that Linux is an open source software product and as such does not incur the high licensing fees that other operating systems do; you can freely download and use it at no cost. On the other hand, a web hosting service that offers Windows based hosting has to pay for the software and maintenance fees.

Some of the advantages of Linux web hosting are: cheaper than Windows, support for PHP scripts and MySQL databases and some hosts may offer telnet accounts at no or little additional cost. In many circles Linux is believed to be more secure than Windows, and for that reason it is also the more popular choice for web designers and programmers. Linux web hosting also offers users many configuration and customization options.

The Linux operating system is also very stable, so you can expect high uptime from a Linux web hosting service. Linux supports most scripting languages and types of web files, and you can use files with all the following extensions: .html, .htm, .pl, .php, .shtml, .asp, .xml and others. The biggest disadvantage of a Linux based web hosting solution is that it is not compatible with Microsoft technologies, like ASP scripts.

On the other side of the coin is Windows based hosting, which is generally more expensive, but it does support ASP and, usually for an extra fee, can support Cold Fusion, Access databases and SQL Server databases.

In conclusion, if you are new to building websites and web design, Linux web hosting is the better, and cheaper, option. However, if you need specialized services that are Windows specific, then you will have to use a Windows web hosting service.

Author: Evert Du Toit
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: US Dollar credit card

Many companies, especially the large ones, have their very own websites. Why do they have websites? That is because there are many advantages of having a website for a business. One advantage is that many people can browse your latest products and services easily. Consumers can also communicate with you faster if your website can provide contact information. You can give any information a customer would need from your company to help them decide to avail of the products and services that your company offers. A website truly is an important part of businesses these days.

So if you are planning to have a website, then the first thing that you should do is to look for a web hosting company. The web hosting company that you choose must be reliable. It must have an almost perfect uptime so that your website will be accessible anytime. You need to carefully search for a good web hosting company that can offer you the features that you need and can secure your data from hackers.

While you search for a hosting company, you might find some offering Windows Hosting and Linux Hosting. For many people, there really is not much of a difference between these two. While it is true that the performance and features that the two offer are almost the same, the question is the security. Many people are asking, “Is Linux web hosting secure?” As you probably already know, there are many malwares on the Windows Platform. Malware such as viruses, Trojan, worms and spyware threaten a system. A web server using Windows is open to these threats. A good Windows Hosting can protect their servers from this. What about Linux?

With so many people asking the question “is Linux web hosting secure?” many people have began to doubt Linux web hosting. The Linux platform is also open to different malwares, but there are only a few malwares that can harm Linux. Still, these malware can potentially harm a server hosting your website, which will lead to downtime. If you do not want this to happen, then you must know the answer to the question, “Is Linux web hosting secure?”

So when the developers of Linux was asked the same question, they answered by showing all the security features of Linux web hosting. What are these features? Here are some:

IP (Internet Protocol) Addresses – IP addresses of the visitors of the website are logged. This is used to identify the problems of the server and to prevent fraud.

Data Integrity – Linux ensures that the information on the websites of the customers remains accurate. Their hosting service can prevent unauthorized access, guarantee the correct use of information and preserve data accuracy.

Data Security – Linux also protects the information collected from their customers. They use industry-standard security measures like the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and Encryption of vital information using Hosting VentureOS web sites.

Data Access – Linux also offers a 24/7 customer support. With it, customers can have access to identifiable information and correct errors regarding this information. Linux takes steps to identify the customer before giving access to the said information.

With all these features, you should now know the answer to the question, “Is Linux web hosting secure?” Looking at all these features, you can say that Linux can do an excellent job at not only providing you with an accessible website, but also one that is secured enough to protect information from leaking out as well as other cyber crimes that can threaten your business. So if you asked me the question, “Is Linux web hosting secure?”, then I shall answer it with a “Yes.”

Author: Mark Andrews S
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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When you search for a web hosting company, you often find the word “Linux Web Hosting”. If you are a little technical person then you might know what is linux web hosting. In this article, I am going to give you details about Linux web hosting.

What Is Linux?

To understand about Linux web hosting, you need to understand what is Linux? In simple words, Linux is an operating system just like Windows 98, Windows XP or Windows Vista. You can do your daily computer task by installing Linux on your system.

