Linux Community Magazine

Linux hosting is scalable in a way that Windows-based hosting cannot be. Servers that run Linux instead of other OS's experience far less downtime. The Linux OS can integrate updates and patches on the fly, without having to reboot. Every tool one could need runs on Linux: PHP, WordPress, Java, Drupal, and other Linux-based content management systems like Slash and Bricolage.

Why Linux and Not Windows?

According to the list maintained by Top500, out of the top 500 supercomputers in the world, 410 of them, or 82%, run Linux. Windows servers are fine for those who can afford downtime due to rebooting because of server security updates, patches and similar hiccups. Netcraft maintains a list of hosting providers' operating systems, uptime, outages, whether the site failed to respond, and more. You can see how Linux hosting performs by viewing their list, which has a sampling frequency of only 15 minutes.

When changes must be made to a Linux server, such as adding, modifying, or deleting scripts, installing software packages or security updates, Linux does not need to power down and reboot. With a Linux machine you can compile code, run automatic cron jobs and scan a Windows host for viruses in one hand, while monitoring network activity, and encrypting a drive partition with the other hand.

Plenty of Options

Don't like the CMS you are currently using? With a Linux server, there are 137 free options. Drupal, PHP-Fusion, WordPress and Joomla! are the best known, but there is also MODx, Concrete5, JAKCMS, Redaxscript, EVO-CMS, the PHP-based CMS Made Simple, and 127 others to choose from. OpenCMS is backed by XML and Java, and Zope is driven by Python. Those mentioned here are actively maintained.

Licensing Costs

Why pay fees to operate a server when you don't have to? The Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition costs $3,000. For those who require employees to use remote desktop services, a Windows Server 2008 Remote Desktop Services External Connector License costs $8,000. Those two licenses alone total $11,000, which if operating with Linux, can save you that much money.

Upgrade costs are also money savers. When new Linux kernels are released, they are always free.

Tech Support

Problems happen that sometimes require a hosting company to call their operating system's tech support. When such a problem occurs with a Linux host, the host contacts developers like Red Hat Certified Engineers, not people who have only a Net+ certification.

Open source software packages are tweaked, upgraded, downgraded, and revised constantly. If a software package doesn't do what you want, a version that does exists. Thanks to the many repositories for Linux programs, different versions of a particular package are easy to locate.

Resource box:

Layered Tech has been providing excellent uptime, rapid tech support resolutions, and outstanding client satisfaction since 2004. Layered Tech has the resources and the know-how to accommodate everyone from individual bloggers to large enterprises. If you want the flexibility and power that Linux hosting offers, contact Layered Tech today at 1-888-952-4888 or visit us online at

Dedicated server hosting is a must for any online website to be set up and sustained as it is a chief requisite. In the present age where the internet has become a basic requirement, large number of operating systems has their own web hosting programs. A dedicated web hosting program cannot be undermined in any circumstances. It not only helps to manage a websites in better way but also, has features that can make online operations smoother and sailing. Linux operating system has its own dedicated server hosting platform. This web hosting India program can be employed with those systems that run on Linux operating systems. Linux is an open source category of operating system and it is compatible with a wide variety of hardware and software.Linux dedicated server hosting means the construction of a website on the pattern of the Linux system. MySQL, which is also an open source technologies is compatible with Linux server hosting. Following are the chief advantages of the Li nux server hosting:The most important advantage of Linux web hosting India is the costs involved in the platform. It is not very high as the dedicated server requires low investment. Since Linux charges no fees for license, the hosting price is slashed. It also offers support for the scripting languages such as Perl and PHP. Moreover, it offers easy conversion to windows or any other operating system. Linux can handle the website load perfectly. The Linux dedicated server system is a worthwhile investment because of the high range security and dependability. Users generally do not switch over to any other operating system after availing for this platform. Huge number of web applications has infiltrated the web world today. Hence, there are programs that are not supported by Linux platform. In order to gain access to those features, many users are switching over to Windows dedicated system. Since no system is developed full proof, there are some disadvantages associated with Linux web hosting India. Let us take a quick look on them.The main problem of the Linux server is that it is not compactable with Windows based application. This has been its biggest shortcoming. Modules or file extensions features which are typically restricted to Windows do not work with Linux systems. Hence, Linux web hosting system remain inoperative when a windows website is been converted to the Linux module. There are many benefits of Linux hosting but fail to match up with the easy to use interface.

