First of all, I'm really sorry to bring up another Linux vs. Windows thread! But I did search these forums and couldnt find any... There are millions from a consumer perspective but I'm asking as a web host provider perspective


OK so my situation is this - I have been researching, preparing and aiming towards starting a web host company for about a year now. In that time I've used a reseller account to familiarize myself with WHM and just recently have hired VPS with CentOS & WHM/Cpanel to learn that bit further.


My original aim was to start off supplying cPanel/WHM on a linux server - mainly because of the cheaper costs, but also largely due to consumers tend to go for linux over Windows

But I've always been a Windows oriented person, in fact I'm a Level 2 desktop technician supporting Windows with a LOT of experience on Windows 2003 server.


I'm now beginning to think I'll be much better off starting off with Windows 2003 or 2008 web server, so I can comfortably manage my own server without having to hire a server admin for the easy tasks. I also think that offering Windows may be a benefit, because it seems as though everyone else only supplies Linux, so I guess being a windows only host could be my 'niche'



What do you guys think? I know the debate is Linux has the reputation of being more secure, and the only real benefit of Windows is support of ASP.NET, so aside that, should I go with the devil I know? Or jump into the deep end with Linux?

Doggins

There is market for both the OS, both are as secure as you can make them, better is the one which you are more familiar with.

Apart from above, a good point to consider is which one can you afford (money part) to start with.

Linux solution is generally cheaper but you need to hire an admin to manage it or you can get a managed VPS. Windows solution if you think you can manage it, good, you are saving the cost of admin but you are still paying higher cost and a windows hosting solution is incomplete without MsSql and that has its own cost.

Hopefully this will make it easy for you to take a decision.

Windows is less popular but if you are more familiar with it you should go for it and cave out a niche for yourself. The Windows hosting market is huge as well and less crowded than the Linux one. And you can always add Linux offering later on.

Go with Windows. Not only can your offer what the Linux guys do like PHP and MySQL, but you can also offer ASP.Net. You have the best of both worlds(yeah I know theres work being done on getting .net working on Linux but it ain't there yet).

With The MS SPLA program it costs 10.00/mth for Web Server OS, and if you go the VS route, you can get the Datacenter version of 2008 for $50.00/mth per cpu and get unlimited Virtual servers. More costly then Linux, but if your coming from a windows background well worth it.

There are plenty vps/dedicated options out there, I would question as I always do the need to have a dedicated server for a startup host, look at places such as powervps.com who offer for example:

Windows 2003 Server
Equal share CPU
512MB RAM
20GB disk space
600GB bandwidth
4 IP addresses
2 RDC licenses

And you can add plesk control panel as well. This will give you the chance to try it out and see how you get on without a huge outlay. And at least you have support on hand on a semi-managed basis and full root access.

There's nothing wrong with going the Windows route, but I must agree that a Windows hosting solution is considered incomplete without MSSQL, so you should factor that additional cost into your decision.

There's nothing wrong with going the Windows route, but I must agree that a Windows hosting solution is considered incomplete without MSSQL, so you should factor that additional cost into your decision.

Dont forget to add in the cost of the control panel as well, plus many other pieces of software that could cost additional as well. All depends on what type of market your going after as well.

The only reason IMHO to go with windows is if your marketing to people that want MS based solutions, such as asp.net, mssql (additional costs), and exchange/sharepoint (additional costs). Even though your a "level 2 desktop technician", that really has nothing to do with admining a windows server. Yes, you said you have a lot of experience with Windows 2003, but is that more from a LAN perspective (active directory, etc)? You can get a server admin company for a single dedicated server for $30 a month. Thats a hell of a lot cheaper than all the licensing combined for a ms server.

Your decision in all honesty shouldnt be about what you feel is easiest to admin. Its more about what you can sell and what you can profit off of. If it was all about what we wanted versus what the customer wanted, a lot of admins wouldnt be running cpanel. =P

Just a note. Im not against windows servers at all, just need to make sure the full picture is taken into consideration and you make the choice for the right reasons.

I dont like windows :) too tacky and 'easy' - linux all the way

Dont forget to add in the cost of the control panel as well, plus many other pieces of software that could cost additional as well. All depends on what type of market your going after as well.

I've got a few companies shortlisted that include Plesk in the price (eg Liquidweb or Zenex5ive, (...yes big differences between both these companies) as for MSSQL... to be honest I hadn't even thought of that! Looking up the prices, I think thats going to throw my budget way out of proportion. Does anyone know more info on MSSQL on licensing etc? I see there is an express (free) version but I would assume is for personal use.



Even though your a "level 2 desktop technician", that really has nothing to do with admining a windows server. Yes, you said you have a lot of experience with Windows 2003, but is that more from a LAN perspective (active directory, etc)? You can get a server admin company for a single dedicated server for $30 a month. Thats a hell of a lot cheaper than all the licensing combined for a ms server.