History

Linux is a Unix like operating system. Linux was developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Torvald wanted to make a non-commercial replacement of Minix. Eventually, he came up with Linux kernel. A kernel is a core part of Linux operating system.

Free Source Code

Linux source code is freely available to everyone. Those who have slight idea about Linux always misunderstand things. Linux itself may not be free. The source code is free if you purchase any Linux distribution like RedHat or Ubuntu. Linux might cost you but you will get a source code free with Linux distribution. You are free to edit that source code as long as you follow the guidelines under GNU’s General Public License.

What You Will Get With Linux Web Hosting?

Now you know what Linux is. You need to understand what you will get with Linux hosting and how Linux hosting works.

LAMP software bundle is used in any company providing Linux web hosting. LAMP stands for Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP/Perl/Python

Linux, you know, is an operating system. Apache is a web server. Like Linux, Apache is also an open source project. Apache is widely used web server. It’s not that Apache only runs on Linux. For Windows also, Apache is available. For serving HTML pages, web server is needed. Most Linux shared hosting uses Apache to server pages.

MySQL is a database. MySQL provides multi users access to many databases. For implementing an advance application, you need database access.

PHP/Perl/Python are programming language used for making very advance web application. Most of Linux web hosting supports PHP. Perl and Python are not supported by all web hosting providers. Only few web hosting providers support Perl and Python language.

Windows Hosting Vs Linux Hosting

When you want to host your web site, you might be confused about whether to choose Windows hosting or Linux hosting. There is not a major difference between Windows hosting and Linux hosting.

Windows is a property of Microsoft. If you are going to use any Microsoft applications like ASP.Net, Visual C++ or Frontpage, then it’s advisable that you use Windows hosting.

From performance point of view there is not much difference between Windows and Linux hosting. Linux systems are more stable and less vulnerable to security breach. So with Linux hosting, you can expect more up time. Linux system runs for long time without rebooting. Windows need frequent rebooting after upgrade.

Major difference comes in price. Linux hosting is cheaper than Windows hosting. So if you are looking for cheap and reliable web hosting with no special usage of any Microsoft application then you should choose Linux web hosting.

Author: Dhruv Patel
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Microsoft Windows is the most popular operating system (OS); thus, most web hosting companies cater to sites running on Windows, as expected. However, there is an increasing demand for hosts that can support websites running on other platforms such as Mac OS and Linux, just to name a few. For this article, we will focus on Linux web hosting.

Why do some people choose Linux web hosting? To start with, Linux is an open source OS designed after Unix. It means Linux is free, which is a fact that is easily a factor in some people’s choice of operating system. Aside from being free, Linux is also known to be very stable even in the midst of some heavy-duty multitasking. It’s also known to be flexible, powerful, and portable. The graphical user interface (GUI) looks great, too.

Whatever the reason may be, there’s no denying that more and more people are turning to Linux web hosting. If you’re comfortable with using Linux with Perl programming language, now is the right time to go for Linux web hosting. It has its place in mainstream, so any worries you may have about lack of suitable choices for Linux web hosting should be thrown out the window. There are a lot of affordable packages being marketed by web hosting companies for the Linux user.

Surprisingly, even if Windows is the most popular OS, Linux web hosting has more presence on the internet than Windows web hosting. The reason behind this is Linux’s open source nature. A lot of technological developments in web hosting are also open source. It’s easier for developers and programmers to experiment with different innovations when high fees and licenses are not part of the equation. Thus, Linux web hosting provides you with a lot of flexibility at almost no cost. When technologies update, you can go along with them without worrying about your budget because they are free.

Linux web hosting is also highly standardized because Linux, as an OS, is a standard platform. Thus, you can easily add to your website without too much hassle since everything is streamlined. You’ll appreciate this more as your website steadily and quickly grows. Long-term management with diligent maintenance is one of the most difficult things you need to do as a webmaster; luckily Linux web hosting can help in that aspect.