Publish any data on the Internet, any interested person requires web hosting. Web hosting has been around for several years now and have developed a simple HTML pages hosting, small simple sites to full blown web based hosted applications where end users can visit the site and interact with the web site owner and even purchase a few images of the goods and services over the Internet.

Using the Internet as an integrated business around the world with Web Based developed a wide range of Internet technologies such as ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP, etc., software support environment. This choice has forced various options for web hosting as an HTML site to work equally well in both Linux and Windows platforms.

Web hosting platforms vary from different types of operating systems. Microsoft's Windows Server and Redhat Linux are just two examples and probably the most well-known web hosting platforms. So what is Windows or Linux web hosting and what are the pros and cons of hosting your website or server. And why now Linux is more popular . Well, it's simply not the answer?

Linux platform has been designed for the efforts and professional use with a number of IT companies like Red Hat, Suse, Mandrake, and how efforts have been taken. The nature of the development and open source Linux Server and backup of professional IT companies has made Linux platform in the background powerful, affordable and secure.

Cost-effectiveness in this competitive era is a major boost to the company, without compromising product quality and safety. In addition to the ASP, ASP.NET, all other major online technologies and work with Linux. Almost free distribution of PHP, MySQL, Perl, Linux Server to reduce the vast web hosting costs. Sakshay this, we provide both kind of hosting services, but advise companies to be hosting HTML websites, small applications like Recipe site is to use Linux hosting.

Viruses, spam and hacking threat is also quite less with Linux Hosting. First, it is because of a strong Linux server architecture, and secondly, because many cost-effective security software platform for Linux.

So, using Linux web server compared to Windows Web Server are:

Stable and robust: Linux / Unix operating systems have traditionally been considered to be very stable and robust. Site is located on the Linux operating system will have a very high time (to 99.9%). Of course, other factors, such as power supply, network admin skills, and network load etc. also important when it comes to maintaining system uptime.

Low cost of ownership: Linux is free (or very insignificant cost, usually cost of distribution). In addition, it is a full-fledged server, and desk top that comes with the OS. These server applications (eg, FTP, Web server, DNS server, file server, etc.) are free, are also very stable.

Self-Hosting Linux hosting plan Sakshay your website is very easy with our Implementation Award Winning SW-Soft called Plesk Control Panel software. Plesk is a web interface for your Linux web hosting account that allows you to create e-mail addresses and mailboxes, view your web site traffic statistics, set permissions on your HTML, PHP pages, MySQL, and more. We also provide Windows Hosting with Plesk Panel.

Computer users and programmers have become so accustomed to using Windows, even for the changing capabilities and the appearances of the graphical interface of the versions, therefore it has remained Microsoft's product. Although, Lycoris, Red Hat, Mandrake, Suse, Knoppix, Slackware and Lindows make up some of the different versions of LINUX. These companies release their own versions of the operating systems with minor changes, and yet always with the same bottom line. The simple fact that not one of these companies are close to competing with Windows, for the most part causes the difference in market share.

It sometimes seems everyone on the planet is using Windows. Many say Windows is way better than LINUX because of the simple handling of the software or hardware. There are huge differences between the number of users of LINUX and Windows. Many say LINUX is far better because it started as an Open Source software and thus is more flexible than Windows. Then what accounts for the enormous difference in market share between these two operating systems?

Windows and Linux are different in many ways.

1. Windows GUI is an integral component of the OS; speed, efficiency and reliability, while the Linux GUI is optional, are increased by running a server instance of Linux without a GUI, something that server versions of Windows simply can't do. The nature of the Linux GUI makes remote administration of a Linux computer easier with a more natural feel than Windows computers.

