·        Stability: UNIX is the winner hands down. UNIX can handle high server loads and seldom requires rebooting. Any server with UNIX on it has more up-time and more reliability than any other operating system.

·        Performance: Here again, UNIX beats the competition. UNIX servers can handle themselves under heavy loads and is able to outperform Windows easily.

·        Scalability: Here is where Windows wins over UNIX. Windows hosting is more easily made compatible with UNIX applications. And UNIX software is not 100% compatible with Windows.

·        Compatibility: UNIX wins here. Any website that is programmed and designed to work on a UNIX server can easily be hosted on a Windows server. But Windows applications will not work on UNIX. Therefore, UNIX is the best choice.

·        Price: As you know, Windows is very expensive. It cost a lot to host Windows on a server. However, UNIX has a version that is free and this is Linux. It is easy to get, download, and install.

·        Programs don’t run: Unfortunately, there are programs that just won’t run on UNIX no matter what. So these programs need to be marked and avoided.

·        Open market: The only real thing people consider as a disadvantage is the fact that UNIX is an open operating system. This means that the source code is available to be used and updated. However, think about this one. If one company controls the operating system, getting support and upgrades could take forever. Besides that any upgrades you get will no doubt cost a lot of money.

 

It is obvious that UNIX is the operating system hosting companies use. Despite a couple of disadvantages, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

 

·        APlus: Aplus has many different plans to fit your budget and requirements from solo to epro hosting. Their prices start at $5.95 and go from there. When you sign up with them they give you $495 worth of free software. And depending on the plan you choose, you could have from 300MB storage space up to 20GB. To check them out further just go to http://hosting.aplus.net/unixhosting.html and see if what they have will work for you.

·        Penquinwebhosting: Penquin Web Hosting is not like your usual Unix hosting company. They provide you videos to help you set up your site, email and more. They even have a help desk that is available and you can get help usually within one hour. They use the best equipment like Intel dual Xeon processor and SCSI raid hard drive systems. They have two plans to work with and start you out at $5.95 a month. To learn more just go here http://www.penguinwebhosting.com/.

·        CHIhost: Here is a company that has the best plans available. You get started with 6,000MB storage space and unlimited emails. They even have live tech support. They start you out at $6.95 a month. To learn more about them just go to http://www.chihost.com/index.php.

·        HostMySite: HostMySite has affordable web hosting plans that allow you to easily and quickly upload your site so you can have an Internet presence. They start you out at $8.95 and go from there. To learn more about them go to http://hostmysite.com/hosting/.

 

·        What is it: A virtual private server basically splits a physical server into multiple virtual servers without having to add any more hardware. From a technical perspective, the server is partitioned into various servers. This way one partition can hold enough space to be looked at as a server. This way one if not several websites could fit in this one area.

·        Security: Virtual private servers also offer security in that they work in sandboxes (a security mechanism for running programs safely). Sandboxes are used often to run untested code or programs to see if they will work with the actual server. Virtual private servers are also configured to use honeypots (a trap that is set to detect or deflect any attempt to gain unauthorized use of the systems).

·        Costs: By having a virtual private server, this allows many customers to share the expense of the server without sacrificing privacy or website performance. The hosting company gains as so all the webmasters involved.

 

·        Bridging a gap: NTT/Verio, the company to first implement it, wanted to bridge the gap between shared hosting and dedicated hosting servers. This way future hosting companies could provide many types of businesses, especially small ones, the performance, security, and control they needed from a dedicated server, but at a fraction of the cost. 

·        No restrictions: A virtual private server eliminates many restrictions by providing administrative features that can only be found in a dedicated server. This way each VPS can be set up so the user receives their own set of services that they can customize anyway they see fit. And a VPS has its own file system, CGI-BIN, disk space, system resources, bandwidth, memory space, and more.

·        Performance Isolation: Each VPS is isolated from the others so any amount of heavy traffic or CPU loads will not affect the others in any way, shape, or form. Also, if one VPS has developed errors, those errors will not affect any other VPS.

·        Functional Isolation: One very important component to VPS is its ability to isolate itself functionally. Since a VPS is self-contained, users can install and customize their own software.

 

·        Control: Just as you would have certain control over dedicated servers, the same applies to a VPS. The only thing is you don’t have the cost or expenses that you normally would have with a dedicated server. With this type of control, users can install their own applications, as well as use email servers, database servers, and FTP servers.

·        Security: Besides what was covered briefly above, security is a major issue for webmasters. Webmasters depend on their systems being protected from outside sources. With having a VPS, no other webmaster can see each other’s data or files. The other websites are hidden from view.

·        Scalability: A VPS offers great benefits regarding scalability. This is because the hosting company can upgrade to better VPS solutions at any time that is required.

 

·        Advanced technical skills: You need advanced technical skills and program knowledge to install, maintain, and tweak any specialized applications that need to run on a VPS system. The upside to this is a good hosting company will give you manuals to help you in this process.

·        Mismanagement: Unfortunately what can happen is there can be too many virtual servers on the same computer; this can cause the servers to start hogging resources, resulting in a decrease in speed and performance of web page delivery.

·        Endless configurations: In this area it depends on the hosting package you choose. For the VPS may allow endless ways of configuring an application, but you may not get all the ways to do it when you sign up with the hosting package you choose. This may be a downfall for webmasters, unless they can find specific software to run the way they want it to run.

·        Cost factor: If a user were to need more functionality than what he has, he may have to spend a lot more money than what he anticipated.

