Did you know that before you decide what hosting plan to choose, you also need to know the operating system of the server. Before we get into all those details first you need to know what does an operating system do and why do we need it. Every computer system needs an Operating System be it Windows or MAC OS as an operating system acts as a mediator between the hardware and the user. In the same way the web host you choose needs its own operating system for websites on its server.
How to choose the operating system?
Web hosting servers are either Windows or Linux based. Depending upon your website or web application you need to choose your web hosting server operating system such as Microsoft exchange hosting. For websites / web applications which are based on php or other open source programming languages need Linux and those websites / web applications which are based on Microsoft technologies like ASP, ASP.NET require Windows operating system on their server.
Which Operating Systems Are the Most Popular?
Choosing an operating system for your web-hosting requirement depends on 2 factors. First, the type of application that you plan to host and second, your comfort level & experience between Windows and Linux. In a normal scenario, most programmers can configure a windows based hosting server much faster, but on the other hand a Linux based server is difficult to configure, but it has multiple features at your disposal.
Today, Open Source based applications & systems are very popular. Blogging platforms like WordPress, Blogger and Content Management systems like Joomla and Drupal require Linux Operating system.
So before you choose a web hosting package and the operating system, make sure you are aware about the applications you plan to host.
This article is written by Anna. She works with CHW, a designing website that also helps with hosting websites.