Yes you're quite right, I've nowhere near enough server experience to administer my own, so I'd still need to hire a server admin, I just thought if I wanted to quickly RDP to my server if the need arises, I'd feel much more comfortable doing this than with Linux (at this stage)


Your decision in all honesty shouldnt be about what you feel is easiest to admin. Its more about what you can sell and what you can profit off of. If it was all about what we wanted versus what the customer wanted, a lot of admins wouldnt be running cpanel. =P

I suppose that is my problem, I'm more a technical person than a business man, I'll ponder over the things you've said, thanks for your advice!



Also thanks to everyone else who responded for your advice... I'm taking it all in!

I could be totally wrong here, but I would say that in general Web Hosting is dominated by providers running Linux or some Unix variant as opposed to Windows.

As there are fewer (or appear to be) Windows providers, you might do better going down the Windows route. As you also have the previous experience thats another big factor. As others have brought up, Windows is going to cost you more to run than Linux because not only do you pay Control Panel licenses but for the OS itself + other bits like MSSQL. So you just need to weigh it out really.

Personally if I ever wanted to do web hosting, file sharing or basic email I would choose Linux over windows any day. When your used to it, SSH becomes as easy as a GUI with buttons and wizards. Linux is more secure, less prone to malicious files i.e. viruses, and of course it's free.

The only thing I would use windows for is Active Directory and MS Exchange. You could look into providing Hosted Exchange since there is demand for that for people who need Direct Push email on handheld PDA's and blackberrys etc. If you decide to go down the Windows route I would definatley look into doing Exchange as an Addon or standalone service to your regular hosting.

For sure prices to start a windows host are higher than linux, also if you go with MS SPLA, but just consider the everage price to hire a good linux admin (also for just 1 shift).

What you save just paying for 3 months a level 3 linux admin it's what you need to fully buy several win 2008 license and use SPLA for MSSQL 2007.

the only reason to use windows is asp.net

Most consumers out there shop for hosting based on their requirements, i.e. what they need..
PHP, .NET.. ColdFusion.. etc

If you wanted to serve all these customers, I'd stick with Windows as deploying a single platform to serve all my customers would be cheaper and easier in the long run

It depends on niche. I stared my hostng business wanted to do Linux all the way (reasons being: security, better anti spam, lower cost etc). But, i receive a lot of requests for Windows hence naturally, i setup a windows box.

Since then, my hosting business grows much faster. I realise that in the market, only a few of my competitors offer windows hosting. Plus, those that offers windows hosting, their price is a few times higher than mine. So, that's how i accidentally found a niche using windows hosting.

Linux OS are free (generally) so its more popular, more used and the costs to the customers and the hosts are less.

Windows OS is paid so it less popular unless you want enterprise clients (high costing clients) and want to provide majority to the higher budget customer and want enterprise support. Since Windows OS is not open source the things you can do or install or setup are limited.

I have always preferred Linux because of the LAMP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAMP_(software_bundle)) software environment, but Windows can be a great option, as well.

Windows may be the way to go in your situation simply because you will be able to provide better hosting in an environment in which you're already very familiar.

-mike

You can install a GUI into Linux if you can get KVMoIP, so just to add that in there :D.

Both operating systems are good in their own rights, but it does depend on what you want to offer your customers. If you want to offer ASP(.NET, which don't you have to pay for?), MSSQL etc then Windows is going to be your only option. As far as I know though, you will have to pay for that.

As for Linux, the OS is free and most of the software you will need is free except cPanel + Fantastico (~$40 /mo if you get a year license for cPanel which I would recommend getting directly from them because of the priority support). Generally, you can find answers to your problems by doing a search on Google and most of the time it will give you a step by step guide to fixing it.

My personal opinion is that Linux is generally better, the learning curve can be a little steep but once you get used to it, it is extremely good. Also some of the learning curve can be cut out by using stuff like WHM, CSF etc.

Hope that helps,
Mike

I dont like windows too tacky and 'easy' - linux all the way

The same here never liked the windows, as for Active Server Pages (ASP) or JavaServer Pages (JSP) possible to run on linux server too.

All this Linux is more popular stuff is amusing.


Go search Server Market share and Windows is far ahead of Linux and Unix these days!

Linux hands down.

It just works(tm).

Even though Windows is easier and is "point and click" I've found anything server related in Windows is 10 times harder to get working than Linux. Funny thing is corporations want windows because of "support" but who here in IT has ever called Microsoft, and actually gotten a human? If you did, did they even support your environment? probably not, unless its VERY ms standard, but minute stuff like VMware comes to play, or some other non windows piece of software such as Facsys, you're on your own.

Linux has tons of online resources and is way easier to support.

And, "It just works(tm)". Linux has bugs too, windows has bugs, they also both have security issues, but Linux tends to have a reason behind bugs/crashes, windows, just crashes randomly for fun of it. I find Linux is way easier to troubleshoot as well, should an issue happen.

But if you are not really familiar with Linux then I do not recommend it at all, it is very hard to get into when its your first time. Go Windows, and setup a home Linux server to familiarize yourself with. Don't get a Linux dedicated box if you are not sure what you are doing, as if it gets trashed/hacked you're screwed. At home, simply reinstall/reimage and you're up and running again.

