Why should I consider Windows web hosting?

Windows web hosting is one of the two primary forms of web hosting available from most web hosting providers, with the other prime form of web hosting offered by most web hosting providers being Linux web hosting. Windows web hosting services can come in array of forms of web hosting, with Windows shared hosting being the most basic form of Windows web hosting whilst some web hosting providers are able to offer Windows dedicated servers to meet the requirements of larger businesses and organisations. Windows isn’t the most popular web hosting platform and there are downsides to using Windows web hosting services, but it is important to consider the features that are unique to the Windows operating system since it is these merits which you should base your decision on which web hosting platform you are going to use to meet your web hosting requirements. Windows web hosting should only really be considered in specific situations where you have ruled out Linux web hosting as meeting your requirements in any way; however, it is still important to keep impartiality if you are a web hosting provider since there is always going to be groups of consumers who require Windows web hosting and Linux web hosting, although the Linux web hosting market is always going to be more popular.

Not only do most Windows web hosting packages come with support for websites that have been developed using classic ASP and ASP.NET, but most Windows web hosting services are also able to offer support for Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server databases; all four technologies have been developed by Microsoft and since Microsoft has designed all its products to be offered commercially, all four products will only function correctly on Windows web hosting servers. You should always be careful when it comes to choosing Windows web hosting packages since you want to make sure that you choose a web hosting solution that is able to suit your requirements effectively but falls within the bottom end of the budget that you have set for choosing your web hosting package; Windows web hosting packages are only offered either very cheaply or at very high prices and so it is important for you to do your research to enable you to choose the right web hosting package from the right web hosting provider – it is important for you to make sure that you base your choice on the more complex factors that can affect a web hosting package such as reliability and security as well as the resource levels offered.

What are the main forms of Windows web hosting available?

Windows as an operating system is available with a number of different forms of web hosting which means that regardless of what your overall requirements may be, there is going to be a Windows web hosting service available to meet your requirements properly. As is applicable in any situation you will find that the most popular and cheapest form of Windows web hosting available is Windows shared hosting, and Windows shared hosting packages are offered by many web hosting providers which means that there is a lot of competition which always results in lower prices for the consumer; a Windows shared hosting package will allow you to host a basic classic ASP or ASP.NET based website with no problems, and you should also be able to host at least one Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server database – the only problem that you might encounter is the level of performance offered since you need to consider the number of other users that you are going to be sharing the server with. Windows VPS server hosting is another popular form of Windows web hosting and can offer smaller businesses and individuals the power that they require without having to spend a fortune on a Windows dedicated server; the good thing is that most web hosting providers are still able to offer you the choice between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 when you order a Windows VPS server which means that you won’t face any issues if you have a certain preference when it comes to choosing the Windows Server operating system that you use. Windows dedicated server hosting is at the top of the pile when it comes to the different forms of Windows web hosting that you have to choose from, although a dedicated server should only be considered in the situation where you are able to justify the cost of a dedicated server but that you are sure that you will be able to make use of the resources that you are purchasing; the problem with dedicated server hosting is that most people just don’t require the power that can be offered by a dedicated server, so you need to be sure that you will be able to make the most of any dedicated server prior to purchasing it. In summary, the main forms of Windows web hosting that are available include:

  • Windows shared hosting – if you are starting out with Windows web hosting or web hosting in general for the first time then you should always consider a Windows web hosting package before you choose any other form of web hosting – by choosing a Windows shared hosting package you won’t need to worry about server management or anything similar, although you will find that you have limited access to your web hosting account and are normally restricted to FTP and control panel access if you wish to manage your web hosting account or web space in any way – however, a Windows shared hosting package is going to be the cheapest form of Windows web hosting available and since most website hosting providers offer a money-back guarantee you should be able to claim a no-quibbles refund if you find that Windows web hosting isn’t for you
  • Windows VPS server hosting – the next step up from shared web hosting in terms of resources and pricing is Windows VPS server hosting, and with a Windows VPS server you will be provided with your own dedicated hosting environment within the context of a virtual hosting environment – in most cases you can choose from either a Windows Server 2003 VPS server or a Windows Server 2008 VPS server, and since Windows Server 2008 is the latest Microsoft Windows server operating system available the latter is going to be the most expensive option in most cases – most web hosting providers tend to use the Virtuozzo virtualization daemon to offer their Windows Server 2003 VPS server hosting services which represents a very secure and usable hosting solution, whilst the Hyper-V module of Windows Server 2008 is used by many to offer Windows Server 2008 VPS servers which allows them to guarantee levels of reliability and security that will never be matched by Windows Server 2003 and Virtuozzo
  • Windows dedicated server hosting – if you are an individual with demanding requirements or are a medium to large sized business then you may wish to consider Windows dedicated server hosting for your requirements since a Windows dedicated server will be able to offer you levels of reliability and security unmatched by lower forms of web hosting, but on top of that you can also choose resource assignments that can be expanded with ease in the future – as is the case with a Windows VPS server, any reputable web hosting provider should be able to offer you the choice between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 for your dedicated server, and it is important to consider that the other features of a dedicated server are also customizable including most of the internal hardware as well as the applications which you have installed on your chosen Windows operating system.