Take note, though, that there’s a downside to all the good stuff, and it’s up to you if it’s worth looking over when you finally choose Linux web hosting. Since Windows still dominates as the number one OS, Linux web hosting does not have a lot of technical support available for applications and languages that are based on Windows. Sure, you have a wide range of Linux-based applications and languages to choose from, but there are very useful ones that are Windows-based. You either don’t use them at all, or prepare yourself to encounter difficulties when you do.

Weigh your needs and wants before choosing Linux web hosting over Windows web hosting. Both have positive and negative aspects to them, and choosing what works better for your website is something only you can decide.

Author: Charles Yarbrough
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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What is a web application? A web application, also known as the ‘webapp’, is an application that can be easily accessible through a web browser over the internet. It is coded in languages such as PHP, ColdFusion, and Asp.net combined with in a markup language like HTML. What are the many benefits of a webapp? For one thing, web applications are cross platform compatible. Unlike certain software, which may only work on a Windows machine of a Mac machine, web applications have the ability to work across many different kinds of software such as internet explorer, Firefox, Safari as well as many different kinds of operating systems such as Windows, Linux, or Mac OS. Web applications are also extremely cost efficient. They have much lower maintenance and support costs than software as well.

Another benefit of the webapp is that you will never have to install an application on your computer to take up hard drive space. A webapp will always occupy a virtual cloud of space on the internet. Web Apps also allow you to constantly have the most up-to-date software. No more upgrade fees!

They are also available anywhere and anytime! This is huge – similar to the way you can access your email from any browser, any computer, etc., you can also access any web applications from anywhere.

With webapps you can also stress less about viruses. Webapps require no installation, which means no viruses (unless you were to just get a Mac then you would never have that problem). The biggest benefit of all (in my opinion) is that mobile has arrived- allowing us to take our web apps anywhere our cell phones go.

Some Applications:
1. Facebook (social networking site)
2. Google Wave (an email and collaboration tool)
3. Mint (a site to keep track of all your finances)
4. Kuler (a color application to find colors that match and work good together)
5. Google Maps (a map application)
6. YouTube (Video application)
7. Go To meeting (a virtual meeting application)
8. WordPress (blogging application)

Author: Alexa Dagostino
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Pressure cooker

When a user finally decides to host his/her website, then his/her next step should be to decide whether he/she wants to host his/her website on the Windows platform or the Linux platform. Windows web hosting generally becomes a natural choice where as Linux web hosting is going to catch more and more all over the world.

More often a Windows platform will not need a Linux environment to host a website rather Linux is considered to be safe, reliable, and economical and also mostly favored for demanding website environments.

The selection of the operating system to host one’s website totally depends upon the scripting language that is used in his/her website. It is advisable to select Linux is if the languages used are PHP, MySQL, or Perl. One more advantage of using Linux-based server is that it used to provide very high uptime rate. Linux-based server has the characteristics of providing high uptime of 99.9%. Due to all these factors Linux-based web hosting is the most widely used web host in the world!

One can easily convert a Linux website to a Windows website without much aggravates, not only this but also one’s website can be changed easily as the prerequisite of a user raised. Including all this Linux web hosting has some more merits such, as it is very economical as Linux is a free operating system. More often the cost of distribution is borne by the host or owner.

Having so many benefits, Linux environment also have some limitations such as if one’s website has interactive facilities like chat or searchable database, then Linux may not be proved as the right choice. Off course Linux-based web server is not fully yielded with Windows technologies. When a user is using any Windows-centric technologies such VB, he/she should go for Windows-based servers without any hassle.

The conclusion is that one must make the choice for an operating system for his/her website on the basis of the kind of website he/she is going to host.

Web Hosting is today’s one of the prime requirements. Emerged from simple HTML pages hosting to a full blown web based hosted applications, creating several useful facilities for the people.

One can see Internet as a means of linking the business through out the world with the help of production of web based technologies like ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP, etc. This choice has forced various options for web hosting now as HTML based sites work equally well on both Linux and Windows platforms.

Talking in fact, Web hosting platforms differs according to operating systems. If one talks about the most common and popular operating servers then the two names which come first in the mind are Microsoft Windows Server and Red hat Linux. As the names of most popular servers have already been disclosed, it leaves behind several questions to answer. Which includes merits and demerits of both the servers? What are the reasons of Linux to stay ahead? Etc.

