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Whats the difference between linux VPS and windows VPS hosting?

by Ashley Gable
11 replies
Hi I am looking to get a more robust hosting plan, so I am looking at VPS hosting. It isnt much more than what I am paying now and I have heard good things about it.


But I have a choice between linux and windows. Linux is $35 per month and windows is $49 per month. I searched around and found out that when using windows you pay a licencsing fee, so that is why it is more expensive.

But what about technically? Are they any different? Would you suggest I go for linux at $35 or is the extra $14 a month justified for windows?

Just to let you know I am not a techie person, I dont understand programming or anything like that, so you can take that into consideration Dont know if one is easier to use than the other!

Thanks
#difference #hosting #linux #vps #windows
  • Profile picture of the author mahesh2k
    Personally i'll suggest you to go with Linux VPS. Reason is the open source apps which are more secure in linux environment while sql attacks/script kiddies can cause more damages to windows server than linux. And performance wise you'll find linux much better in comparison.

    If you want to take more technical opinion on this one then head over to serverfault.com and you'll get the pros and cons of both these systems.

    I can assure you that the application that you need to use for the IM work (like wordpress or list hosting etc) will work with both linux and windows server. So there is no cons that way.
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  • Profile picture of the author digigo
    no offense .. if you have to ask that question, you are in no business managing a VPS ..

    you may need a simple web hosting instead if bandwidth is what you are after.. a lot more involved in managing VPS.. you have to learn a lot or have someone manage it for you.. costly
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    • Profile picture of the author Ashley Gable
      Originally Posted by mahesh2k View Post

      Personally i'll suggest you to go with Linux VPS. Reason is the open source apps which are more secure in linux environment while sql attacks/script kiddies can cause more damages to windows server than linux. And performance wise you'll find linux much better in comparison.

      If you want to take more technical opinion on this one then head over to serverfault.com and you'll get the pros and cons of both these systems.

      I can assure you that the application that you need to use for the IM work (like wordpress or list hosting etc) will work with both linux and windows server. So there is no cons that way.
      Thanks, I was worried that there was a big difference I was missing!


      Originally Posted by digigo View Post

      no offense .. if you have to ask that question, you are in no business managing a VPS ..

      you may need a simple web hosting instead if bandwidth is what you are after.. a lot more involved in managing VPS.. you have to learn a lot or have someone manage it for you.. costly
      I thought the whole point of vps was that it was like regular shared hosting, only it acted like a dedicated server. Here is what is offered with the package: (this is the windows version)

      • Full Administrator access
      • Virtuozzo Power Panel
      • Instant Remote Reboot
      • Plesk or No Control Panel
      • 24x7 Tech Support
      • Dedicated Mail and Web Server
      • Windows 2003 Data Center Edition
      • Dell PowerEdge 2950 Hardware
      It also has 24 phone and tech service, which I am sure doesnt come close to having it managed, but do you think that a newbie would be able to get a long with it?

      Is a vps even necesarry? I have 11 domains, my hosting company has changed their package prices so it will actually be cheaper in a few months to go with VPS than with my shared hosting.
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      • Profile picture of the author dholowiski
        Originally Posted by AshleyAA View Post

        I thought the whole point of vps was that it was like regular shared hosting, only it acted like a dedicated server. Here is what is offered with the package: (this is the windows version)
        Almost, but for a few important differences.
        *Make sure you get a Managed VPS server... you want somebody else to be responsible for security and operating system updates.
        *VPS usually gives you dedicated RAM (memory) but not dedicated CPU. This is definitely better than shared hosting but you are still sharing a CPU with others so they frown on you doing CPU intensive things
        *It is still shared, remember it's a VIRTUAL private server, so your site(s) can still have problems if your neighbours are misbehaving.

