October 11, 2011
Why is Windows Web Hosting Considered Inferior? And Can Windows Hosting Work for You?
It's considered a truth of the web hosting world that Windows hosting is the inferior choice to Linux and Unix solutions. This is, of course, a generally subjective evaluation, and you will find people who will disagree with it. There are lots of good, professional webmasters who will tell you that they use Windows hosting and are just fine with it. This makes sense: if it wasn't true, there wouldn't be Windows web hosts in existence, let alone ones that have been in operation for decades.
Perhaps it's best to take a moment to step back and look at exactly why this is generally considered a rule of the web hosting world. Once you know what the problem is, you'll have an easier time devising a solution to it.
The great open source problem
No discussion about the differences between Linux and other such packages and Windows would be complete without at some point bringing up the advantages of open-source programming. We've talked about this in greater detail before, about how this gives developers who want to work with them an advantage.
Instead of then rehashing these points, let's instead focus on how to work with it. This problem manifests itself most clearly in the form of unreliable or unhelpful software. Thus, the way around it is simply to keep an eye out for who in the programming world has had the best luck in overcoming this shortcoming and focus on them. As one example, a number of users rave about the compatibility of Plesk 9 with Windows web hosting. There's nothing wrong with letting some other programmers do the heavy lifting for you in this area.
The techs themselves
One common complaint that's been voiced about Windows-based web hosts is that they contain a scarcity of good technicians. This is a harder one to work around. These people are your first line of contact, and there is little that is more frustrating from a user perspective than for that line of communication to be fuzzy or inoperable. It can lead to irritating situations in which you're asking for managers, repeating yourself, and just generally getting nowhere with a problem that often might have a very simple solution if you could just get someone to understand you.
While this can be immensely unsatisfying, that doesn't mean that this problem lacks any solution. If you can't get great answers from your representatives, try going to the user community instead. Many web hosts have places in which their users can hang out and share information. While in an ideal world it shouldn't come to this, you have to play the hand you're dealt. If other users have found an answer for you where you host didn't, use it and don't complain.
Someone must eventually listen
Finally, remember that no company is ever so big that the laws of economics don't apply to them. This means that if problems aren't solved with a company's products, alternatives will always present themselves. That is, after all, the core essence of why Linux is making such great inroads.
So at all times, communicate. It may seem some days like Microsoft is an evil empire, but in the end they are still just people running it, people like me and you. They don't want their livelihood threatened any more than anyone else. All things change, and they change as a result of our own choices. When it comes to the future of Windows web hosting, just like anything else, you are an equal part of where that change goes.
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