Month: January 2018

Linux Php Vs Windows Asp Web Hosting Comparison

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One of the first decisions to make while choosing web hosting is – what platform to opt for? Windows or Linux? PHP or ASP?

First of all, note that sites with static pages such as blogs can run on either Windows or Linux hosting platforms. These only use HTML and CSS, which are supported equally well by both operating systems.

When you require dynamic content on your website, such as eCommerce facilities, forums or other forms of scripting, then you need to pay attention to your hosting platform.

Traditionally, Linux servers are used for scripts based on PHP or Perl. These scripts include WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and many other blogging or content management systems. Windows servers, on the contrary, are used with scripts written in ASP, ASP(dot)Net or Access. MySQL works equally well with both Windows and Linux. Today, cross-platform scripting – that is, scripting with PHP/Perl on Windows or with ASP/ASP(dot)NET/Access on Linux – is permitted by some ISPs. However, cross-platform scripting will never give the smooth performance that a program does when run on its native platform – it is a bit like using emulators to run programs that are not native to the OS. There is one exception here, though – PHP runs equally well on Windows and Linux, so Linux-based hosting is no longer essential to run PHP-based scripts and applications.

Most computer geeks will advise you to go for Linux hosting, as Unix – on which Linux is based – is a far more secure and stable platform than Windows’ alternative. While this is demonstrably true – think of the millions of viruses for Windows systems, and the rare bug that crops up in Linux – it is also true that efficient server administration can render a Windows system as secure as a Linux one.

Speedwise, there is no clear winner between Windows and Linux. Some things work faster on Windows, while others work faster on Linux. So to choose between operating systems, cost and security would have to be the deciding factors. Linux here is substantially cheaper, as it is an open-source system, and most of its applications are also under GNU public licenses – in other words, free. Windows hosting comes with the added cost of the OS, and certain applications that the hosting company has to continually pay for.

As for the ASP-PHP comparison, ASP is almost universally the winner where speed is concerned. However, the learning curve in ASP or ASP(dot)NET is much steeper than in PHP – something that can backfire for advanced users looking for greater control and freedom. PHP, however, is still one of the most popular scripts around thanks to its versatility and the solid, useful applications being written using it.

In the end, choosing between Windows ASP and Linux PHP as hosting platforms becomes a matter of individual preference and contingent need. Depending on your budget, security concerns and familiarity with the computer language, you can pick either of them and successfully run a dynamic website for a long time to come.

How to Find an Affordable and Reliable Web Hosting Provider

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So your new web site is finished and ready to be hosted, now it is time to choose web hosting provider. How do you find a reliable web host that is also affordable for your new web site? Below are some of the pitfalls to look out for when choosing your next web host.

Downtime Problems occur, it is inevitable that there will be some downtime caused by server maintenance alone, a reliable web host will not only maintain your server will but also find problems with your server and fix them quickly, a web host that is not as reliable and one you will want to avoid is a host that has poor downtime, downtimes measured in days are unacceptable.

Poor Support Reliable web hosts will answer support questions timely fashion (within hours) and appropriately, the last thing a customer wants to hear from support when there is a problem with their hosting is “that there is no problem”. If support takes days to answer support questions, they are definitely not worthy of your business and you should consider another web hosting provider.

Broken Features If your site relies on a feature such as mail to perform daily duties and it is down, it can cost your business a loss in revenue or a loss in time, problems with databases is another feature to be aware of, reliability of databases is paramount in this day and age for any business.

Billing Issues Be careful of hosting providers with billing problems, things to look out for when evaluating a web host are reports of overcharging, hosts not honouring money back guarantees, and hosts not cancelling automatic billing after you have cancelled your hosting account.

How to Research Web Hosting Providers Finding web hosting providers is all too easy these days, enter in “web hosting” into your favourite search engine and you will given a list of millions of web hosts, but after you have trimmed down your list to the features you rquire and the price, how do you find which web hosts are reliable?

Read the Web Hosts forum What is the general feeling of the forum, are customer’s questions answered satisfactorily? Don’t be overly concerned if all you see is problems, generally the only people who post on forums provided by web hosts are the people who have problems, the customer’s that don’t have problems for the most part don’t post at all. The main thing we are looking for here is how quickly a customer’s problem was resolved.

Read Reviews of Web Hosts Look at how web hosts are rated against other web hosts on review sites, if you see a trend across review sites saying a particlar host is better than another, there is a good chance that this is the case.

Company Backgorund Check the “About Us” or “Company History” page at the web site, look for how long the host has been in business, a host that has been in operation for more than a few years is a good indicator that the host will be around for a long time to come.

Servers Where are the companies servers housed, do they run their own in house hosting, or is it housed elsewhere where it is being run by a 3rd party? What are the uptime statistics, a good web host should publish a link to an uptime monitor, or should give you a link to one if asked.

Send Pre-Sales Questions The answers to your pre-sales questions can tell you a lot about a prospective host, firstly you will see how long the company takes to reply, and once you recieve the reply, how well they commuinicate. You should ask questions related to the points above and also ask questions that relate to your specific needs.

Know Your Web Hosting Limits

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I think that one of the more common mistakes that people have been making in regards to the whole web hosting is that they are pretty much unsure of what goes into this and what they need. After all, hosting in itself is a pretty simple and basic operation, and most of the time, we are quite divorced from it at some point or another, and what we need to realise is how you are going to be able to know what to get, and what to spend. While it is quite simple to just leave things to the companies you are going to be approaching to do this for you, i think knowing what you need is a good thing and a good place to start instead of floundering all over the place and expecting to get what you came for. Most of the time people do not remember that these companies are out there to make money off of you, and what may seem like advice might be a little more than that if you know what I mean. All in all, these are just some of the things you might want to be aware of at the end of the day.

Now, when we are talking about web hosting limits, what we are really saying is what you are going to be using the hosting for. Now, if you are just going to need this whole thing just to blog about and post some photos, then your broadband needs are going to be pretty on the low side, and this also means that you are not going to need some of the more advanced features out there. Knowing this is really important, it is really important to also note that some of the features that you think are working for you might not be at the end of the day. Do not go crazy on the small things that might seem useful at first but of course, at the end of the day, might not have any use for you at all. Being in the all out would not benefit because your pocket is the one that is going to be hurting at the end of the day, and this means that going broke on your web hosting is not going to be the one that is the most beneficial to you. Know your limits and if you need a lot of bandwidth, know how much you need and what kinds of buffer levels are important to you as well.

These are some of the things that will be cropping up when you are thinking about how you are going to fully utilise the idea of the web hosting compound, and how you are going to test those limits so that you do not go above and beyond what you need at the end of the day, and how you are going to do this is basically by knowing your own needs online.