Hey all...
me again...

Thinking about signing up for a Windows host, and I just wanted to know if there are any problems with it, other than the stability issue, which is pretty well-known...

Will scripts that work on *nix boxes run the same on Windows? Are there issues with PHP and the other data sources that Windows supports (Namely, MS Access and SQL 2000)?

I know more people generally go for *nix, and I've had great experience with *nix hosts, I'm just thinking about some of the different features, and wondering if there were any problems with hosting that Windows.

Rambling post, but I think I got my question across.

~{SkiE}~

In contrary to what you said, windows hosting is not unreliable.

The question you ask depends on the particular host you pick. For example, PHP doesn't come with Windows by default, and not too many web host install it on windows server. I am pretty sure you can use PHP to connect MS Access. As for the scripts, you probably need to do some porting and editing, but the basics should be fine. Again, it depends on the particular script you are working with.

Peter

surprisingly enough windows servers have been pretty stable, when compared to unix though it isn't that stable, like said above PHP is dominant on a unix served host, but mainly windows will be more of an advantage if your plannin on using Active Server Pages, but other than that I would stick with a Unix (never had a windows server host last more than 10 days straight =))

Generally, the only reason you'd want to go with Windows is when you need MS Access, MS SQL Server or ASP. If you don't need any of them you better off look for Linux/BSD solution.

Any specific reasons? Everyone seems to say this, but why?

Why?

ASP runs good on Windows, not good on Linux.

Access, MS SQL is only available for Windows.


Otherwise, a Linux server/shared account is generally cheaper, mainly because of high software costs for a Windows box.

Originally posted by Skie
Any specific reasons? Everyone seems to say this, but why?

There are several reason, but if you are the end user, ones that matter most are:

- Cost
- Availability of software, especially the free ones.
- The best control panels out there only available for Linux/BSD
- Features

'Features' is what I'd like to expand on if possible.... what specific features would be lost?

.htaccess...
cron jobs (is there a windows equiv?)
Does windows support telnet/ssh?

anything else that wouldn't work?

~{SkiE}~

You can password protect directories within a Windows system, but you generally have to use a database control, as opposed to .htaccess.

Windows NT/2000 has a schedular that you can use to create the equivalent of cron jobs.

There is a telnet server available for Windows (no SSH), howver most hosts don't install it, because, last time I checked, it drops you into the server root directory (c:\). This gives anyone who uses it complete access to the server. There is also Windows Terminal Client, and PCAnywhere, which give you graphical access to the system, but again, you have full access to everything.

Originally posted by Skie
'Features' is what I'd like to expand on if possible.... what specific features would be lost?

.htaccess...
cron jobs (is there a windows equiv?)
Does windows support telnet/ssh?

anything else that wouldn't work?



Actually, a Windows system can have most of the features a Linux system. That is, if you are willing to spend more. If you compare Linux and Windows out of the box without 3rd party software, there are a lot of things that not available in Windows. Things like compilers, programming languages, libraries, etc. While most of them are available in Windows, most doesn't install all of them. Usually they only go as far as Perl and PHP.

Originally posted by uuallan


There is a telnet server available for Windows (no SSH), howver most hosts don't install it, because, last time I checked, it drops you into the server root directory (c:\). This gives anyone who uses it complete access to the server. There is also Windows Terminal Client, and PCAnywhere, which give you graphical access to the system, but again, you have full access to everything.

Last time I check, F-Secure has an SSH server for Windows.

As far as I know, telnet server for Windows will drop into the root directory, but with the users' privileges. So while users can wander across the system, they can only do as far as their privileges permit. This is basically similar to Linux, with the only difference Linux by default drops user into his own home directory. The same goes with Windows Terminal Client, I think. Not sure with PCAnywhere.