Where to host your eCommerce website is an important decision to make in your eCommerce strategy execution. It deserves careful consideration and comparison. Different server types have different levels of reliability, security, flexibility, and so on. One of the internet’s long held debates is this: Windows hosting versus Linux hosting… which is better for you?
Most websites are now hosted by Linux, a shared hosting service, and is often our hosting choice. One big reason for this is that, generally speaking, Linux hosting is cheaper. This is because Linux is open-source, so web hosting services do not need to pay licensing fees like they would with Windows. That makes their operating costs lower. That savings gets passed on to you and your businesses.
But beyond just cost-saving, there are several other reasons to choose Linux. Linux servers’ flexibility, security, and reliability are often unmatched. Below, we broke down each of these factors so you can further understand why going with Linux is the right choice for most business websites.
Flexibility
One of the major strengths of Linux is its flexibility. There are so many options available for customization, which allows you to create a system tailored for your business. A major part of its flexibility is its open-source foundation. This helps to ensure that one person or one business or one industry does not have more control over how the OS works than anyone else. You can customize it to work exactly the way you want it to.
With Linux, you can be sure that there are multiple ways to handle any given task or application. This allows you and your team to get creative!
Reliability
It is a commonly held truth that Linux servers are very reliable. Reliability is a big deal, especially for revenue generating sites – if you’re eCommerce site is down, you’re losing money. Finding the most reliable web host is probably high up in your list of decision making factors. Linux has the competitive advantage of working on 70% of web servers worldwide. That means it has more data to work with, which allows it to make better decisions that create a more reliable server.
Linux also has better background process management. Background processes in Linux are only enabled when they are needed.
Furthermore, Linux servers rarely need to be restarted, even when changes are made. Linux systems are known to run for years without failure. This means your website can approach 0% downtime – and that is especially important for small- and medium-sized businesses, where downtime can be disastrous.
Security
No security system is flawless. That’s a given. But Linux often leads the pack in security. Wave after wave of cyber-attacks have targeted Windows servers. Because Windows is such a popular computer operating system there are just simply more people attacking Windows. They are more effective because they try more often.
Linux’s root-user feature allows only administrators to modify certain directories and applications. Social engineering is much harder, because of the way Linux uses execution rights.
The Lowdown
Unless you run Windows-based web applications, or have other special needs, we highly recommend that you give Linux-based hosting a look. It is well known and well loved for being flexible, reliable, secure, and cost-efficient. Think about what you really want in a server for your website, and see if those four factors do not end up on that list.
