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| On
the Internet there
is a tremoundous amount
of argument over which
operating system is
the best for web hosting.
There are anti-windows
haters, there are
FreeBSD fanatics and
more. But which is
the best? The truth
is it depends on what
you are doing. |
|
| The
servers which run
the web sites and
the server software
all run on a computer
program known as the
operating system.
If you are running
a personal computer
chances are that you
are running Windows
ME, XP, NT or some
other similiar computer
program. That is the
operating system of
your computer. With
web hosting servers
they also need a operating
system and there are
essentially three
different competing
versions. |
|
| The
first version is Windows.
Microsoft makes an
operating system especially
for servers. This
operating systems
allows true integration
with Microsoft's products
and also allows web
sites to run Active
Server Pages (basically
computer scripts for
dynamic web site content).
Microsoft's server
also allows integration
with its SQL database,
one of the more powerful
databases. The downside
of Microsoft's server
software is that it
costs several thousands
of dollars for each
server. |
|
| The
second version is
Linux. Linux is actually
a common name for
a variety of operating
systems. Linux was,
and is, developed
by a community of
individuals which
come together to commonly
write the main part
of Linux. After this
main part is developed,
and continually refined,
additional parts are
added to the program
to customize it for
whatever purposes
the end user wants.
A variety of companies
market Linux and you
might have heard of
a few: Red Hat, Debian,
Slackware, etc. Linux
is good in that it
is compatible with
the popular programming
language PHP. It is
also favored by some
web hosters in that
in general it has
a good security record
and tends on average
to be a stable operating
system. Linux software
is free. |
|
| The
third version is Unix-based
operating systems.
The last version mentioned
here is very close
in comparision to
the Linux versions.
In fact there are
probably more similiaries
than differences.
The main difference
is the history of
how the two versions
came into being. Linux
is an offshoot of
the Unix operating
system, where the
Unix-based operating
systems are refinements
of Unix itself. Linux
basically is a cousin
to Unix-based operating
systems. The main
Unix-based operating
systems are FreeBSD
and OpenBSD. The selling
point of these operating
system is that they
tend to be very stable
once installed. The
downpoint is that
they are very technical
to install. OpenBSD
also has the reputation
of very secure in
that in the last six
years it had only
one security hole
in the software itself.
But OpenBSD does not
allow everything;
that it you have to
sacrafice some flexibility
for security. These
operating systems
are free as well. |
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| So
which is the best?
Well it depends on
what you need. If
you want the tightest
security you can get
then OpenBSD is probably
for you. But it is
very technical to
install and you will
not have a lot of
frills. How about
compatibility with
all of Microsoft's
products? Well then
Windows is the best
for you, but be prepared
in that it will cost
a lot--the other operating
systems here all are
free. How about compatibity
with PHP? Well then
look at Linux or FreeBSD.
You see it is not
so much as which operating
system is the best,
but rather which operating
system is best for
what you need to do. |
|
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