|
Before your read all of this: We will bottom
line this at the beginning...
- It does
not matter what OS you use on your
own computer
- With our
web-based Control Panel, both platforms
are point-and-click
- Linux
is the Industry Standard
- Linux
is far superior with regard to security
- Linux
is less expensive
- If you
use other Microsoft products such
as ASP, MS SQL, MS Access, etc. for
your web presence, then the Windows
platform would better suit you
We are often asked which hosting
platform one should choose, LINUX or
Windows®2000. Below, we have listed
the major differences between the two
that you should consider in making your
final decision. In the process, we have
also tried to dispel any common misconceptions
regarding these platforms.
Important: One of the biggest
misconceptions is that you have to run
LINUX on your own computer in order
for you to host your site on LINUX platform
or you need to have Windows 2000 to
use a Windows platform. That is not
true. Which operating system you run
on your computer is irrelevant in making
your decision. This means that if you
are running a Windows operating system
on your computer, you can still choose
LINUX.
| Operating System |
|
LINUX |
|
Windows 2000 |
| Key Features
|
|
|
|
|
| Ease of Use |
|
 |
|
|
| Reliability |
|
|
| Speed |
|
|
| Functionality |
|
|
| Price |
|
|
Integration With
Microsoft
Technologies |
|
|
| Free/Open Source
Software |
|
|
Ease of use:
Over the years, many resources have
been poured into both LINUX and Windows®2000
platforms to make hosting as easy as
possible. Today, there are no real differences
in terms of ease of use between these
platforms. If you are an advanced user
who prefers to work in shell environment,
then LINUX is your choice. However,
if you are a beginner, or using Microsoft
technologies/interfaces you will find
Windows a much better choice. SuperSpiders.Com's
Control Panel allows easy management
of both systems.
Reliability:
The industry consensus is that LINUX
is considerably more reliable. However,
SuperSpiders.Com has made sure that
the reliability of the Windows®2000
platform closely matches that of LINUX's.
What this means is that you can make
your decision based on the differences
in features rather than on reliability.
Speed:
There is no real difference in terms
of speed between the two platforms.
However LINUX is slightly faster processing
basic web page data.
Functionality:
This is where two platforms differ the
most. There isn’t much that can be achieved
in one platform that can’t be on the
other. The main difference is how the
end is achieved. For example, if you
need a database driven web site, you
can choose either PHP/MySQL combination
under LINUX or ASP/MS SQL combination
under Windows®2000. The trend is for
solutions to be supported in both platforms.
For example, Microsoft FrontPage, one
of the most popular web site editors
out there, is supported on both LINUX
and Windows®2000. Please see below for
the list of supported features.
Price:
Here, LINUX holds a slight edge due
to the fact that most of the software
licenses are free and that it is easier
to maintain LINUX servers than Windows®2000
servers for the same level of reliability
and performance. Unless you specifically
plan to use Windows®2000 platform specific
features (see below), it probably makes
sense to choose the LINUX platform.
|
Supported Features |
| Features |
LINUX |
Windows |
| MS
FrontPage |
|
|
| Flash |
|
|
| Shockwave |
|
|
| RealAudio/Video |
|
|
| Cgi-script |
|
|
| Perl |
|
|
| PHP |
|
|
| SSH
(Secure Telnet) |
|
|
| MySQL |
|
|
| Miva |
|
|
| ASP
(active server pages) |
|
|
| MS
Access |
|
|
| MS
SQL |
|
|
| Visual
Basic Scripts |
|
|
|