 

·        Ensim: Ensim’s product line includes a control panel for each webmaster, server management, and Microsoft Exchange hosting software for email support. They also provide training and support when needed. To learn more about them and what they can provide you just go to http://www.ensim.com/index.html.

·        H-Sphere: H-Sphere is considered a scalable multi-server hosting company. They have centralized automatic software that fully supports resellers and regular users. Their systems support Win2000, Linux, and FreeBSD. The server provides all available features, has an easy-to-use control panel, and powerful interface. To learn more about the company and what solutions they can supply you just go to http://www.psoft.net/promo/.

·        SW-Soft: SW-Soft developed the Virtuozzo technology and the HSPcomplete hosting automation system. The company has products that deliver powerful but comprehensive solutions that can satisfy any webmaster’s needs. To get more information and details about this company just go to http://www.swsoft.com/.

·        EAPPS: EAPPS has ebusiness application solutions for any type of service requirements, be it reseller or end-user. They promise you availability, performance, and ease of use with their systems. They even have live technical support to help you with any problem you may have. To learn more about them just go to http://www.eapps.com/Home/Home.jsp and see what they have for you.

·        WestHost: With WebHost you have full control over your website and server. You get full control over the web server configuration, email server, MySQL, and more. You get so much for only $3.95 a month. Check them out now by going to http://www.westhost.com/vps-web-hosting.html.

 

·        .Net scripts: If you have or use .Net scripting on any of your web pages you will need to use Windows hosting because UNIX will not work with .Net, at least not yet.

·        MS SQL: If you run a website that is driven by a database, you will need Windows, considering UNIX does not support Microsoft Access or MySQL.

·        ASP: If you run web pages that use ASP as an extension, you won’t be able to run it with UNIX. UNIX does not support ASP. It only supports PHP.

·        FrontPage: If you use FrontPage, you will find you be better off with Windows hosting because Windows supports it better. Also, if you are planning to use streaming media, you will do better with Windows.

·        Simpler to use: Although Windows is expensive it has an easy-to-use interface. This makes it the choice for hosting companies no matter who they are.

 

·        Technical support: Here is one aspect of Windows hosting you desperately need. What if something happens to your site? Will they be available to fix it or correct any problems? Are they available 24/7? What if you are doing updates and suddenly find your site went down. What will you do now?

·        Disk space: How much disk space do you need? Do you require a large chunk of space or just about 5MB of disk space? You have to look at your website and see how much space it takes up on your present system to know this. The more disk space you need, the more it will cost, so know ahead of time what you need.

·        Email: How many email accounts do you need? Some people just use one. While others use more than that. Some companies use up to 10 different email accounts for various purposes. Does the hosting company you are looking at provide many email accounts? If so how many? Are there enough for what you need for your company? Check ahead so you know exactly how many you will need to start with.

·        Miscellaneous: Does the Windows hosting company offer FrontPage, daily backups, hit counter, unlimited bandwidth, your own CGI-BIN directory, FTP upload ability, MySQL for database control, RealAudio, a file manager, a site creation tool, form mail, mailing lists, a shopping cart, and more. If any of these things are missing, don’t choose it. Go for another one.

 

Another reason people use Windows is because most HTML editors and web page creators are supported by Windows. Such programs like FrontPage, Visual Interdev, and Microsoft Access. The only downside to using Windows is it takes up a lot of system resources. To run Windows you need a powerful machine. And Windows does not a stable history of reliability or stability. Plus, with Windows, you have to spend a lot of money on development tools. 

 

·        General hosting: General hosting offers several plans that can provide you with many different features. For example, their simple plan gives you up to four domains names you can register and host their, 200 mailboxes, FrontPage support, unlimited FTP, ASP, .NET support, MS Access hosting, MySQL, and more. Their simple plan or plan one they call it, costs on $14.95 a month for 2000MB of disk space. To check them out and learn about other packages they offer just go to http://www.generalhosting.com.

·        DiscountASP.net: Here is a company that offers new customers three months free hosting, after that it only cost $10 per month. The offer the most advanced Windows hosting that provides the best value to their customers. They start you out with 750MB disk space, up to 20GB monthly transfer, unlimited FTP, and 24/7 support. They also offer the new ASP.NET 2.0 and .NET Framework 2.0. To see what else they have to offer just go to http://www.discountasp.net/index.aspx and take a look around. You may find a plan you like.

·        MySiteSpace: This company provides Windows hosting at a cheap price. They only charge $7.95 a month and provide a control panel, ASP and ASP.NET support, MS SQL and Access support, MS FrontPage, web stats, emails, and more. They offer more than you would get anywhere else for less. Just check out what they can offer you by going to http://www.mysitespace.com/ and see what other plans they may have for you.

·        StartLogic: StartLogic takes pride in serving over 50,000 customers daily. StartLogic has one numerous awards in recognition of their great service, customer support, and security systems. They provide free setup and free domain names with no other fees. They charge a modest fee of $4.95 a month. To learn more about them just go to http://www.startlogic.com/ and see what they are about and why they one so many awards.

·        IX Web Hosting: Established in 1999, IX owns and operates its own datacenter. IX currently supports over 37,000 customers and have over 750 servers. They do two things that are unique from other hosting companies: they offer a one-hour support response guarantee; second, they guarantee your current pricing will not increase when up for renewal. To find out what else they have and see if they can help you go here - http://www.ixwebhosting.com/.