Linux platform has been constructed by Community based efforts and with the assistance of several IT companies like Red Hat, Suse, and Mandrake it has been specially designed for professional application. Due to such a backup unit Linux Server is known for its strong, inexpensive and protected platform.

Today, quality and security matters without much effect on user’s pocket, which makes the Linux a good choice. In addition to ASP, ASP.NET, other web based technologies also efficiently run in Linux. No cost distribution of PHP, MySQL, and PERL has massively reduced the charges involved in hosting on a Linux Server.

When it comes to Linux hosting probability of virus attack, spamming and hacking are relatively few. Robust architecture and cost effective software’s play a very important role in this.

Given below are reasons why Linux based web server dominate over Windows:

Stability: very stable and provides uptime around 99.9%.

Ownership cost: Linux operating servers comes without any charge or with simple charge. A fully fledge server with desk top applications. One will get stable server applications like FTP, Web Server, DNS Server, and File Server for free of cost.

Cooperative to User: one can easily host on Linux web servers. Both Linux and Windows have simple procedure when it comes to uploading and hosting.

When user’s requirement is to run tool like Front Page on a Linux based web server, he/she should confirm that the Front Page extensions are facilitated. This formality is necessary only when user is uploading using HTTP feature of Front Page. One should also ensure that if he/she chooses “Front Page Extensions”; at the time of web site design, user should facilitate Front Page extensions to Linux web server. Nowadays, one can purchase Linux web servers with installable Front Page extensions, without any sort of problems. Generally, assisted file extensions include, .cgi, .html, .htm, .pl, .php, .shtml, .xml, etc.

Accessibility between hosts: A web site recommended for a Linux based web server can be hosted on a Windows web server easily, but its vice-versa may not be obtainable.

Scalability: one cannot overlook future expansion of the web site. It is dynamic and flourishes as per user’s necessities. One can consider that web design well-suited to a Linux/Unix based web server can match scalability requirements much easier as compare to others.

Linux and Windows 2000 are the types of software also known as operating systems that web servers use to perform, the kind of thing that web servers perform.

The following are the guidelines to assist in the decision making as to choose which among the two: -

It’s not compulsory to opt for Windows web hosting if one is using a windows desktop PC and the reverse is also true. Web host choice has very less to do with the operating system one is using. The only requirement is having knowledge of using FTP or web publishing software and then anyone can opt for any of the operating system. The most important factor is one must be fully aware of the functions of his/her website and also the purpose for which it is designed. That will help in determining the type of web hosting that will be most fruitful. Usually, interactive websites rely on ASP, PHP, or Perl type languages.

How to choose between Linux Web Hosting and Windows 2000 Web Hosting?

In Web hosting, Linux was for some time, been widely considered the best OS for Web servers. Due to several factors like reliability, stability and efficiency it is most widely used for the demanding environment of Web and mail servers. In fact due to traditional stability most of the client’s websites of aalpha NET runs on the Linux OS in particular.

However the most important question is what application one is searching for? One must consider the tools and scripting languages that he/she is planning to use i.e. if one is using PHP, Perl or MySQL then Linux is the best option. But if applications are Microsoft-specific, then Windows is what is needed.

If one’s site is what might be termed as “brochure-ware” then Linux servers will serve best. Brochure-ware means a site that provides sort of information that in the past might have been provided on paper in the form of brochures, newsletters or data sheets. Thus brochure-ware sites offer some interaction through enquiry forms and can certainly incorporate online purchasing and other routine e-commerce functions.

However if one’s site incorporates an online searchable database or interactive chat facilities then Windows 2000 or NT is considered best in most of the cases. It is little bit expensive but in return it provides reduced development time and better functionality.

Thus compensating the extra cost.

Advantages of using Linux based web server compared to Windows based web server:

Stability: Traditionally Linux/Unix operating systems were considered to be very stable and robust. With up time as high as 99.9%, a web site housed on a Linux operating system was considered best. While talking in reference to maintaining the system up time other factors like power supply, network admin skills, and network load etc. also matters a lot.

