Last updated on September 3rd, 2022
Many developing businesses require the support of a hosting platform that can provide security, scalability, high performance, and flexibility, all at affordable costs. That is because due to the instability of the growing business and the necessity to invest in various other factors, one prefers to have an affordable hosting solution and not expensive like a dedicated server. Though dedicated server hosting provides value for money, especially when one does not have money in hands, they seek cheaper options. On the other side, it is important not to compromise with the hosting features your business website needs while searching for cheaper hosting platforms.
Therefore, the industry has brought up virtual private server hosting that mimics the dedicated server hosting environment and renders your web business with the desired hosting features at affordable rates. Moreover, another choice that you must make with choosing the hosting service is the operating system. That means the operating system that you will want to run at the base of your hosting platform.
Here you will get detailed insights into VPS hosting and also the two popular operating systems that are run at its base – Linux and Windows. Furthermore, this guide will help you come to the conclusion of which one from Linux VPS and Windows VPS hosting will be the right option for your web business. Let us get started.
What is a Virtual Private Server?
Before all, let us first apprehend the VPS (Virtual Private Server). The virtual private server is the server that serves as the partition of the central physical server. The physical server is divided utilizing Hypervisor software to form multiple virtual compartments through virtualization technology. Each virtual compartment serves as the virtual private server to the independent users. Thus, each user gets its private virtual environment to host the website. The users will also have the dedicated resources such as bandwidth, RAM, as per their needs, working for their websites. They will not have to share the web resources with each other, unlike in shared server hosting. The VPS hosting enables users to have better website performance, required resources on time, a secure environment due to independent virtual servers, more control over the server, and scalability.
The virtual private server also provides the flexibility to customize your server settings, applications, softwares and, most importantly, install the operating system you want to run at your server’s base. The two most preferable and leading operating systems, one out of which you would want to install on your system, are -Windows and Linux. Many people just pick any of them according to which one is available with their hosting provider or more accessible to them. However, choosing an operating system for your website makes a considerable difference in its working.
The following sections will get you through the features and differences of Linux VPS hosting and Windows VPS hosting to let you know which will fit the best as per your requirements and serves the best to your website.
What is the Linux VPS Hosting?
The Linux VPS hosting involves the Linux operating system, an open-source platform, to work at your virtual private server base. One of the core principles of Linux VPS hosting is to let you build a website that can act as an application server for its customers and employees. The Linux VPS hosting enables you to have access to programming shells. These programming shells can be utilized to generate scripts and programs. Consequently, you will be able to enhance your system’s security and functional features with Linux VPS hosting.
It is perfectly designed to be used with Secure Remote Login (SSH). The complete management of your virtual private server will be done utilizing the command line. Unlike the Windows VPS, the Linux VPS is less resource hungry. Therefore, you will not need to request a regular reboot even if your website load is heavy. Mentioned below are some of the significant features of the Linux VPS Hosting that you must recognize.
Main Features of Linux VPS Hosting
- The virtual private server operating on Linux operating system tends to be secured with the Secure Shell (SSH). With the help of SSH, you get the opportunity to manage VPS by typing in command lines. It assists in making Linux VPS comparatively more resource-efficient. The administrator on the Linux VPS will not be required to execute regular reboots in case of heavy loads of resources. Therefore, due to the fewer reboots, your system will be able to provide high performance.
- Linux, being open-source in nature, provided top-notch security. So, with the Linux VPS hosting, your website acquires higher levels of protection. Behind the Linux operating system, there exists a massive community of professional coders who keep reviewing, identifying, and clarifying its vulnerability. Therefore, it allows all the bugs and issues to get resolved from time to time. Additionally, Linux VPS is comparatively more secure because of the fact that it consists of a smaller user base.
- Since Linux operating system is an open-source code, it becomes ideal for supporting open-source software like PHP/Perl, Java, Python, ROR, SSH, CGI, MySQL, and many others.
- It is always effective to have server access as then you can get better control over the configuration of your virtual private server. You must have known about the FTP, which is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol. The FTP is a beneficial tool through which you can upload and download files. For instance, you will require this tool to build a website in order to upload media files(photos or videos) from your personal computer to your virtual private server. With the Linux VPS, you get the accessibility to FTP. Moreover, the other kind of server access you would want to have is a protection protocol known as SSH. And the SSh is available only with the Linux operating system.
- The control panel plays an important role in making customization and management of the websites flawless for you. You can easily handle different settings and features with the control panel. The Linux VPS makes it possible for you to access cPanel or Web Host Manager (WHM) in the building and hosting of your website. Both of the control panels supported by Linux are user-friendly.
Scalability is an important feature when viewed with respect to the growing business. It helps to enhance the server’s capability to manage the workloads and demands without compromising on the performance of the system. You can find the two chief Linux VPS choices in today’s market. They are Linux OpenVZ VPS and Linux KVM VPS. They both will let you easily upgrade the hosting plans through the control panels in order to keep up with the increased workload of your website. But it is to be noted that you can only downgrade Linux OpenVZ as per the requirement. On the other side, with the Linux OpenVZ VPS, you will not have to reboot your virtual private server after installing the upgraded versions.
Recommended: Why Is Linux VPS Hosting The Better Choice?
What is the Windows VPS Hosting?
