Last updated on October 27th, 2020 at 09:47 am
Let’s look at Windows vs Linux servers.
Like any other computer, servers require an operating system to run, and the OS is the platform over which other software are installed in the server. Whether it is a CloudPap virtual private server, or a dedicated server, one needs to have an appropriate OS, and the choice is majorly between using Windows OS, or a Linux OS.
This is always a consideration when acquiring the Cloud server, as the operating system is the first software that first runs in the server. One main difference between server and client operating system is that server OS do not heavily depend on a graphical user interface, as servers are often accessed and run using terminal clients.
The decision on whether to choose windows or a linux server depends on a number of factors, and is elaborated below.
The choice on what to use, between Linux and windows, can be dictated by several factors. First, Windows licenses are quite expensive, as they are not open source software. This increases the cost of the server, as license must be paid for.
However, some databases and applications such as SmarterMail mail server can only run on windows operating systems. CloudPap thus recommends the use of Windows servers when dealing with such.
Linux servers have a major advantage in terms of variety. There are several open-source operating systems that can run on CloudPap’s cloud servers, such as Red hat, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, CentOS, Fedora, Debian, among others. This means that a user who is running CloudPap’s Linux servers has a variety to choose from.
The other advantage is that being open source, servers running Linux software cost way much less than their Windows counterparts, thus greater value for money.
We also have different software that is only offered on Linux, and thus if one is using any of these, they must consider a CloudPap Linux server.
Now that you understand which is which in Windows vs Linux servers, pick one and get started.