Windows or Linux hosting

General Discussion
1

Hello,

the provider that will host my site has asked me to choose between a Windows hosting and a Linux hosting.

What would be the best for a Blocs created website?

Is it the same or?

Thanks for advising,
dan

2

From my experience it shouldn’t really matter that much!
I favour the Linux hosting platform over the proprietary Windows hosting platform which always seems to cost that bit more.

Good luck with it all.

1 Like
3

Linux for sure. Most of the Internet is running on Linux. Linux is based on Unix, and your Mac’s MacOS is pure Unix underneath that pretty GUI.
You didn’t mention the host company, or what web server software they are using for Linux most use Apache. Most shared hosting companies that use Apache give you access to a local directives file called htaccess. This file allows you a great deal of control over your server, windows server (aka IIS) doesn’t have that htaccess file.
Somethings you can do with htaccess:

  • Redirect and rewrite URL
  • Password protection for a page(s)
  • Force your site to load securely (https)
  • Control caching
  • Prevent image hot links
  • Force a file to download
2 Likes
4

Here in Germany I use the 1und1 provider.
They have Linux.
I’ve never had any problems.

1 Like
5

I believe there are some instances where a Windows server is required, but if that was the case you would know already. I would imagine the vast majority of web servers are running Linux, due to cost, reliability and probably security as well. For me the choice would always be Linux and I’ve never considered anything else.

1 Like
6

There’s nothing in blocsapp that requires any specific server OS. All it needs is PHP for form handling.

It’s your choice, virtually any webserver will be fine for blocsapp.

Unless you have a specific need for a Microsoft technology (.asp or .net for example ) I would always choose Unix/linux before a Microsoft technology.

7

It really doesn’t matter which system you choose, but I have read that Linux is much more secure than Windows, so for me, personally, I’d go for Linux.

I host my sites on a Raspberry Pi (I have two: the B+ and 3) which run Raspbian Linux. It works really, really well, especially for being so small. If you’d like to host a website yourself on your own network with minimum cost someday, that’s the way to go (this method wouldn’t work for larger sites though).

8

Thanks for replying.

I will use Aruba, an Italian provider.

I have already one Nginx personal web server running Raspian and I am very happy about it. The only issue is the upload that is not that great and prevent me from using it “professionally”.

Thanks for replying, I will choose Linux hosting!
dan

9

Just be aware that the website loading speeds will be far reduced in comparison with a commercial webhost if a domestic internet connection is being used.

10

True, although it is still quite fast. I have gotten one of my Blocs sites (which has a several of pictures on the homepage) to load in about 2.2 seconds through the RPi B+ model. I once hit 1.5 seconds, but I haven’t been able to do that again. The RPi 3 is faster but I haven’t clocked it yet. What restricts me the most is my internet speed, not the server’s speed. Anyway, I’m quite happy with it.