Unix Web Hosting

UNIX hosting is the most common web hosting platform today. The term itself refers to a computer operating system which provides the base operating system architecture for many open source companies including Solaris (Sun), Linux (GNU) and others. It has been around for years and is the choice language for mid-frame computer users. This hosting solution is considered more available due to open source distribution of its operating system. LINUX hosting is one of its versions that have gained popularity because of its stability as an operating system. You will find these two terms being used interchangeably, which effectively refers to the same type of hosting solution.

When it comes to choosing the hosting environment, the main thing to look for is what functions and programming languages that will be required by your website. Primarily, it is a choice between PHP and ASP, in which the former comes with UNIX hosting while the latter comes with Windows hosting. In addition, for plain and ordinary web sites which uses HTML pages with no or little database or dynamic pages, in most cases UNIX would be the best option. This environment should also be the option should your web site requirements include the use of PERL, PHP or Python.

This type is associated with reliability, security and high-performance. It is an open system, which means that its source code is publicly available for free from various web sites. In addition, providers usually provide free tools and applications that have been written primarily for its already established community. These companies are also more technically oriented and most of the systems on offer are custom designed. In terms of complexity, it is very cost-effective choice, due to its efficient use of hardware. This enables an increased web sites per server ratio, resulting in a decrease of cost of hosting. Naturally for this reason, this hosting type is normally cheaper than Windows hosting.

For those concerned on e-Commerce solutions, most plans come with features such as free shopping carts. Websites hosted in this set up normally have very high up-time in the order of 99%. Therefore, this kind of environment with e-commerce features would be the logical choice and has become a trend in the market.

The main disadvantage of using UNIX hosting is that your provider may only allow access to your account via Telnet or SSH. Also, when considering the operating system and hosting, users need to consider their own technical abilities. A strong working knowledge of commands is an advantage in order to do customizations beyond the basic needs. There'll be some minimal time required on learning the basics before you can fully utilize the advantages of this hosting environment.

In conclusion, the UNIX solution should be your choice if you are using PHP scripting for your website, and also if your website is pretty basic with mainly HTML language. It is also a more affordable option compared to Windows hosting due to its open-source concept. On top of all, it is widely regarded as more stable, secure and scalable.

Mer Amer writes in http://www.hostrecommend.com on various articles related to web hosting. Visit http://www.hostrecommend.com for more resources on web hosting and list of highly recommended web hosting services.

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