Web Hosting for Windows
A professional web host is acquainted with all the technicalities related to web hosting. He/she knows that selection of the operating system is one of the foremost duties. Selection on of the operating system, however, depends on the objectives and contents of the website. It is always better to make a wise selection as there are only a limited number of popular operating systems. Microsoft Windows and Linux are the two most popular operating systems that are used by web hosts. UNIX and Macintosh can also suffice client requirements though they are not so popular. This article is designed to help you, the reader, understand how choosing Windows web hosting will affect your website operation.
Windows, a product of Microsoft, is one of the most popular operating systems in the present day world. This is a standard operating system used for personal computers, both at home as well as in office. With the growth in the popularity of web hosting services, the operating systems are also a matter of concern. These are the systems that would not be visible to the end users as such but the performance they generate would definitely matter for the website. Windows is preferred by a large scale of users as well as web hosts. Windows web hosting offers a wide array of scripting languages like that of ASP, ASP.NET and PHP. These scripts are also easier to learn as there are several online tutorial featured by Microsoft, offers lessons on these scripting languages.
If you find a website needs to be hosted incorporating the use of Microsoft products it is advisable to use Windows as a platform so that you know the applications will operate correctly. An effective Internet Information Server (IIS) is one of Microsoft’s many features. If your hosting environment uses ASP, Microsoft access, and SQL then IIS is absolutely required and you must use the windows platform to create your website. A Windows webhosting environment has a lot of plug-ins and pre-made programs and components such as CGI specifically for use on Windows web servers.
Windows compared to UNIX
Web sites that are hosted on UNIX and Windows servers can be accessed universally. The difference between the two operating system lies in terms of the software they provide to server data. Windows can always provide better software services for all purposes. In terms of reliability, UNIX is just a few steps ahead since it is known to be extremely stable and does run for years without rebooting. However, Windows can manage to meet the requirements of modern websites far better than UNIX.
Wherever there are Microsoft products such as MS Access databases, ASP for delivering content, and VBScript site enhancements you will need to create your site with Windows. UNIX is not compatible with those systems. If your web host uses them you must comply and use Windows even if you normally do not. The things that UNIX provides can be found already available in the Windows environment.
Windows compared to Linux
Both Windows and Linux can support standard Cold Fusion, HTML and JavaScript files. Previously it was difficult to use Linux server for FrontPage extensions but now it is easy to do so. CGI and Perl platforms are though supported by Windows but Linux is commonly used for these. Linux commonly supports PHP while Windows support ASP.
The biggest advantage of Windows over Linux is that it runs all of the Microsoft software such as Access and can also create MS SQL database that is used by many hosts now. The Windows platform gives developers programming environments such as VBScripts (Visual Basic Scripts), Active Server Pages (ASP), and the Index capabilities of MS Index Server. Linux is not able to access those Microsoft features so if a use requires the use of MS SQL, ASP, OR VBScript as a method of development they must use Windows.
The best method to choose between the various platforms is to study what Windows has to offer. Not all of the Windows packages offer every component so you need to examine them carefully.
Below are some of the features that will have to be there in the Windows-based hosting package.
* .NET Support
ASP.net is the most modern of Microsoft’s Active Server Page and allows for a great integration of information sharing and access. It is an important part of the Internet Information Server or IIS. Some servers charge additional fees for this feature.
* Databases
Generally most of the website owners have a tendency to provide Microsoft Access 2000 Database. But if the business is bigger and the company for whom the hosting would be down is large size, then MS SQL is required.
* PHP and ColdFusion
These are advanced features that not all web hosts make available. They usually only give this option if they have it to the most specialized of websites.
* Control Panel
Your control panel is your connection to your site. It is how you will create, store and manage your information. It is necessary to be able to use it effectively.
Other very useful features of the Windows platform include such items as POP3 email, IDs and Aliases, Bandwidth, IP, Webmail, and Backup support as well as SMTPs and FTP accounts, along with CDONTS and ASP support.
Windows operating systems will continue to be the most popular system for use by the most customers largely due to the fact they have come to expect seeing the familiar logo and associate it with a positive image. Microsoft has imprinted that image so heavily upon the minds of the general public they are often not willing to use other systems, or even try them out. Windows has been the most popular operating system since the early 80′s and will continue a strong customer loyalty thanks to its strong brand name presence. People are generally geared to believe that a Windows platform will be available for long periods in the future and won’t disappear.
Ample support available for Windows web hosting also makes it a popular one for most of the users. Therefore, though decision rest mostly of the user, as to which platform to be used, the opportunity to use Windows should not be lost if possible. Web hosts can help better in this regard.
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