Others have also made a good point that with Windows you have the .net stuff (which imo is crap, but some people may want it over the open source stuff) so it opens a new market for you. So windows is not exactly a BAD choice, its just you'll get more headaches, but if you can deal with them then thats great. It will also be more expensive so that means less profit.

All this Linux is more popular stuff is amusing.


Go search Server Market share and Windows is far ahead of Linux and Unix these days!

In what way though? Internal corporate servers tend to mostly run Windows, but web servers tend to mostly run Linux. So strictly web servers I would bet *nix is still ahead. But you're right, in general think Windows actually is, because upper management of big corporations look at Microsoft as being more "professional" so they go with that rather then Linux which is "some program you get for free online, that we can't trust"

All this Linux is more popular stuff is amusing.


Go search Server Market share and Windows is far ahead of Linux and Unix these days!

You are wrong, were talking about web servers specifically.

Linux hands down.
Others have also made a good point that with Windows you have the .net stuff (which imo is crap, but some people may want it over the open source stuff) so it opens a new market for you. So windows is not exactly a BAD choice, its just you'll get more headaches, but if you can deal with them then thats great. It will also be more expensive so that means less profit.

wow! fanboy at his best. .Net is crap? yeah ok. Windows is more expensive, yes, you're correct. However, did you notice that Windows based hosting also cost more than Linux at least 2x more than Linux? if you can't make money off of any platform. You business plan already flawed regardless the liscense cost.

In what way though? Internal corporate servers tend to mostly run Windows, but web servers tend to mostly run Linux. So strictly web servers I would bet *nix is still ahead. But you're right, in general think Windows actually is, because upper management of big corporations look at Microsoft as being more "professional" so they go with that rather then Linux which is "some program you get for free online, that we can't trust"

again, you're wrong about it. upper managment look at MS as being more professional? wow! do you know Fourtine 500 run big iron and using *nix and even linux on their backend? i work for a company making .Net based soultion for mortgage and all the bank run *nix with Oracle.

you're way off here. i think Slashdot.org is more suit for ya. there are pro and con on both platform but none of what you said are correct.

I was saying that on a machine vs machine installation basis, Windows Server is installed more than Linux.

However is we are talking about web servers, if we consider
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/web_server_survey.html

It can hardly be claimed linux is installed on a huge amount more or could it be claimed its market share is growing at any real rate

again, you're wrong about it. upper managment look at MS as being more professional? wow! do you know Fourtine 500 run big iron and using *nix and even linux on their backend? i work for a company making .Net based soultion for mortgage and all the bank run *nix with Oracle.

you're way off here. i think Slashdot.org is more suit for ya. there are pro and con on both platform but none of what you said are correct.

Well guess it depends on the company. Ones that use their head will go with Linux/windows based on situation. But like where I work they wont touch it. "We can't support that" or "If its free then it cant be good" thats basically the argument that will come from upper management of big companies.

I think go with what your customers mostly wants. But, offering Windows will open new market niches.

I mean... 90% of the general population happens to use Windows. Eh.

We running centos 5 it's great ;)

Hi

I just want to know if my windows hosting server providing MS SQL , php , my sql, mail and dns, why shud i go for linux server?

Please suggest?

thanks
nawed

Linux has its own advantages:

1. Low setup cost
2. Cheaper Control Panel (eg. direct admin is much cheaper than plesk)
3. Very stable, minimal memory leak, less security concern
4. Very popular

Most of my customers, when they request to host on linux, is mainly because of item no 3.

@Fresh1: How do you figure that desktop/workstation OS stats are related in any way to this topic?

@ our community windows advocates: How do you re-prioritize tasks so say, an IIS thread is given a higher preference than an Exchange thread, thus enabling you to still serve web pages super fast on a machine that's highly tasked? On Linux, this is handled very nicely ;)

For those who think that Windows is easier to administer, I would argue that is the case provided that you are only administering something that MS decided ought to have a drop-down or checkbox. As soon as you want to get into low-level functionality, Linux is by far more simple and powerful.

You are wrong, were talking about web servers specifically.

Ya, i'm not sure where he got that. At least that's not true in the server market (that he later clarified)

Your windows decision should be based on your customers.

If it's just a "server-environment' you want, you might as get 'nix and a managed solution, because you may not have the technical ability to do either OS's.


Lawrence

I think linux is better its cheaper. uses less resource for the most part so you can fit more customers using a cheaper price. windows is easy to admin but if you are using a remote desktop linux then they seem the same to me

Everyone has their own preference's,one would need a Linux plan and the other a windows.
Its really a subjective choice.
but I prefer to deal In Linux.
It's a whole lot common then Windows you know.(In the hosting Industry atleast. :D )

Everyone has their own preference's,one would need a Linux plan and the other a windows.
Its really a subjective choice.
but I prefer to deal In Linux.
It's a whole lot common then Windows you know.(In the hosting Industry atleast. :D )

I don't think it really is that subjective.

I think it would just depend on what the market (in your are or what you want to target) wants.

So unless you are admin'g it yourself and feel you need to know it inside and out, i would say the market decides.


Lawrence