Pros and Cons of Linux Web Site Hosting

Contributed by Walter Stevens

What is Linux Web Site Hosting?

Whenever a person hosts a web site on the internet, they are hosting that web site on an online server that must use a platform on which to operate on, whether it be Unix, Windows or Linux. A server is a computer just like your own home computer, and requires an operating system which governs the operating of the files of that computer. A Linux web site hosting provider is one who uses Linux for their online servers, from which they host the web sites of their users.

Pros of Linux Web Site Hosting

Linux is actually the most commonly used operating system for web site hosting providers. This is the case for two reasons: reliability and ease of use. While an operating system such as Unix has great power and reliability, it is a very difficult operating system to use, and is in fact used primarily only by computer programmers with extensive technical training. Windows, on the other hand, can certainly claim ease of use, as it is one of the most easy to use operating systems in existence, but it has no where near the reliability of an operating system such as Unix.

Linux is the perfect combination of the two, boasting a 99 9% reliability rate with an interface similar to that of Windows or Macintosh that makes it very easy to use. Although this reality has not caught on at the level of the personal computer which is still completely dominated by Windows, web site hosting providers have recognized the utility of using Linux and it has come to be the most common operating system used for online servers.

Reliability is key in hosting a web site, as you want to keep downtime to a minimum for web sites and certainly do not want to be involved in a total system crash which can result in the loss of your users web sites.

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