        As for Linux/Windows - go for Linux, unless you have specific reasons you need Windows (if you have to ask, you don't need Windows).
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        • Profile picture of the author dazi
          I'm using Somee.com for my vps.
          It's cheapes I could find. I only pay $20 for 2GHz, 1GB RAM 45GB HDD.
          They use ESXi. I was pretty amazed on capabilities. I myself can reinstal operating system. Have access to server's Virtual BIOS. So i'm ok if server crashes. It's like working with home PC!
          So far I didn't have any downtime. Support is responsive too.
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    • Profile picture of the author kpmedia
      Originally Posted by digigo View Post

      no offense .. if you have to ask that question, you are in no business managing a VPS ..
      ^ Exactly. This isn't us being mean.

      Originally Posted by Ashley Gable View Post

      I thought the whole point of vps was that it was like regular shared hosting, only it acted like a dedicated server. Here is what is offered with the package: (this is the windows version).
      No. That's "semi-dedicated" hosting that is shared, but with more resources. (Stablehost calls it "enterprise". Some others call it "business" hosting.)

      Originally Posted by daniel jacob View Post

      Linux is normally a free OS.
      Not anymore. CloudLinux, for example, is a very popular paid (non-free) hosting OS.

      Originally Posted by rcnsmith View Post

      even install ZPanel(The open source CPanel Alternative). .
      That is a TERRIBLE panel full of security flaws. The devs are complete a-holes about it, and ignore bug reports from security experts. This has been discussed many times on WHT in the past 2 years. It much weaker than ISPConfig or Virtualmin GPL, which are far better free panels.

      To summarize, with a Linux VPS you have complete open source access to powerful web hosting tools
      Yeah, not really. Open-source doesn't mean better. There's thousands of open-source software with bugs and security issues. Some are never updated past initial release, making them fail to work on OS updates. Using open-source software can be a costly and dangerous path at times. At least with paid software, they have a reason to continue its development. And most do.

      Microsoft tries to force you to use their servers if you want to use their tools they create
      That's not really accurate. For example, to use ASP.NET (100% complaint code, not Mono on Linux), you use IIS on Windows. It's part of that ecosystem, and it's not developed for Linux. It's a closed system, and sometimes that's a good thing. They're not really "forcing" you to use anything -- that's just what has to be used.
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  • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
    Hi Ashley

    First of all the LINUX server is probably your best bet, a LINUX box running Apache with PHP and MySQL is pretty well the standard configuration that most marketers use. If you need assistance you'll find a number of people experienced with this common configuration.

    A VPS may not be necessary in your case - for about 10 dollars less than what you quoted for a LINUX VPS you could get a reseller plan from Hostgator that will easily handle your 11 sites and a few more as well. I use a couple of these and am very happy with them.

    Best of luck with your sites!

    Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Powers
    The key difference of them is that they have different OS. I think you should choose one you are familiar with.
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    • Profile picture of the author daniel jacob
      Windows can be a highly commercial OS, Linux is normally a free and free OS. This difference in pricing is reflected in the prices on the Windows VPS and Linux VPS Hosting.
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  • Profile picture of the author rcnsmith
    Robust hosting plan. Go with Linux.

    I find that people that use windows hosting are the ones that design ASP.net web applications or those that need to integrate services such as access and MSSQL databases. In terms of hosting you get a much bigger bang for your buck with linux. You can choose from easy to set up LAMP servers or even install ZPanel(The open source CPanel Alternative).

    From a windows hosting standpoint, you can now pretty much do everything you usually could on the linux vps since they have good support for apache, php, and even mysql now (WAMP). In terms of community though you are better off using Linux for this (Google any problem you have on a LAMP server and see how many responses and assistance you can find for free)

    To summarize, with a Linux VPS you have complete open source access to powerful web hosting tools and you can use the very same tools all the web hosting providers you know are using now. If you are using any microsoft specific programs however (Microsoft SQL Database- This is not the same as MySQL) or you are building a Web App using the .Net Framework, you will probably need to get the Windows hosting. Linux makes all their tools open source and operating system independent, Microsoft tries to force you to use their servers if you want to use their tools they create. That's the real difference.
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  • Profile picture of the author chuckharris
    The truth is, if you are just hosting websites and you don't really need root access, there are few reasons to go with a VPS rather than something like reseller hosting.
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