What is the advantage of Linux web hosting?

Linux has been a preferred choice of server operating system for many years. In fact, the Netcraft website reported in 2006 that eight of the ten most reliable Internet hosting companies use Linux-based web servers. Why is Linux so popular among professional web developers? This is partly because Linux servers have proven to be more stable and have longer uptime than competing operating systems. Furthermore, desktop software with a graphical user interface is usually unnecessary when dealing with web hosting.

Linux has been called

the “cornerstone of the LAMP server-software combination.” This refers to a combination of several programs that make web development easy: Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl, PHP and Python. Linux is also a popular program used with supercomputers. As of 2007, 426 of the top 500 computers worldwide run a Linux server.

What are some advantages to running a Linux server?

Linux has been compared to commercial UNIX systems for reliability and is considered much more reliable than running other desktop-oriented operating systems. Web developers like Linux because they can rely on the system to constantly operate as a web server or file server. This is because Linux does not have to reboot every time a system configuration is changed. Some users also claim that Linux is a more Internet-friendly system, with an entire “culture” of users willing to help out on troubleshooting. Compared to a commercially based Windows operating system, wait times for assistance are considerably less with Linux.

Other advantages worth noting

include Linux’s open source software. Linux does not require the high licensing fees that other operating systems do, and most Linux systems are free for download. Flexibility is always an issue, since a Linux website can be easily converted into a Windows website. (Not so easy to do the reverse!) Linux is also highly recommended if you plan on using a scripting language like PHP, MySQL or Perl. Most web developers believe that Linux is a much more secure system than Windows hosting, not only for speed and stability, but also because the majority of viruses and spyware created targets a Windows operating system.

If you are interested in learning more

about Linux hosting then continue reading Linux Web Hosting Guide on CompareWebHosts.com. Here you can also find reviews of all the top sites that provide Linux hosting, dedicated servers, virtual private servers, Top 10 Hosts and other website deals. In your research you may very well find that Linux is the best system to work with when designing a safe and secure site.