Reduced cost of ownership: In terms of cost the Linux OS comes absolutely free of cost or at very insignificant cost that too mainly cost of distribution. In addition it is well equipped with full-fledged server, and desktop applications that are free along with the OS. The server applications like FTP, Web Server, and DNS Server, File Server etc are free as well as very stable.

Easy to use: In case of Linux web hosting it is quite easy to host on Linux web servers. There is no major difference between uploading process and hosting in case of both Linux and Windows web servers. One must make sure that the Front Page extensions are enabled while using a Windows based tool such as Front Page for uploading a web site on to a Linux based web server. However this is only required if one is uploading using HTTP feature of Front Page. Also it is possible to upload a web site using FTP, as Front Page makes it possible. Just one needs to select an address with ftp for up loading using front-page FTP option. However one must take care that while selecting “Front Page Extensions” during web site design, he/she must enable Front Page extensions on a Linux web server also. Now days, all Linux web servers comes with installable Front Page extensions, making hosting on a Linux platform easier. One can almost use all types of file extensions or scripts while using Linux web server. The following are some of the commonly supported extensions-.cgi, .html, .htm, .pl, .php, .shtml, .xml,etc.

That means one can host web sites with different types of server side scripts including .cgi, .pl, .php, and .asp along with plug-in.

Easy movements between hosts: It’s quite easy to shift to another server in case of Linux based web server. A web site designed to be hosted on a Linux based web server can be easily hosted on a Windows web server but that facility is not available in case of Windows based web servers.

Wider Use: Linux/Unix based web hosting has wider use in comparison to Windows based web hosting.

Scalability: A web site designed is quite dynamic and needs modifications from time to time as per customer’s requirement. Therefore it is preferable to design a web site keeping the requirement of scalability in mind. A web site designed for compatibility with a Linux/Unix based web server fulfills this requirement easily without making any site wide design changes.

In against to that, Linux based web server is not fully compatible with Microsoft technologies. So if one is using any specialized applications or VB for development of his/her web site, it is preferable to host with a Windows based web server.

Linux Web hosting has a history of prominence â?? helping millions world-wide with safe and secure hosting options. Net craft, the UK-based prominent internet monitoring company, has already reported that the eight of the ten most reliable web hosting companies of the world run Linux as the OS in their web servers. Letâ??s dig deep into the subject of why Linux is rapidly becoming the center of attraction for most world-wide.

1. Stability

Linux, the â??UNIX-likeâ?? OS is based on OpenSource architecture. That makes the source code readily available to peers for regular reviewing. The resultant effectiveness in spotting bugs and incorporation of effective codes to affect enhanced stability of the entire programming structure is not hard to imagine. Any assurance for â??long uptimeâ?? and â??crash-proofâ?? server performance is another option that is ready to be enjoyed with every Linux Web hosting facility.

2. Security

Not just because the stability factor that leads to better solutions concerning to security of the Linux Web hosting variety, the availability of Apache HTTP web server offers several secure options that are too important to be ignored.

3. Ubiquitous ness and cost-effectiveness

LAMP; the computer software-web server combination that defines the architecture of Linux Web hosting service offers perfect instance of ubiquitous ness (as the entire package comes in a bundle with maximum Linux distributions).

The ubiquitous ness and innate OpenSource architecture makes the entire Linux Web hosting package highly cost-effective too.

Few words on LAMP

LAMP is an acronym for Linux (OS), Apache (web server), MySQL (database), PHP/Per/Python (scripting language) â?? the four essential ingredients that form the solution stack of technologies for successful structuring of Linux web hosting service.

Well, so it all ends up to a situation where you are to choose from Stability, security, ubiquitous ness and cost-effectiveness.

Wonder ever one got so many positives to choose from!

In Large enterprises Linux is adopted, however there are many people who don’t know that there are sizeable numbers of installations in small and medium businesses (SMBs) as well. Now –a-days use of Linux servers and applications at SMBs is growing.

As per country manager, pSeries & Open power, IBM, “Unlike large enterprises, SMBs do not have to face the challenge of migrating legacy applications. The popularity with SMBs has helped Linux grow at 30 percent globally”.

