Difference Between Windows VPS Hosting and Linux VPS hosting

You may have understood what VPS hosting is via our article: What is the Difference between VPS and RDP, and decided to choose a VPS to host your website, data, emails, or running trade applications, such as Forex. Then, you may be confused: which VPS hosting I should choose, the Linux VPS hosting or Windows VPS hosting?

In this article, we will show you the advantages or disadvantages of Windows VPS hosting and Linux VPS hosting on different points, such as cost, performance, security, and other important factors.

Before you learn their detailed difference, you need to understand the technology these hosting services used.

What is the Linux VPS hosting

A Linux VPS hosting means a VPS or dedicated server installed with Linux operating system. It depends on open-source database platforms and web development tools. There are many kinds of Linux distributions you can choose from, such as Debian, RHEL, Ubuntu, etc., however, they all run on the same kernel (i.e. Unix).

What is the Windows VPS hosting

A Windows VPS hosting means a VPS or dedicated server installed with Windows operating system. It depends on Microsoft solutions for database and website management tools. There are different editions of Windows OS as well. These operating systems are similar, but with different extra or powerful features.

Linux VPS hosting vs Windows VPS hosting

Let’s list the difference between the two kinds of hostings hand by hand on the following points:

Performance

All of our may know, performance must be the first point you would like to consider as nobody will love to operate on a slow VPS. Your visitors’ access speed to your websites also depends on the VPS’s performance you host on.

In most cases, a VPS’ performance is decided by the assigned resources and VPS amount on a physical server. But OS resource occupation will also affect a server’s performance.

Linux VPS hosting:
As Linux OS is used via Secure Remote Login (SSH). You will need to use the command lines to operate on the VPS. In this situation, Linux occupies fewer resources than Windows. That means you may get better performance in Linux when your VPS resource size is constant.

Windows VPS hosting:
While using a Windows VPS, you may encounter a more frequent reboot for driver install or a software update. The easy-to-use Graphical User Interface of the Windows operating system requires more resources.

Price

A hosting service’s price is very important for most small businesses. As Linux is an open-resource system, and Windows is developed by Microsoft. Obviously, you will not need to pay an extra system license fee if you choose Linux. However, no extra fees may mean no extra support from the OS company. We will talk about this in the next part of this article.

Compatibility

As Linux is an open-source system, it is very suitable to run open-source software such as PHP/Perl, ROR, Java, Python, SSH, CGI, FrontPage Extensions, etc.

Windows will have better compatibility with the Microsoft-developed software like ASP Classic, ASP.net, MySQL, C#, VB Development, MS Access, etc. In this situation, choosing which operating system of a VPS depends on which language you make use of for your website.

Server access

No matter what you use a VPS for, such as running websites, databases, or Forex trade, quick and easy access to the VPS will bring you much convenience.

Windows VPS hosting:
A Windows OS is equipped with a remote desktop GUI which makes users easily access the VPS as an administrator. You are allowed to access the VPS remotely from anywhere.

Linux VPS hosting:
Since the operations of Linux are based on command lines, you need to understand some basic knowledge about Linux before connecting or setting up an administrator. Although Linux also supports GUI, you will have to set it up by yourself.

Control Panel

The control panels we mentioned here point to the application platforms which can manage your systems and website features. Windows and Linux separately support many popular control panels.

Linux VPS hosting: cPanel or Web Host Manager (WHM), ISPconfig

Windows VPS hosting: Plesk, SolidCP

Security

During the past several years, you may have heard about many types of security threaten incidents in news, such as DDoS attacks, data breaches, Malware, and file deletion. Security is the key element you must consider to run a website or database.

Usually, both Linux and Windows are very secure if you have done the correct setup. But since Linux is based on UNIX operating system and is an open-source system, there is a massive user community populated by dedicated software engineers. Compared with Windows, it is more difficult for hackers to attack a Linux system device.

Technical Support

Linux VPS hosting

As we mentioned before, Linux is an open-source system and has many kinds of distributions. That increases the difficulty of handling all Linux technologies. Most hosting providers only serve people with self-managed Linux servers. Even if your Linux VPS is managed, you are required to learn enough command lines. It is almost impossible for a non-IT technician to use a Linux VPS.

Windows VPS hosting

Microsoft provides a lot of high quality technical documentation and tutorial resources. That means both ordinary people and technical people are easier to handle Windows technology. If the VPS you ordered is fully managed, it will be possible for you to get a high level of technical support from your provider.

If you are a VPS beginner, we suggest you choose a managed VPS provider which has 24/7 hours of support and a wide support range. Database Mart’s VPS hosting services are very friendly to VPS beginners.

Advantages and Disadvantages

If you are still confused about how to choose your VPS’s operating system, let’s check these summaries below:
Linux Advantages:

This OS server’ visualization does not lead to any downtime.
Has less chance to encounter hacker threats.
Take less money at the beginning of hosting.

Windows Advantages:

It looks more expensive to set up a Windows hosting service. But if your business is always growing, Windows will be cost-efficient.
It will be easier to manage your websites and applications on a Windows VPS with GUI and full administrator permission. Install any legal applications flexibly is allowed.

Linux Disadvantages:

Un-friendly to unskilled people and needs users to handle rich technologies.
Does not support multiple operating systems running simultaneously. You need to transfer data if you want to change to another OS.

Windows Disadvantages:

Windows systems have more system vulnerabilities which may cause being hacked.
While your business growing, if you have massive data, you will still need a Windows specialist to help manage.

Which VPS hosting should I choose?

Linux VPS and Windows VPS have their own advantages and disadvantages. We cannot say which one is better. Linux is employed by many corporate organizations as servers and OS for security purposes while Windows is mostly employed by business users and gamers. If you want to easily manage your business and have enough budget, Windows will be a good choice. If you are already a Linux specialist, then, you will experience many benefits of a Linux hosting VPS.

Difference Between Windows VPS Hosting and Linux VPS hosting

What is the Linux VPS hosting

What is the Windows VPS hosting