Why go Windows vs. UNIX?

[klever76]

Originally Posted by monster

There are a few technologies that support running ASP pages on Linux web servers as well.

Let's be honest the is definately not the way to go. We all know that they're apache mods we know about Chilli Soft. But I 'd never suggest running ASP on Linux or ASP .NET for that matter (and yes there are some early stages of .NET runtimes compatible for *nix.

[monster]

Originally Posted by klever76

Let's be honest the is definately not the way to go. We all know that they're apache mods we know about Chilli Soft. But I 'd never suggest running ASP on Linux or ASP .NET for that matter (and yes there are some early stages of .NET runtimes compatible for *nix.

In my experience I would say for small scale / limited functionality projects its a viable option to use Linux to deliver ASP.NET pages, but if you're rolling out anything more than a small to medium site you'll _definitely_ want to use a Microsoft OS.

Originally Posted by klever76

My question is where is the hard data that would point to an advantage for one over another. For instance what comparisons have been done regarding the statements made regarding stability and uptime. What OS's specifically were considered what flavas of linux which versions of Windows. Windows 2003 is tauted as more secure and more stable so is IIS 6.0, how do I have factual evidence that would help me.

Unfortunately the most often cited comparisons that I've come across have either been commissioned by Microsoft and do not stand up to scrutiny, or they are tests by unreliable sources in the open source community. I haven't looked around in a LONG time though. For performance data the TPC (http://www.tpc.org) database tests are a reliable benchmark of throughput and processing power of an OS. The great thing about these is that often 90% or more of the database software code is common to both OS's, so Oracle code on Linux may be very close to Oracle code on Windows. It's still not apples to apples but considering the magnitude of the software it's great data for comparison.

With respect to stability and uptime I don't know of any tests from reliable sources (...check for yourself though, I haven't looked much), my contention that Unix based OS's are more stable servers and have better uptime than Windows servers are from my own experience.

[mcneely]

[quote=
With respect to stability and uptime I don't know of any tests from reliable sources (...check for yourself though, I haven't looked much), my contention that Unix based OS's are more stable servers and have better uptime than Windows servers are from my own experience.[/QUOTE]


It's like I was saying..............I do enjoy something that I can bang around a bit, and this comes from experiences on both OS's.

There are no truly documented tests that I know of besides just my own experience betwixed the two.

And so............I cruise..........W/Linux

[jcase]

Unix is by far the superior web hosting platform. Anyone who says that windows is a stable hosting platform is just plain ignorant. The fact of the matter is this, Unix doesnt have a GUI, servers should NOT have a GUI. I suppose if you enjoy dragging a freight train behind your server sure, use windows. I have been a sys admin for both a unix and windows shop, and unix simply is the most stable by far.


Jonathan Case
CTO onthespothosting.net

[klever76]

Can you please send me the results of your case study. I'm trying to put together some information and would like to point to the testing you did, if you don't mind.

[devenkamp]

Originally Posted by jcase

Unix is by far the superior web hosting platform. Anyone who says that windows is a stable hosting platform is just plain ignorant. The fact of the matter is this, Unix doesnt have a GUI, servers should NOT have a GUI. I suppose if you enjoy dragging a freight train behind your server sure, use windows. I have been a sys admin for both a unix and windows shop, and unix simply is the most stable by far.

Jonathan Case
CTO onthespothosting.net

This sounds like a pretty ignorant statement to me. Reducing the comparison of the two hosting platforms to the presence of a GUI is a very shallow approach. While it is true that on a *nix machine I can decide whether or not to enable the X server to run a GUI, the Windows GUI interface is rarely used while it is acting as a server, which means that very little overhead is taken by the GUI. The fact is that either platform can be tuned to reduce the footprint to use only the applications that are essential. I used to have the same opinion about *nix's superior stability (and with good reason), but Microsoft has made huge improvements with the Windows Server 2003 platform. The fact is that any system connected to the network is going to have issues of one kind or another given the right circumstances, and I've seen plenty of *nix systems blow up. Keeping your system footprint minimal and having good supporting systems does more to keep your platform stable than the platform you use.

[craigh]

I must say it does make a difference to a lot of people but it really just depends on the client and the site being hosted. If the features of Windows (like .ASP NET support etc.) are needed then obviously that would be the choice. But if it is something that both operating systems can do then I would pick *nix. I used to do a lot of research on site uptime and usually the sites running *nix would have a higher uptime rate than sites running Windows. But now a days it's a major market and a major competitive market at that.

[TechMgrDan]

I work for a major hosting company. One that is rated in the TOP 25 here on tophosts for December.

I deal directly with the customers as a manager and we host both Windows and Linux servers.

Windows 2000 did not nearly compare to the stability and functionality in Linux Enterprise Servers. We are currently running hundreds of Shared Windows 2000 Servers. We also run many Shared Linux servers and the problems, customer complaints and issues dealing specificlly with performace are negligable compared to windows 2000. However, as we migrate to Windows 2003 I see a HUGE improvement in stability and customer overall satisfaction. As we migrate, our Helpdek volume decreases. I believe this is primarily due to the worker processes recycling now, which Win 2000 sorely needed.

So while linux is still rock solid, I am finding that Windows 2003 Server is now on the same level as linux. I taught myself PHP and have now decided to dive into ASP and ASP.NET I also now recommend to customers when they ask, that if they developed thier site in PHP/MySQL or specifically need shell access they should go linux, otherwise I advise windows for the ease of use.

Dan

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