The Unix and Linux operating systems are specifically designed for web servers. They are proven to be stable and can serve web pages well even with heavy traffic. They are less vulnerable to attacks from viruses and hackers. Unix/Linux operating systems are also a better choice when hosting multiple web sites with heavy bandwidth requirements and can provide a 99% or more uptime.
Servers running Unix/Linux operating systems can be managed easily from any computer connected to the net unlike servers running Windows Operating system which require specialized or expensive administration software.
Third party software and applications for Unix/Linux/Free BSD web hosting servers
Thousands of third party web software are available for Unix/Linux based servers and most of them for free. They can be easily integrated using online control panels or can be installed fairly quickly from the shell environment. These web based software and suite of programs usually run on what is called the LAMP which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. You can find forums, message boards, chat programs, shopping carts, mailing lists and many more applications based on LAMP that have been developed as a collaborative effort of several programmers. If you are apprehensive of using free software, rest assured – you will find tons of helpful sites and forums that provide support for these software.
FrontPage and Unix/Linux/FreeBSD servers
Even if you are developing your web site in FrontPage, Unix/Linux based servers can help you integrate using FrontPage Extensions. So unless you plan to use specific Windows software, you should choose a Unix/Linux/FreeBSD based web server.
