Linux Server Vs Windows Server

The server war, what operating system is best for a server? Windows or Linux. Even if you decide to go for Linux, which Linux distribution is best for your server?

After watching a interesting documentary last month, the creator of Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth claimed that Linux has already won the server room war. However Microsoft would probably beg to differ.

Mark is probably right, when you look for web hosting on the internet the majority of companies offer just Linux hosting. At AGL Host, we focus on Linux for our web hosting servers. However why is this?

One of the first reasons is cost, Cent OS which is very popular for web servers is free. If you were to buy the latest windows offering, a retail version would set you back over £700. So for the web host, they would have to pass that cost onto their clients.

In the case of web hosting, the Apache engine for linux is considered by some as far superior. It has greater support in the web community and better features i.e. mod_rewrite (Microsoft have now released their own copy of mod_rewrite, but after we tested in on one of our windows boxes, it does not compare!). Many fans of Linux also claim that Linux is much more stable. In the case of Cent OS, a linux OS which we use on our web servers it is much more stable for being online for long periods of time – a crucial element of a web server! For example memory leaks on Cent OS are typically far lower than the Microsoft offerings.

Why Should You Use Windows?

Without being too biased in favour of Linux, Windows server 2003/2008 does offer some handy features. Firstly, many people use windows computers at home. If you are managing your server yourself, you will be more familiar with the desktop environment and how it works.

With windows, if you have any problems, Microsoft do tend to offer better support. Also, if you want to run a ASP based site you will need a windows server. However, in our opinion you must be mad to use ASP for most sites!

If you are stuck making the decision of which server platform to go for, Linux gets our backing. It is cheaper to run and use, and potentially more stable. Also in the web hosting world, there is greater support for Linux.

If you have any comments to add to this debate, please post!

  Category: web hosting