by Ryan Budiman

Created on: January 29, 2009

Some 'green' (that is, beginner) webmasters only know how to order a web hosting service. Click which one that you like, shell out some cash, and that's it! Fortunately, most of us know better than that. So in order to make each of your dollars worth more, the operating system of the server counts. This article will outline why a Linux server is an indisputable choice over a Windows server.

First, let's take a look at it from the webmasters perspective. Obviously, they want servers which are fast, robust, error-free, and most of all, offer a very high uptime guarantee. Websites that can't be accessed is a nightmare for every administrator. Even worse, if server's security isn't very strong, all the contents in it can be taken over by hackers unknowingly, and that includes your website as well.

Your skills in deciding which web hosting company to use will come in handy to prevent those disasters mentioned above. The benefits of a company running Linux servers over Windows servers are as follows:

1. Safer and virus-free

Linux servers are known to have more resistance to malicious codes or viruses than servers running Windows. As a simple Google search will prove, most viruses and spywares are designed to wreak havoc on Windows systems, and not Linux. Once a virus enters a Windows server, all the web pages in it will (almost certainly) be lost. A virus can also open the gate for hackers, allowing them to exploit the system and gain access to it. On the other hand, this happens much less likely on Linux servers as the amount of malicious codes for Linux is significantly lower than there is for Windows.

2. Reliable and robust

It would be too much of a problem if a server defragments its content every once in a while. When it is defragmenting, which takes usually several hours, all the web pages stored in it will load much more slowly. Fortunately, Linux's default filesystem (generally it is how the hard disk is formatted) is the 'ext' filesystem. This filesystem needs no defragments nor the usual checkups for errors as you'll frequently find in Windows systems. It is a clean and fast filesystem, and is especially useful for servers.

3. Designed to be a server

From the beginning, Linux was created to be a secure and a multi-user system. This is different from Windows which originally started as a single user system. Linux implements many powerful services and tools and are capable to run many heavy tasks. Most well-known server applications are designed for Linux, such as the Apache web server, which performs best on the top of a Linux system.

4. Cheaper to use

Linux systems are, as everybody knows, free and open-source. This means that the web hosting company will spend less on licenses, and hopefully could invest the surplus in a better service for the users, such as more bandwidth, or more hard disk space to store your files. Who does not want the same service that is offered for a lower price?

By now you should be able to see why Linux server is a better choice than Windows. Choose a web hosting carefully, a mistake in doing so could end in a nightmare.

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