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  1. #1
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    Windows or Linux Hosting? What sells more?

    A "lot" of folks here offering Linux based hosting. Here being predominantly North American market (sorry for generalizing). However, the opposite seems to be true in East Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, and Europe. Windows hosting is in more demand?

    What hosting solution (LAMP or Windows/.NET/MS-SQL) is more marketable for SOHO (Small Office / Home Office) and SME (Small & Medium Enterprises) Businesses?
    "I drink too much. The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it. ".
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  2. #2
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    Hi,

    It all depends on who you are targeting, but in general the Linux Hosting Market is more popular atm especially online and here at WHT, the Windows Hosting market is catching up but it's not as saturated as the Linux market.

    You might want to start off with Linux unless you're very familiar with the Windows Hosting market already, it is much harder to manage the servers using windows and the control panels arent as friendly either for the admin side of things.

    Good luck
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hoobastank68
    it is much harder to manage the servers using windows and the control panels arent as friendly either for the admin side of things.
    Well thats just not true.
    Some of the windows control panels out there are well developed and have very good interfaces

  4. #4
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    Well we've been doing Windows hosting for quite sometime now. The market I am looking at is SOHO (Small Office / Home Office) and SME (Small & Medium Enterprises) Businesses - I just felt quite the opposite, that Linux was more harder to manage.
    "I drink too much. The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it. ".
    Rodney Dangerfield (from "I Get No Respect!").

  5. #5
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    IMO, small office users may want linux. I'm looking to switch my hosting from windows to linux simply because of the scripts offered for linux. Right now I have a test linux account and learning how to set permissions and the such (well, more than that, but you get the point). Seems linux has more scripts, they tend to be cheaper, and they tend to have been on the market longer.....

    For larger businesses with a staff and dedicated web people, it would depend on what they need for the company.... Do they use ASP? What can you push them to use....
    Windows 10 to Linux and Mac OSX: I'm PARSECs better than you. Eat my dust!!!

  6. #6
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    Well script-speaking only, yes, Linux does have an advantage. The average end-client typically has no idea about Linux and some vague idea about Windows. All they need is convincing that the end website can be hosted.
    "I drink too much. The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it. ".
    Rodney Dangerfield (from "I Get No Respect!").

  7. #7
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    I've tried many times to do Windows hosting only to be dissapointed by the complicated nature of it. Linux/Apache (LAMP - what a brilliant name) is much more robust and simply works!

  8. #8
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    Aug 2002
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    Linux hosting leads the Industry period.

  9. #9
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    Question to the hosts that offer both,

    do you see a difference in how many clients you can put on a server between windows and linux as I have heard even if both are admined well a windows server of the same hardware can't handle as many shared clients? Which thus drives up costs?
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  10. #10
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    I don't think I've ever *wanted* to be that close to the margin on either, but that is a pretty broad question. As people always point out, no two baskets of clients are the same.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by bwb
    Question to the hosts that offer both,

    do you see a difference in how many clients you can put on a server between windows and linux as I have heard even if both are admined well a windows server of the same hardware can't handle as many shared clients? Which thus drives up costs?
    Static websites on Windows vs. static websites on Linux I would argue you could host equally the same. Where you get into scaling issues on Windows/IIS is when you host ASP/ASP.NET/ColdFusion sites with Access backends. Of course you can charge a heck of alot more for that service though.
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by BigDizzle
    Static websites on Windows vs. static websites on Linux I would argue you could host equally the same. Where you get into scaling issues on Windows/IIS is when you host ASP/ASP.NET/ColdFusion sites with Access backends. Of course you can charge a heck of alot more for that service though.
    Yep yep, I mean just in general with a bunch of random clients like if you were ipower or so on, do you think in general with a random mix linux or windows allows for more? or about the same?
    Like passive recurring revenue you can retire on?
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  13. #13
    I think Linux is more script-friendly. You can easily find many scripts that operate under linux servers, while windows can be a little more rare.

  14. #14
    I would say definitely Linux hosting, and not because of performance or usability. There is just more support and resources for Linux hosting. Not just with scripts, but with control panels, security, etc. -- your more likely to find answers to the Linux versions of these packages online, than you would the windows versions. Simply because more people are using them.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by bwb
    Question to the hosts that offer both,

    do you see a difference in how many clients you can put on a server between windows and linux as I have heard even if both are admined well a windows server of the same hardware can't handle as many shared clients? Which thus drives up costs?
    If you're talking about packing clients onto a server, then I believe Linux has the advantage. Mainly because you can get into the source in Linux and tweak it to handle more and/or by removing or stopping things you don't need or want. Windows is a bulkier software, and requires more memory to run, on a base install. So it may run out of resources faster.

    However, for small business clients, I think you need to look at what services you want to offer and what the client wants. For example, if their site is a FrontPage site, interactive ASP, or they pull data from their site into an access database at the office, then Windows may be for them.

    But most people cannot tell whether they're on a Windows or Linux server if they only require basic hosting services. FTP, web design, and control panel software, work and look virtually the same on both, from the clients perspective. Under this scenario I'd recommend Linux, only because it's cheaper to operate.

  16. #16
    Hello,

    If anybody has to choose between the linux hosting and windows hosting, then that depends on the application you use in the site.