The Windows VPS hosting involves the Windows operating system, a product of Microsoft, to work at the base of your virtual private server. One of the core principles of Windows VPS hosting is to let you quickly build services and administer them easily. Moreover, it incorporates automated patches and updates, and thus, you will not need to spend much time administering them. Also, with Windows working as an operating system in your virtual private server, you will have driver libraries that fit with most of the hardware in the market. Mentioned below are some of the significant features of the Windows VPS Hosting that you must recognize.
Main Features of Windows VPS Hosting
- Windows VPS hosting serves the best commercial products that are designed for common users. You will have the Graphical User Interface (GUI). With the GUI, it will become easier for you to navigate. The Windows VPS hosting provides the most user-friendly environment for operating. However, you must know that you will need to reboot your system after every kind of patch and driver or software update.
Moreover, if you will not, the system will reboot itself automatically as per its internal schedule. Most Windows users are aware of this as their computer restarts just after any update. Also, the Windows virtual private server is resources hungry, so it must be optimized efficiently. It is because the Windows operating system incorporates various pre-installed applications, and consequently, these resources take up much amount of CPU power while running in the background.
- Since a large number of computers operate on Windows operating systems, the Windows VPS hosting consists of a massive user base. With an intensive user base, it becomes obvious for cybercriminals to attack and find loopholes within Windows users. However, you must not misunderstand this fact with the inability of Windows to provide security. Windows keeps on upgrading and strengthening its protections against cyberattacks while enabling users to apply a higher level of security layers.
- The Windows virtual private server hosting enables you to operate Windows-specific software and applications that cannot be run on other operating systems. For instance, with the Windows VPS hosting, you can get the support of ASP, MySQL, C#, MS Access, and many others. All the commercially available softwares that is available to work is targeted at Windows operating systems only. Moreover, Windows involves a larger market share compared to Linux operating systems.
- With the Windows virtual private server hosting, you can have Plesk as the control panel to create a website, perform different operations, customize and manage diverse settings and features, etc.
- An extensive multi-billion dollar company, Microsoft, has developed the operating system known as Windows. Therefore, you can infer that the Windows VPS has the support from a team of professional IT experts. The team is round-the-clock available to help you resolve any problems or issues anytime related to the Windows OS.
- You can scale up the Windows virtual private server anytime as per your requirements. You will encounter the changes after rebooting the server following upgrade installations. However, it is to be kept in mind that the Windows VPS cannot be scaled down.
- Since Windows is a commercial product of Microsoft, you will have to pay a common licensing fee, unlike Linux, which is free due to its open-source nature. Most of the hosting providers will include a Windows licensing fee in the offered Windows virtual private server plans and packages.
Also Read: What is VPS Hosting? All You Need to Know About VPS Hosting
Difference Between Linux VPS And Windows VPS – Which One Is Better?
After knowing about both Windows VPS hosting and Linux VPS hosting in detail, let us highlight the key differences between them in the following table.
| Linux Virtual Private Server | Windows Virtual Private Server |
| 1. Linux is an open-source platform. Therefore, it comes free of cost. | 1. Windows is a commercial product of Microsoft. Therefore, it comes with a licensing fee. |
| 2. It is best compatible with programs such as PHP, Python, Ruby, Perl, MySQL,etc. | 2. It is best compatible with applications such as C#, ASP.net, VB, MySQL, MS Access and other Microsoft Products. |
| 3. It is less user-friendly as compared to Windows. But for those who know how to run command line, it is easily accessible. | 3. It is more user-friendly due to its Graphical User Interface(GUI). |
| 4. Being open-source in nature, it offers more flexibility and features to the users. | 4. It is less flexible and has less features than Linux. |
| 5. It supports both FTP and SSH. | 5. It supports FTP but not SSH. |
| 6. In the Linux VPS, the administrative software can include cPanel, Confixx, or Plesk. | 6. In the Windows VPS, the administrative software can include Plesk. |
| 7. It can give support to a large number of third-party applications. | 7. It can give huge support to the cooperative world. |
| 8. The web server used can be Apache or Nginx. | 8. The web server used is Microsoft IIS. |
How To Choose The Right One For Your Business?
We have discussed the features of both Windows VPS and Linux VPS hostings. Also, in the previous section, the key differences between them are also highlighted. By now, you can judge the advantages and disadvantages of both types of hostings. However, your decision of picking any of them must not be based on their pros and cons. You have to examine which one from Linux virtual private server and Windows private server will fit the most and best to your web business. Additionally, you must know the operating system you will be choosing over the other must support the maximum number of software and applications you will want to run on your server to advance your web business.
Also Read: Difference Between Linux and Window VPS Hosting – Which to Choose for Your Business
Why is Serverwala Best for Linux or Windows VPS Hosting?
Once you decide which operating system on the VPS will serve the best to your website, you need to look for the best hosting provider that can render you the required facilities and services. Here, we are introducing you to one of the leading and recognized hosting companies, which comes under the most influential organizations of the corporate world _ Server Wala. The Serverwala hosting company renders excellent VPS hosting services all over the globe and enables you to opt for any of your preferred operating systems -Windows or Linux. You will have the following privileges and benefits with the Serverwala VPS hosting service–
- The company offers the best state in class processor and a SuperMicro blade to monitor and handle the entire maintenance of your virtual private server.
- The company provides 24/7 technical support from the certified and professional team. You can connect with the team anytime to resolve any encountered server issues. The professionals are always ready to provide expert solutions in the minimum possible time.
- The company guarantees 100% uptime with the premium bandwidth and efficient network.
You can check out the company’s official website to grab more information about its VPS hosting offers and facilities – https://serverwala.com/.
