What is Unix Web Hosting?

Unix Web Hosting and Linux Web Hosting plans are open source alternatives to Windows Web Hosting. When choosing a web hosting plan you will have the option to use either a Unix / Linux or Microsoft operating system on your server. If you want to use any server side scripting on your website, you will need to consider what language you wish to use (PHP / ASP.NET etc), as this will change what type of hosting package you may require.

Unix Web Hosting uses open source software which makes Unix Web Hosting cheaper than Windows Web Hosting, as the hosting company doesn’t have to pay any licensing or update fees to a company such as Microsoft.

Many web sites which are hosted on Unix Servers are written in the programming language, PHP. Unix is increasingly recognised as a highly stable, scalable, operating system from which to manage web sites and applications. There is a very strong community that helps to keep Unix code up to date and secure. Anybody with the correct knowledge can change the code which means security issues are often sorted very quickly and for free.

With the correct skills you will have far more control over a Unix Server which can usually be edited using a command-line interface. This is where Unix varies dramatically from Microsoft who like to use graphical interfaces to help the users experience. This means a Unix system can be an intimidating place for someone who does not have the necessary skills.

For a list of Unix Web Hosting providers please visit our Unix Web hosting Spotlight Category page