We are often asked which hosting platform one should choose: Linux or Windows. We recommend our customers select Linux, unless you need specific features/applications only available on the Windows platform.

Market Share

About 80% of all web sites we see on the internet including popular sites like Google, Yahoo, Facebook  run on Linux servers.

Can I develop website on Windows and host it on Linux server?

Yes, absolutely! Most people design/develop web sites on Windows or Mac computers and host them on Linux server. This means that if you are running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7   or using an Apple Mac, you can still choose Linux as your hosting platform.

Important :  One small difference is Windows is case insensitive UPPER and lower case letters are treated as same. Linux is case sensitive UPPER and lower case letters are treated as different. If you develop a web site on Windows and name an image file as Photo.JPG and refer to it in HTML  as photo.jpg  when you view the web page on Windows computer it will work, but when you upload it on Linux server the image will not show on the webpage.  Easy solution is to name all .html files and image files in lower case letters.

Scripting and Database

Linux : PHP / MySQL  

If you are planning a new web application project it is a good idea to choose PHP / MySQL for development. PHP / MySQL applications are easy to depoly at lower hosting cost.

Windows : ASP.Net / MS SQL

When should I choose Windows server?

If you specifically want to deploy applications developed using ASP .Net / MS SQL you will need Windows server.