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Web Hosting FAQs - Windows Web Hosting |
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| Q: What is Windows Server? |
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| A: Windows 2003 Server is the latest
operating system for server developed by Microsoft. It's the new version
of Windows NT Server. The new Windows 2003 Server was built on NT
technology. The interface of the software is similar to that of Windows
2000. It's gaining market share due to the ease of use. |
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| Q: What are
the advantages of Windows Server? |
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| A: Windows Server is developed and
sold by Microsoft. The company continually provides supports and updates.
Users who are familiar with Windows will find themselves comfortably
using Windows Server. Most people using Windows Server hosting
utilize Active Server Pages (ASP) technology. This is the main reason
why people are turning to Windows Server hosting. Users can develop
web site using familiar interface of Microsoft tools such as Microsoft
FrontPage, Visual Interdev, and Microsoft Access. With ASP users can
develop a database-driven web site using Microsoft Access and Microsoft
SQL as the database. |
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| Q: What are
the disadvantages of Windows Server? |
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| A: Unlike UNIX, Windows Server requires
more system resource. You need a powerful machine to run Windows
Server. The Windows Server does not have a good reputation in
term of server stability. The Windows Server needs reboot more
frequent than UNIX. If you are using Windows Server hosting services,
you may find yourself investing a lot of money in the development
tools. Most of them are Microsoft products. The costs of applications
that can run on your web site are usually higher than that of UNIX.
For example, you can find a lot of free scripts to run web board,
chat room, web stats, email (and more) for your UNIX-based web site,
but you won't find many free applications in Windows Server world.
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| Q: What is
the difference between Windows Server and UNIX? |
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| A: Microsoft Windows Server and
UNIX (of which there are many varieties, or flavors, including Linux,
AIX, Solaris and more) are computer operating systems. Both Windows
Server and quality UNIX implementations are enterprise application
servers that can be used for a variety of critical purposes, including,
but not limited to, Web, email, and database hosting. Windows
Server was developed by Microsoft and is, in many ways, the flagship
of their software solutions. UNIX's development
roots begin about twenty years ago - jointly at Berkeley University
and AT&T Bell Labs. UNIX is often referred to as an "open system",
which means that its source code is publicly available. This has
both its advantages and disadvantages. While it has allowed many
thousands of developers from all over the world working for different
companies to contribute to its development, it is also more complex
and less coordinated.
Both of these operating systems make excellent
platforms for mission-critical Web hosting, and they function well.
There are some differences of the two systems:
- Windows Server supports most Microsoft
products including Microsoft FrontPage - a popular Web authoring
tool.
- Windows Server supports Active Server
Pages (ASP) - a popular programming that allows you to build dynamically
database-driven web pages (connecting to Microsoft Access or Microsoft
SQL server).
- Remote interactive access, via telnet or
SSH is only supported under UNIX. Generally one is able to do
more configuration/setup tasks themselves rather than having to
request services from web hosts.
- The majority of existing CGI programs (generally
Perl scripts) that are available on the Internet have been developed
on UNIX platforms and hence tend to install and operate much more
smoothly under UNIX. Many Perl Scripts are FREE!
The bottom line is that for many web sites the
operating system on which the Web server is housed is largely inconsequential.
The real question is, "Are you using a specific web site or database
technology that is more appropriately hosted on Windows Server
instead of UNIX (or vice versa)?" If your web site does not require
special features offered by UNIX or Windows Server, you can
choose either Windows Server or UNIX to serve your web site.
It doesn't matter! |
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