The vast majority of persons who read this article use Linux on their computers, and we are among those who use Linux VPS Hosting on the web hosting servers that we manage, whether they be the servers that we manage at work or those that we have purchased from an internet provider.
Despite the fact that Linux has proven to be the market leader in the server (and supercomputer) business, some of my coworkers and old acquaintances still ask me about Facebook: why do you buy servers using Linux rather than Windows, if Windows is easier to manage? That, gentlemen, is the issue that we are concerned about.
Servers, function or objective?
Servers are ‘computers’ that provide services, in other words, the server’s hardware resources (storage, processor, and memory) must be 100% focused on meeting the client’s demands. Do you believe that investing resources in a graphical environment with Windows Server is rational or prudent? When a Windows Server is installed, the Windows graphical environment is installed Yes or Yes, which uses resources, includes many drivers that it requires, graphics acceleration, and takes a significant amount of space on the HDD, among other things.
All of the resources that the Windows Hosting graphical server environment consumes will not be able to be used to offer a website to a client, to make the database run quicker or take less time, or to do anything else.
So, for starters, a server running Linux Hosting gives us the option of installing or not installing a graphical environment (which is unnecessary in Linux because everything can be done with commands), thereby conserving valuable hardware resources, whereas a server running Windows does not give us that option; instead, it instals the graphical environment for the administrator’s ‘convenience,’ consuming hardware resources that we will never be able to recover.
1. Security, protection
It is no secret that Linux Hosting is more secure than Windows Hosting. There are a lot of them, and I’m not going to go through them all here; instead, I’ll just list a few:
We don’t need cracks, keygens, or other similar tools on Linux because they usually contain more viruses than a 16th century mouse.
In Linux, we have repositories, which contain practically all of the software we’ll require. Because all of the software in Windows is scattered, there is a higher possibility that someone may make a mistake that will not be examined by a large number of specialists, leaving our system exposed.
When it comes to security updates, Windows is quite slow, but Linux might have many security upgrades in the same week, patching flaws, and so on.
The Linux user system is unquestionably superior to that of Windows; Windows permissions, attributes, and owners leave a lot to be desired.
Antivirus, antimalware, antispyware, antiphishing, and various more ‘antis’ are required on Windows, whereas a well-configured firewall is sufficient on Linux.
2. Price
Almost everything in today’s world is moved for or with money, and servers are no different. When we want to buy a server with Windows, we always see a higher price than when we want to buy one with Linux. You can take a look at our Linux VPS Plans and Windows VPS Plans.
As you can see, purchasing a Linux server is substantially less expensive than purchasing a Windows server with the same hardware.
3. Administration, configuration
As I indicated at the outset, many people believe that operating a server with Windows is far simpler than managing one with Linux. I can even agree with you here; I have no intention of persuading someone that remembering 15 long and complex command lines is easier than opening a window and pressing ten buttons; I have no goal of deceiving anyone.
The point is that if we chose the simplest option, we will end up paying for the mistake. I’ll give you an example that many network administrators have had to deal with. Backups, configuration saves, and logs: If we operate a Linux server and need to back up the configurations of 100 services, we simply transfer the / etc / folder to another location and that’s it; if we want to save the system logs, we simply copy the content of / logs / to another location and… voila, that’s it. What would it be like in Windows?
How can you store DNS, DHCP, Proxy, MailServer, and other server configurations if you administer a Windows server? Because all of them aren’t kept in the same directory, and many of them aren’t saved in plain text files, but rather in an internal database of an.exe or something similar, making a backup of all of the server’s settings becomes a very time-consuming and difficult task.
We’d have to rely on a slew of third-party apps, such as one that dumps the proxy settings (ISA Server) and replicates it somewhere else, another for DNS, and so on for each service. Yes, Windows is easier to use for many people, but at the same time, it becomes a system with far too many restrictions.
4. Experience and knowledge above all
I’ll explain this in a nutshell: how many network administrators who work with Windows also know how to administer Linux networks?… Few, very few, and in my case, nearly none, whereas how many Linux network managers also know how to operate Windows networks?
Personally, it has been many years since I have had to manage Windows servers (which I appreciate! ), but if I had to manage one again, it would not be difficult at all; I could adapt almost without blinking… however, when I give one of my Linux servers to someone I know who manages Windows, the first thing he will say is that I do not walk out the door; instead, I show him how Linux works because he has no idea what it is.
Is it a network administrator, I wonder?… Someone who is unable to manage a server utilising the most widely used server operating system?
5. Personal opinion
I’ve been managing networks for a number of years, and like many others, I started with Windows Server, which lasted less than four months on my servers. When I was able to install an FTP, HTTP, DNS, DHCP, and Proxy service on that P128 server with 3MB of RAM, all while using only 128MB of RAM, on a server with only 100MB of RAM in my previous firm, I thought to myself, «God, how I horribly squandered my time with Windows».
On my laptop, I use ArchLinux, on my smartphone, Firefox OS, and on my servers, I use Debian. If I had a tablet, I would definitely install Linux + KDE-Plasma or use Android. In reality, if I had a hybrid laptop/tablet like the Asus Transformer, or if someone else reads one of the sites I visit (such as ManualPC or Phronix), I’m sure I could find a method to install a Linux distribution on it. Anyway, the story comes to a close here; I hope it has piqued your attention, as it always has.
If you need more information about web hosting, feel free to visit our website, Casbay Australia. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
