Web hosting is one of the most important aspects of the World Wide Web, since the websites floating over the internet are hosted at a server. There are several variants of a server, viz. dedicated, shared, cloud & virtual, which provide varying amounts of resources to the users. But, there are only two main platforms for operating a server, namely Windows OS and Linux OS. Both of these operating systems are focused at the huge market of the web and have their own niche following in hosting terms, with Linux being more popular than Windows.
The biggest advantage that Linux OS holds over its Microsoft in web hosting India powered counterpart is that it is developed on an open source platform. In layman’s terms, this would translate to Linux having the ability to be customized as per the requirements of the users. It can be tweaked by a webmaster having expertise in product development to serve his demands in the best possible way. There are innumerable organizations that opt for Linux based dedicated server hosting as they would want a system upon which ecommerce applications can be developed easily.
Also, Linux OS is free, which makes it even more attractive, since Microsoft charges a licensing fee for its hosting oriented operating system. But, there are several useful applications that are available on Windows OS for hosting purposes. Unfortunately, MS has a monopoly in Windows hosting, which does not allow users to use certain applications on Linux operated servers. Developers are grateful to VMware, a virtualization software that allows them to load Linux on a Windows based server. Overall, Linux is great for regular webmasters and amateurs, but those who want to enjoy the paid software of Microsoft, Windows hosting is the way to go.