The above shows that whatever your needs may be, there is going to be a Windows web hosting service available to meet your requirements in all areas hopefully, although you may need to make an exception in some circumstances if you wish to choose the right web hosting package for your needs. Some web hosting providers may offer certain forms of Windows web hosting whilst other web hosting providers may choose to offer a different selection of Windows web hosting packages; however, all Windows web hosting packages fall into one of the above three categories and it is important to consider this if you wish to choose the right web hosting package for your budget.

What can Windows web hosting offer me that Linux web hosting can’t?

There are many features that a Windows web hosting package will be able to offer you over a Linux web hosting package, although whether these features are useful to you or not will be dependent on what your actual hosting requirements are. The one main factor which makes most people choose Windows web hosting is the support that is included for classic ASP and ASP.NET based websites, and since these are both very popular scripting frameworks many web hosting providers will continue to offer Windows web hosting for a long time yet for this simple reason; both scripting frameworks have been developed by Microsoft and for this reason web pages and scripts that have been developed using either can only be served from Windows web hosting servers through the IIS web server application. Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server are both very popular database applications that have been developed by Microsoft for many years now, and as is the case with classic ASP and ASP.NET databases which have been created using either application can only be served on Windows web hosting servers; Microsoft Access tends to be popular with small scale developers because of how easy to use it is, whilst Microsoft SQL Server tends to be reserved for larger businesses because of the price tag attached to setting up a Microsoft SQL database server. Specialist web hosting services are also offered by many web hosting providers on Windows web hosting servers with Microsoft Exchange Server hosting and Microsoft SharePoint hosting being two fine examples of the Windows operating system being used by web hosting providers to offer specialist web hosting services; although such web hosting services may be more expensive than your average Windows web hosting package, Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft SharePoint are both very popular with large businesses who like to keep things organised. You will find that a Windows web hosting service can offer you the following over a Linux web hosting service:

  • Support for classic ASP and ASP.NET – classic ASP is still a very popular scripting framework whilst ASP.NET is still in active production, and because of this it is important for web hosting providers to be able to meet the needs of both individuals and businesses by offering support for both on their Windows web hosting services – as both have been developed by Microsoft web pages and scripts developed using either will only function correctly on Windows web hosting packages, and although some web hosting providers may claim to offer support for either with their Linux web hosting services, the support offered is only ever going to be very limited – although a Windows web hosting package is going to come at a premium, if you require support for an ASP based website then it really is the only way for you to go in terms of the web hosting services that you can use
  • Support for Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server – both Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server are very popular database systems developed by Microsoft for general use, although many web developers like to integrate both systems into their websites with the use of classic ASP and ASP.NET – as Microsoft has produced both systems to be sold commercially, for now databases created using either system will only function correctly on Windows web hosting servers which is something to consider if you are thinking about using a Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server database as the backend for your website – any form of Windows web hosting should suffice for your requirements if you need to host a Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server database, although you are going to be limited with what you can do with your Microsoft SQL Server database if you are going to go for a Windows shared hosting package
  • Microsoft Exchange Server hosting and Microsoft SharePoint hosting – both Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft SharePoint are popular business applications used by many businesses to keep their internal affairs organised correctly, and although they may not be offered with standard Windows web hosting services many web hosting providers do offer both in the context of specialist web hosting packages – in order to make the most of either application the likelihood is that you are going to purchase your own Windows dedicated server, but the point is that both applications aren’t able to run on Linux servers which means that as a business you will have no choice but to choose Windows web hosting if you wish to expand your possibilities by using either Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft SharePoint.

The above factors are unique to Windows web hosting and if you find that your needs for web hosting take on board either of the three noted features then you can only consider Windows web hosting services for your requirements. However, if you have a low budget then you may need to reconsider your requirements and take on board that a Linux web hosting service may be better suited to your requirements than a Windows web hosting service.

In conclusion, Windows web hosting services have a lot to offer you over Linux web hosting packages although for these features to be of any use to you it is important to make sure that they are going to suit your requirements. It isn’t worth considering a Windows web hosting package just so that you can say you have one because put simply, you will be wasting your money since a Linux web hosting package can probably offer you what you need at a much lower price.