Which web hosting type is best? MS or Linux? which one do I want for a smallish business website?

They are both here http://www.oneandone.co.uk and are the same price. Any advice?

 

Cheers

Kinda depends on the website language your site would be built in, really.

 

Unix tends to me more reliable, and is ideal for php, and mySQL Database's

 

Windows is ideal for Frontpage(eek!), asp, aspx and there are more third-party components available that will run on windows. Also ideally suited for Microsoft SQL Databases.

 

If your just looking at a flat html site, then go for Unix, and only go for Windows if you intend to expand later with asp, aspx, MS SQL DB...or have to build the site with Frontpage.

Frontpage will run on linux also, not sure if 1and1 use it on their linux plans however.

 

if you are serving up flat html pages then either will suffice, my preference is for linux but then I am a linux admin :P, the choice comes down to

 

1) if you plan to use databases of any form

2) if you plan to use a scripting language

 

linux is the most versatile and their are a variety of scripts available out there, control panels for linux are usually slightly more advanced and give you as a user a more controlling experience.

 

if you need any advice just drop me a PM.

I'd agree with Mike - Linux or Linux ;) Or BSD if security is a prime concern.

 

Easier to manage than an MS server IMHO - it's so much quicker to SSH into a server than fire up Remote Desktop - more stable, more mature product..

 

Frontpage extensions work fine with Apache, and there's even (if I recall) the Mono project for running ASP scripts under Apache/*nix.

 

MySQL is fine for most sites, but if you need heavy functionality (transactioning etc) then go for PostgreSQL instead.

 

If all that went over your head, go for the Linux one ;) It'll be easier for the admins to manage, so I'd put money on you getting any problems fixed quicker..

 

Aaron

 

Oh yes - forgot to say, personally I wouldn't use OneandOne ;) You'd be better off speaking to Mike IMHO, unless all you'll ever have is a static site..

if you want ASP use MS defiently, chillisoft is ok but most ASP developers want access to an MSSQL DB, you can create mysql connectors but it's often not up to the job.

 

mono is for asp.net, havnt had the change to fully test it yet, PHP is the way to go (i'm perl hack though)

mono is for asp.net, havnt had the change to fully test it yet, PHP is the way to go (i'm perl hack though)

 

Ahh - not tried Mono out yet to be honest - I'm a PHP boy as well (and Perl in the past) :)

 

Though I have recently had the misfortune to end up with a Win2k/Apache/MSSQL/PHP setup to work with, which is.. er.. 'fun'

:mac1:

 

Bit like (as you say) ASP->MySQL, I imagine.

 

It'd all be too easy if everyones products worked together, afterall :rofl:

Ahh - not tried Mono out yet to be honest - I'm a PHP boy as well (and Perl in the past) :)

 

Though I have recently had the misfortune to end up with a Win2k/Apache/MSSQL/PHP setup to work with, which is.. er.. 'fun'

:mac1:

 

Bit like (as you say) ASP->MySQL, I imagine.

 

It'd all be too easy if everyones products worked together, afterall :rofl:

 

 

lol sounds like the project manager has heard good things about linux and open source but doesnt trust to use an underlying OS he doesn't pay £200 for :D and a DB server that doesnt costs $$$$$$$