Windows Hosting :: An overview

Are you wondering why Windows hosting is better than Linux hosting? If you ask 10 people what they think, 5 will say that Windows hosting is the best, while the other 5 will say that Linux hosting is far better. Opinions are split and there are few people who really know which is better. We will try to be as objective as possible and our opinions are backed up by surveys and white papers. Although Linux hosting offers some good possibilities, we highly recommend Windows hosting! Let's see why.

They all say Linux is free. Well, the basic operating system might be, but for hosting, you need Red Hat Enterprise Linux and this is definitely not free. It is based on annual subscriptions for operating system support. This means you have to pay for every server, every year. Most hosting companies need support. When working with Linux, support costs and will pay more per year. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Advanced costs no less than $2,499 for a server, for an year. Windows, on the other hand, is striving to reduce downtime and increase manageability, decreasing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Management and maintenance account for up to 60% of TCO, while downtime accounts for 15%. These total 75% of the total cost of ownership in three years. Buying the software leads to only 7% of the TCO over the same 3 years.

A reliable system must not only allow end users to make changes, but allow administrators to configure it. Business is evolving and the system must be configured so that it still delivers. Studies show that when it comes to patching, installing security updates, or simply making some changes to the Linux operating system, developers have to use a wide variety of tools and processes. On the other hand, Windows was designed to accept changes and different implementation without the need of additional tools. They managed to standardize administrative tasks and provide dedicated tools for customization. In addition, the Windows platform is a tested and certified platform that easily supports new software and hardware.

Windows has a lot fewer published vulnerabilities. It looks like hackers love looking at the freely available Linux code and searching for vulnerabilities to exploit. The study took place over a period of 650 days and showed that Windows had 75% less published vulnerabilities. Since security is a big concern when it comes to hosting, Windows clearly has the advantage.