Windows versus Linux Server

[stevewhyte]

Hi everybody,

I have tried to search for a thread on this, as I imagine it has been asked many times, but to no avail...

Which server should I be using - Windows or Linux?

We are currently on Windows, but our hosting company has both and a migration wouldn't be a massive problem (I think).

Thanks,
Steve

[Duncan Rounding]

Linux without question unless you have other any needs to run on windows.
It may not be easy to migrate from windows to linux or vs versa after the fact.

Just as important choose your host wisely, choose one that is known to run Actinic without any problems.

[stevewhyte]

Many, many thanks.

We use IX Webhosting and everything runs fine except things that require scripts. (i.e. searches etc) Any initial search takes for ever, then they speed up a bit. Other Actinic built sites I have checked of similar size are instant. Could a switch to Linux speed up this process?

I have to say though, IX's support is second to none. We are obviously not on U.S. time, so I tend to get answers within minutes!! Brilliant, and very knowledgable, so I would be reluctant to use a different hosting company and as I mentioned they do have Linux servers as well.

Any pitfalls I should watch out for when changing to Linux?

Cheers,
Steve

[Duncan Rounding]

If speed is an issue then I think you need to consider changing hosts, there's no guarantee that switching to linux should be any faster.

As you are a UK business then you should consider a UK based server and host as Google may consider that more favourable for UK based searching.

I did a search on your site and it took so long I decided not to wait. In fact all pages were loading very slowly. Add to cart was so slow I left the page too.

You can't run a business on a server that slow. Look for another host is my opinion - one that is known to work well with Actinic.

[stevewhyte]

Hmmm. That's interesting, and useful. I have been speaking to them about the issue, but they have run all the checks and say it's fine at their end (backed up with data that I didn't understand!).

The problem we have is UK based hosting seems to be either too small, not enough band width or too expensive. We pay something like £70.00 per year for something like 200GB and virtually unlimited band width.

Could you point me in the direction of a good UK host?

Thanks once again,
Steve

[stevewhyte]

Which UK Based Host

Hi,

Now that I have established I should probably use a Linux server and UK based hosting, can anybody tell me who I should use.

I am looking at Evohosting, UKHost4U, Webfusion and 1&1. Does anybody have any good or bad experiences with any of them, or any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Steve

[leehack]

There's a deluge of info on suitable hosts in the forum already, same advice still stands that is in all of those threads. Without decent hosting, you have no site, so i'd suggest a change of mindset, forget the cheapest, look for the very best you can, given the slowness of your current site, if you have any reasonable amount of customers, it will pay for itself very quickly, by them simply being able to actually use the site. Look at actinic hosting as your first option.

[Mike Hughes]

1and1 are good but the servers are based in Germany not the UK. That's fine got Google geo-targetting as long as you're using a .co.uk domain.

Mike

[graphicz]

Linux on Heart works for me

[stevewhyte]

Thank you all for your feedback.

Leehack - I have looked for information on hosting in the forum, but couldn't really find what I was looking for. I would like to use Actinic hosting for simplicity, but to be honest they are too expensive for what they offer and I found that Actinic support in general is a long way from what it should be. We want to host 3 sites eventually and with Actinic it would all add up.

Olderscot - Unfortunately we have a .com, which I would suggest also doesn't help. The .co.uk we wanted was gone.

Graphicz - Many thanks. I have studied their website and they look like a good candidate. Seems to have everything I am looking for. How do, you find their support?

Cheers,
Steve

[leehack]

What kind of information are you after then, if i put 'hosts' into the search, there's about 4 weeks worth of reading, can you be more specific on what you are looking to find out? Actinic hosting allows multiple domains on the same hosting package, it doesn't have to be one hosting account per domain name.

[stevewhyte]

Agreed, lots of reading, but I was looking for advice on who provides the best and most compatible hosting packages. There is lots of info on particular hosting issues that I would love to read through, but currently I have other concerns.

On Actinic hosting, we would need somewhere between the Silver 24 and the Gold packages (in other words the Gold package) and it is massively more expensive than let's say Heart internet. £175.00 per month versus £10.99 per month.

As we stand, I just cannot justify the expense. (I am Scottish)

Please don't get me wrong, I really do appreciate your advice and it may be that we eventually go down that route. Just not at the moment.

Thanks,
Steve

[leehack]

Stick with mainstream providers then, who are proved to work and have hundreds of users on their services, webfusion and 1&1 (business) are two of the biggies. Webfusion have a 25% off day on 20th April, worth looking into.

[graphicz]

Heart's support is by ticket and email - I am told it is good, so far I have not had to use them.

[stevewhyte]

Thank you all once again.