The advantages of using Linux servers have been known to run for long periods of time without technical difficulties or down time experience, which is a considerable achievement since many Windows servers need to refresh and reboot their operating systems at regular intervals.

The vulnerabilities in the Linux security operating system have not found; however, it is still considered a priority of Linux to keep their systems running with the best degree of security around.

Linux also offers its customers the added advantage of cheaper Linux based web hosting solutions largely due to open source distributions.  And the web hosting provider generally pass these savings onto their customers, making Linux web hosting solutions extremely affordable.

With every advantage of a hosting solution, there has to be disadvantages as well, Linux hosting solutions are no exception to this rule. The main disadvantage of Linux based applications is that they are unable to accommodate windows applications and the coding conversions. This could bring disaster for websites that have been coded especially for windows based applications.

When considering a Linux web hosting provider, make sure he offers all the basics services on security, including firewall, load balance for the servers, Denial of Attack (DOS) protection.

Also, there are some basics services any web hosting provider should include, such as MYSQL services, statistics (preferably two scripts), antivirus and antispam services (added or included) and the possibility to add your own scripts via FTP. It’s very common  if your web hosting provider doesn’t include SSH access, make sure they can support you to install those scripts. Of course, if your script presents a security bug, your web hosting provider may ask you to change it or deny installing it altogether.

Windows web hosting solutions provide many solutions such as NET support, ASP, visual basic C++ and pearl scripts. Windows dynamic page display is also well known. All windows hosting plans support the Microsoft Access 2000 database and MSSQL for more experienced webmasters which are generally easy and strait forward to apply codes to.

Although Windows hosting packages offer a large number of benefits and extras, their odd security problem, down time tendency, and scheduled rebooting on a regular basis remains a viable disadvantage of using windows servers as a web hosting solution.

While the choice of a web-hosting server is an individual decision, those who looking for a hosting solution should consider the benefits and disadvantages of both Windows and Linux servers before making a choice.