How to Select a Server Platform and Web Server

Just like your computer need an operating system for one to be able to access it, a website too needs to be hosted on a web server so you it can be accesses by web users. There are numerous web servers and server platforms offering these services on the web today. But each has got its advantages and disadvantages and so it is important of you to select wisely so that you make the best our the server or the platform you chose.

Research done by Netcraft has found out that Unix and Linux running Apache web server and Window NT/2000 running Internet Information Server are the most popular platforms and web servers today. The former is up by 60.17% and the later by 30.78%. Apart from these, there are many other web servers like SunONE, Weblogics, Zues etc. But we can say from the amount of popularity of Apache web server and Microsoft’s Windows NT/2000 is that they are compatible with most computers and machines.

Web servers have the requirement of a platform in order to run well and for the performance of several different types of tasks. The platform is similar to that of the operating system in our computers. Web hosts that are using the Linus, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Linus and the FreeBsd like using the Unix platform. It happens to be the most common one. As a web server platform Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2000 are both platforms that are doing well also.

One factor you should consider before deciding which platform for turn to, is the requirements of your website. If you are making a simple web site that will only need HTML to make and run, then you don’t have to be too particular about the platform to choose.

But if you need to run dynamic content which might need to use functionalities like CGI scripts, ASP, SSI, JSP, or PHP, then you are advised to go for UNIX platform web hosting.

But UNIX may not be compatible with some applications which only Microsoft platform can run. These applications include ASP, MS Access, .Net, Cold Fusion or Microsoft SQL server. For you therefore to be able to run these applications well, you will need to go for a web server that uses Windows NT platform. If you don’t need to use these applications, then you can go for UNIX, which supports functions like PHP, MySQL and Perl.

For many other reasons like having many more free programs supported by UNIX, this platform has been much cheaper that that of Microsoft. If you are there starting a business and need to save some money, you should design you website keeping this in mind and go for the servers that support UNIX.

Alfred Johnson is a web hosting expert, where his latest ecommerce project is selling contact lenses online.