As per general consensus Linux did better in 2004 than predicted. Director Enterprise Marketing & alliances, Customers solution Group, HP India says, “ As per IDC India, Linux in the server market grew by 48 percent in OND, 2004 over JAS, 2004, while the windows and Unix markets showed a modest 3 percent and 3.4 percent growth respectively during the same period.”

Success of any operating system depends upon the availability of required applications. As such SMBs serves as a boon for Linux servers as it offers them lower TCO and tighter control on their IT spends. However as many SMBs already have home grown applications, a proprietary OS will be the single largest area of spending. This point makes Linux most advantageous.

Vertical scability has grown a lot due to the availability of version 2.6 of the Linux kernel in Red hat Enterprise Linux 4 and Novell’s SuSE 9 .Due to emerging role of SMBs in global supply chain; they demand enterprise applications on Linux to keep their investment low. This helps in enabling Linux server market grows worldwide.

Why to opt for Linux Based servers?

Two factors on which Linux serves best are cost and better security as the source code of proprietary software is always kept a secret. Due to the support of community, any security hole in Linux is quickly found and patched.

Linux helps in saving not only software costs but also offers long term saving on hardware. SMB instead of upgrading software with Linux can take control of its IT strategy. Chief technology officer of IDBI bank says, “You decide when you wish to upgrade, not the vendor, hence you get tighter control on your spending.” This is very important particularly for users, such as SMBs that cannot afford to keep up with the pace of change in commercial software.

Business application and Linux

All credit goes to Oracle for driving the Linux server market. In beginning of 2004,Oracle came up with a value offering. Among other features it offered pre- configured Oracle E-Business Suite special edition on Lintel Boxes for a 10 user License for $36,000USD. The traction of this offering was seen towards the end of 2004 when we closed a dozen deals that were in various stages of implementation, says General Manager, Oracle India. This is an authentication that SMBs are opting for Linux servers. In other hand SAP is following Oracle in making application available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Customized and certified

The importance of Linux is growing as all server vendors including HP, IBM and SGI are opting for Linux and each has a SMB specific business strategy in order to make them grow.

In one its announcements HP told that some of its high end computing tools from the HP-UX environment are ported onto Linux and made available to SMBs.It includes a clustering solution termed as HP service guard for high availability of applications and management tools such as Systems insight Manager (SIM) and open view that offer third party integration. In addition to that HP is creating a reference architecture stack, including hardware, OS, database and Middleware. In order to increase confidence in customers, HP certifies a stack so that customers can confidently deploy their core business application on Linux. Linux servers are quite popular in high performance computing (HPC) environments such as research labs.

Recently IBM has launched a new family of eserver Openpower systems based on its Power5 processor specially designed for Linux. The Power5 comes with a micropartitioning technology called Virtualization Engine (VE) wherein each processor can be sliced into ten virtual partitions with each partition acting as a new server. IBM’s eserver Openpower 710 is a single CPU processor with 3 HDDs and 512 MB memory with RAID level 1 and 5. This eserver offers SMBs an affordable alternative against higher priced entry-level Unix or Linux system. Openpower offers a 64bit platform at a price point of a 32-bit offering. It is believed to be the right product for the mass market.

Sun Microsystems has the Sun fire V20 and V40 severs based on the 64-bit AMD Opteron processor, which has been successful with SMBs. It also offers the Solaris 10 Opetron combination. Sun is promoting Solaris 10 to take the fight to commercial Linux by offering several features such as support of email, phone and onsite at a comparatively low price. The list of Sun customers is quite big which includes advanced scientific research, elite foods, Sage Design systems, Centre for DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics etc.

The uses of Linux servers are very much like they are used by SMBs for CAD analysis, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and FEA (Finite Element Analysis). Linux systems are rugged as they come with SGI Propack over and above the standard Linux Kernel. This provides the ability to customers to scale there computing environments with independent I/O, memory and power supply.

Banking on Support

Linux is taking place in most of the commercial business applications in verticals like in manufacturing, small banking and hospitality. To add more points to Linux server market now tally o Linux is available .Red hat has 950 ISV partners who are indulged in developing applications that run on its Linux distributions. In order to meet SMB requirements, Linux offers secure and scalable solutions. IBM also has 35 to 40 pure Linux partners offering consultancy and helps it in integrating and implementing services for its customers using Linux.