    Linux hosting is more stable security wise, more stable in handling your clients.

    For e.g

    A linux server with cpanel/WHM control panel can handle around 300 clients effeciently. 300 clients I am talking is the minimum limit.

    Where as if we talk about the windows server with Plesk control panel, can handle only 150-200 clients.

    SO you see there is almost 50 % difference between both.

    Linux servers are robust in handling the pages. Well, there are certain application for which we need windows server. For example, dotnetnuke. Dotnetnuke is one application which requires MS-SQL server and ASP.net.

    Dotnetnuke is a complete site management.

    Hosting selection depends on the application you want to use in your hosting.

    Thank you.

    Regards,

    Hostech Support.

  17. #17
    There is more business in linux hosting but now windows business is also growing.

  18. #18
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by hostechsupport
    Hello,

    If anybody has to choose between the linux hosting and windows hosting, then that depends on the application you use in the site.

    Linux hosting is more stable security wise, more stable in handling your clients.

    For e.g

    A linux server with cpanel/WHM control panel can handle around 300 clients effeciently. 300 clients I am talking is the minimum limit.

    Where as if we talk about the windows server with Plesk control panel, can handle only 150-200 clients.

    SO you see there is almost 50 % difference between both.

    Linux servers are robust in handling the pages. Well, there are certain application for which we need windows server. For example, dotnetnuke. Dotnetnuke is one application which requires MS-SQL server and ASP.net.

    Dotnetnuke is a complete site management.

    Hosting selection depends on the application you want to use in your hosting.

    Thank you.

    Regards,

    Hostech Support.
    Linux is more secure? This is hardly the case. Security of a server comes down to the person running the server. More robust? Again, I don't think so. If you are only able to host 200 domains on a Windows server, you're doing something terribly wrong. A P4 server with 1GB of RAM should be able to host about 400 domains easily. We have some customers hosting close to 1000 domains on dual xeon boxes with 2GB of memory. We have dedicated mail servers that host 2000-3000 domains each.
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  19. #19
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    Windows can indeed support more. I'd have to agree with Jay. 200 domains - something is definitely wrong on your box.

    Linux's advantage is due to its after-market scripting programs like Fantastico, if Windows were to offer the same, Windows would probably be equally popular.

    Linux no doubt is popular in North America, but looking at Asia-Pacific, Middle East, South Africa, and partially Europe, Windows sells an awfuly lot more than Linux.
    "I drink too much. The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it. ".
    Rodney Dangerfield (from "I Get No Respect!").

  20. #20
    I would also say that Linux hosting seems to run slightly cheaper then windows.

  21. #21
    For sure. Windows licensing can be a real headache, and costly. Even with SPLA.
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  22. #22
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    34
    It is mainly a question of philosophy.

    A Windows installation maintained by a professional who has been working with Windows for a long time can be made secure enough to compete with a basic installation of Linux. Of course, you can pack tons of expensive tools on your Windows machine to further improve security.

    Linux comes with decent security out of the box; kept up to date by someone who knows what he is doing it becomes a real challenge to exploit even the smallest bug. The main problem of Linux systems are insecure scripts.

    Unless a client really wants a Windows server there is no reason to offer them. Good Windows administrators are hard to find, windows security update intervals and reaction times are a joke and the pricing is just not competitive.

    If you are running a company with mainly Windows based tools and you have the staff to take care of the servers, it might make sense for you to go with Windows. Other than that, it is Linux you will want.

    Perhaps the most obvious reason why people want Windows servers is because they have a Windows PC at home and they feel they can administrate a Windows server because of that. If your company cares about the needs of each individual customer, you will want to tell them this is not a good idea.

    Besides, as for Europe, it is in no way true that Windows servers are outselling Linux servers. The opposite is the case. And I do not think that is any different for other parts of the world. No idea where your assumption comes from.

  23. #23
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    Well there is lot of linux business.Therefore i will prefer linux.

    Quote Originally Posted by Babushka99
    A "lot" of folks here offering Linux based hosting. Here being predominantly North American market (sorry for generalizing). However, the opposite seems to be true in East Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, and Europe. Windows hosting is in more demand?

    What hosting solution (LAMP or Windows/.NET/MS-SQL) is more marketable for SOHO (Small Office / Home Office) and SME (Small & Medium Enterprises) Businesses?

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
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    3,374
    Quote Originally Posted by LoneWolfJack
    It is mainly a question of philosophy.
    Of course, you can pack tons of expensive tools on your Windows machine to further improve security.
    i call bull on that statement. i've been running Win2k3/IIS6 since Aug 2004 host about 84 domains on my server at the planet. it only use remote routing feature on Win2k3 standard as basic firewall. No hack or what so ever. there are plenty of hack on *nix and security firms also sell expensive tools for *nix.

    that type of bull don't fly here. it will probably work at Slashdot tho.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    Venezuela
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    From my experience:

    I have +30 Linux servers, and only 5 windows boxes:
    1 for Plesk for Windows Resellers (Most of them I gave it free in a Linux hosting promotion, and nobody it's using it)
    2 are for Exchange hosting
    1 it's a dedicated server customer who use it for a custom solution.

    So around of the 5% of my customers use Windows, and I advertise both as well.

    For referece, I target Latin American market.
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