2. The command prompts of the operating systems are very different. The command interpreters in the Windows 9x series are very similar to each other and the NT class versions of Windows also have similar command interpreters. There are, however differences between a Windows 9x command interpreter and one in an NT class flavor of Windows. Linux, like UNIX, also supports multiple command interpreters, but it usually uses BASH or "Bourne Again Shell".

3. While you have to pay hundred's of dollars for a new Windows version, you can just go download Linux. There's no manuals or simple installers for the free version. Although there is quite a learning curve when utilizing the free package. There are some easy automated packages of Linux for low prices.

Microsoft's "big con" is the supposed security issues with windows. Most spyware, adware and malicious files programs work with Windows just fine. In general you do not deal with these kinds of circumstances unless you are working with Windows. whereas Linux offers a strong protection, password protection for Windows can be bypassed with ease.

The software availability is the key to why Windows wins over Linux in this competition. Most software releases are already configured for Windows. If you chose to use Linux you must copy Windows with special software in order to use your windows based programs. You could always install Windows as a subsystem to Linux, this would take the administrative capabilities of Windows and allow them to funtion on Linux.

If Linux is ever to compete with Windows, it must become more user friendly and provide serious technical support.

Linux operating system is an outstanding example of free and open source software. Linux kernel is the main component of the Linux operating system which is quite similar to Unix. Like most of the operating system kernels, it acts a bridge between the hardware and applications. It's main job is to manage the system resources. Application software could access the hardware through the system call and inter process communication provided by the Linux kernel.

Brief History

Linus Torvalds, a computer engineer from Finland, took up the job of developing Linux kernel in April,1991. He employed a terminal driver and a task switcher in Intel x86 assembly language. Version 0.01 of Linux with 10,239 lines of code was released on in September,1991. In the next month, version 0.02 was launched,which was followed by the release of version 0.11 in December,1991. Linux version 0.95 was introduced in the market in March,1992. In this version X Window System was incorporated for the first time. After that several versions were released in the market. Linux 3.0 is the latest version which was launched on 21st July,2011.

Linux Kernel Features

Preemptive multitasking in kernel mode and user mode is supported by Linux Kernel. Apart from that it supports multi-threading,virtual memory,internet protocol suite,standard libraries,dynamic memory management,etc.

Architecture Of Linux Kernel

Linux kernel is of monolithic type. It provides virtual machine interfaces to the user applications. The application writing process does not require any knowledge of hardware. Additionally, multitasking is also supported by Linux kernel, which is able to run multiple tasks concurrently. The Linux kernel consists of 5 sub systems,namely Process scheduler,Memory Manager,Virtual File System,Network Interface and Inter process communication.

Process Scheduler

Process access to the CPU is controlled by Process Scheduler. The mechanism adopted by it ensures that all scheduled processes get fair share of processor time. While executing the processes, the kernel also performs the hardware tasks. Setting up and configuration of Process scheduler are critical processes which should be done in consultation with a network support provider.

Memory Manager

Multiple processes are allowed to share the system's memory securely by Memory Manager. Virtual memory is also supported by it, so that the processes could use more memory than what is available in the system. Unused memory is used for file system storage. Memory configuration is a critical task, which should be performed with the help of a PC support provider.

Virtual File System

It provides a common file interface to all hardware devices. Apart from that, the Virtual File System supports numerous file system formats, which are used by other operating systems.

Network Interface

Secure access to various networking hardware devices is provided by the Network Interface. The networking hardware devices should be installed by a Network Support provider.

Inter Process Communication

This sub system is responsible for providing mechanisms for process to process communications on an individual Linux system.

Computer Support For Linux Kernel

Setting up a Linux system including the kernel requires expertise, which could be provided by an experienced network support provider. Process scheduling, memory and network interface management are also critical tasks,which should be done under the guidance of a Computer Support provider. Since Linux kernel is an open source software, the user could modify it according to the requirement, but that should be performed with the help of a network support provider.