Windows 2003 or Linux?

Which is the right platform for your Web site?

Both Windows 2003 and Linux operating systems are excellent platforms for Web hosting. Some individuals and organisation feel very strongly in favour of one operating system over the other but in reality both platforms offer great stability, performance and reliability.

If you use a Windows operating system on your desktop PC this doesn't mean you have to choose Windows Web hosting. The operating system installed on your desktop PC or laptop has no connection to the operating system you choose to host a Web site. The same can be said if you have Linux installed on your computer system.

The reality is that for many Web sites the operating system installed on the Web server makes no difference to their operation. The question to consider is, "Is the Web site or database technology that has been created or is to be created more suitable on the Windows 2003 or Linux platform?

The technology your Web site is created with will determine the platform the site should be hosted on. A Web site constructed using HTML and no server side code such as ASP, ASP.NET or PHP will happily run on Windows or Linux i.e. either platform is suitable for a HTML based site. If you are unsure what technology your site is created with then please contact us and a quick consultation with a member of staff will establish the correct platform for your site.

As a consideration, the cost of developing Web sites for the Linux platform can be cheaper as much of the software is open-source, widely available and there is great support for it from a large development community. By developing a PHP Web application powered by a MySQL database for the Linux platform there can be a quicker return on investment.

If you've a better idea now of what platform is most suitable for your Web site then go to our Web hosting introduction page for more information about our hosting services.