UNIX or NT?

I am looking for a paid host now for Webmaster's Network. I have a choice between UNIX or NT. What is the difference? Thanks.

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Main differences is NT servers usually have ASP and MS-SQL whereas UNIX servers use PHP and either mySQL or MSQL. I would look at the capabilities of both servers offered and choose the one you that has more of the features you need. If you need to use Cold Fusion you will have to use a NT server.

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Wayne Luke

The Majormud Encyclopedia - www.bloodquest2.com
Come Play one of the hottest games on the net.

Not true, Cold Fusion can be run on Sun systems which means Solaris which is Sun's Unix. Also CF is been proted to Linux as well from what I hear.

I have found that Unix is generally better for hosting dynamic sites on, if you just want a small static site then it doesn't matter what you host on, but if you want dynamic sites then Unix gets my vote.

Also Unix machines can run for years without a reboot unlike NT which can't (Or very rarely).


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Karl Austin
Webmaster - http://www.lincs.co.uk - Giving PHP a fair chance.

yes, i prefer unix big time. this is kinda like for ford and chevy truck debate. they both have their positives and negatives. http://www.webmaster-resources.com/forums/wink.gif

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bye bye http://www.webmaster-resources.com/forums/wink.gif[/URL]



[This message has been edited by fairhousing (edited December 13, 1999).]

My mistake.. I was just going by my own research and have not seen Cold Fusion offered by any hosting service except those using NT Servers. If it runs on *nix servers then great more options for us developers.

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Wayne Luke

The Majormud Encyclopedia - www.bloodquest2.com
Come Play one of the hottest games on the net.

I agree that there's not much difference between NT and Unix serving static pages. As for dynamic I would look from the other point. As my experience, working on my new project (see signature), shows there are much more articles, tutorials etc. regarding ASP on the net than about PHP, so it's easier to find answers for your questions imho. Correct me with examples if I'm wrong.


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Alan Mendelevich aka ailon
New! ArticleCentral.com - The content directory for web professionals. Monitoring hundreds of web development related sites, daily.
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I've hosted on both operating systems, and I have to say that I prefer Unix. Finding good quality open source scripts for a Unix server is amazingly easy. Secondly, I've found that Unix gurus are easier to get help from than an NT specialist.

I don't havea lot of experience in the actual development of scripts for either OS, so I'd be interested in hearing some arguments about that. When I have some free time I'd like to learn either Perl or ASP, just wondering which would be worth the time.

As I already said my statements are based on my own expirience and I have found much more informational/educational sites on ASP than on anything other. Sites like http://www.asptoday.com , http://www.4guysfromrolla.com and other post new articles regulary (asptoday daily). As for premade scripts I haven't done any research but I can believe that there are more Perl scripts then ASP, but I also think that it's very rare situation when you will be completely satisfied with what somebody other have made, and you need to know the technology to make your changes.
If everything will be ok, WebReference will publish my article on the matter in their newsletter and on the site today.

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Alan Mendelevich aka ailon
New! ArticleCentral.com - The content directory for web professionals. Monitoring hundreds of web development related sites, daily.
Visit MEGOPhotos - Quality photos for FREE

I have been doing some checking into this also as I want to set up my own server. What I find it that unix appears to operate faster than NT and dosn't have as many problems with security. (harder for someone to hack your site) I would definately go with the unix. http://www.webmaster-resources.com/forums/smile.gif

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Craig Bakkala
Http://www.navy.org/home/ussokinawa@navy.org

Thank you for all the comments! I picked UNIX for Webmaster's Network!

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Webmaster's Network
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oki: unless you are Microsoft nobody wants to hack your site http://www.webmaster-resources.com/forums/smile.gif (I mean nobody with enough skills)

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Alan Mendelevich aka ailon
New! ArticleCentral.com - The content directory for web professionals. Monitoring hundreds of web development related sites, daily.
Visit MEGOPhotos - Quality photos for FREE