Tag: PHP

Handy Guide For Choosing Between Windows And Linux Website Hosting

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While you can easily find numerous companies offering domain name registration and website hosting; however, selecting between Linux and Windows hosting may prove to be a challenge, especially for the newbies. While the common perception says that Windows is user-friendly while Linux is much more stable, the statement is primarily true for operating systems meant for personal computers; when it comes to server platforms, both Windows and Linux have their own significance.

To begin with, you need to understand that if you have been using Windows on your PC, you must opt for Windows hosting and vice versa. Instead, you need take into consideration the following factors:

Scripting
Most experts would concur that barring the use of scripting languages, there arent many differences between Linux and Windows website hosting. On one hand where ASP scripting is usually found on Windows; on the other, Linux is known for PHP scripting. So, when selecting the hosting service, you need to consider the scripts you will be using. If you need to use PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python, or CGI scripting, go for Linux hosting; if the scripts to be used are ASP, ASP.NET, or ASP.NET 2.0, go for Windows hosting.

Functionality
If your website will use an online database or interactive chat application, Windows hosting is likely to be the better choice. Though Windows hosting may cost you a tad more than Linux hosting; however, it will not be a wild leap of thoughts to say that you’ll get that back in better functionality. On the other hand, if your website makes interaction with the prospects through enquiry forms and catalogues, and involves e-commerce functions, it is recommended that you go for Linux hosting.

Compatibility
If you plan on using any specialized applications or VB for the development of your website, it is recommended that you go for Windows hosting as Linux based web servers are sometimes not fully compatible with Microsoft technologies. However, if scalability is on your mind, Linux is the way to go. With most of the expansion modules available for free, scalability is never really a concern for those who opt for Linux hosting.

In addition to the aforementioned, you must be sure about the competence of the provider. With a major surge in the demand of web services such as domain name registration and website hosting, numerous new players have joined the league. Therefore, the selection must be done with great caution.

Leading Search Engine Dials Open Source (Linux For You)

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Open Source Technology to boost Justdial’s growth

Justdial, India’s leading local search engine or in lay man’s term online local business directory partnered with open source technology about 4 years back and it has been a fruitful association. It has grown exponentially and caters to over 57 million unique users across 240 cities in India. Helping reach this success was the -open hand’!

Open source technology helped Justdial to scale-up in a seamless manner. We were able to establish best practices from various fields and add value to our search process. This approach allowed us to get more information and give refined results to our end-users.

Justdial opted for a Web-based server system based on open architecture in 2007. It moved towards open source technology when it planned on launching a client facing website that provided more that the tradition telephonic service.

With the move to the Web, there would be heavy performance pressure on search algorithms as it expected as many queries on the website as via the telephone route. Justdial knew the conventional client server architecture would collapse and thus opted for open and distributed architecture.

On the software side, Justdial adopted the CLAMP stack, which was a combination of C and the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was chosen to power its servers, Ubuntu on the desktop front, MySQL, Postgres and MongoDB for database management and WebHuddle for Web conferencing and video conferencing.

Ever since Just Dial started using RHEL PLATFORM and CLAMP stack its operations have scaled three times. It has grown from 5 servers to ore than 200 servers and expects to reach 350 by end of the year. In 2007 it was present in just 7 cities; however when it switched to open source it saw the opportunity to grow to 240 cities on a single national number – 69999999.

Justdial’s IT team of about 40 people on the infrastructure side (Linux, servers) and another 90 people on the development side (database management, core C programming, user interface, backend page scripting) and the support from Red Hat helped maintain its infrastructure effortlessly.

The open source architecture seamlessly ran mission critical applications like search logic, and also helped improve the performance of its search logic by adding C components. Justdial also adopted Sphinx, a standalone search engine and its easy integration in LAMP stack gave its search logic a boost.

Open source lowered the IT cost burden for Just Dial. Annually it has saved at least Rs. 80-90 million. The open source solutions also simplified management and reduced systems maintenance costs. The open source architecture provided greater flexibility, which would in turn lead to improvements in customer satisfaction. In fact the efficiency and technology used for the website earned it, the prestigious Red Hat Innovation Award in the -Carved out Costs’ category. With such achievement to their mutual credit, Just Dial will remain an open source devotee and follower.

About the Author

With a bit of luck and a lot of hard-work, Justdial was launched in 1994. Today it is a leading local search engine, registering an average monthly growth of 40%. Currently the company offers its services in 250 cities and operates directly from 12 city offices.

The Significance Of Linux Web Hosting Plans

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There are a number of web hosting plans available for website owners to choose from today. While this extensive variety makes people feel spoilt for choice, it also makes it tough to choose the right plan to cater to their requirements. Choosing the web hosting plans is not as easy as ABC. Despite the extensive variety and various challenges involved, most of the people prefer the Linux web hosting plan and the PHP web hosting plan. Though Windows hosting plans were considered to be the favourite a few years ago, today the preference is given to Linux and PHP plans. So, what brought about this radical change in the mindset of people?

Over the last few years, technology has improved in leaps and bounds. Along with this, there have also been tremendous changes in the software industry. Unlike a couple of decades ago, today there are various types of software that are can be used on the internet. The development of these software programs became necessary to support the advent of the ecommerce industry. There were a number of website hosting plans that also came into existence during this period, however, only a handful of plans were compatible with the advanced software. Windows is definitely user friendly software, but it is not website friendly. There are a number of limitations and restrictions associated to Windows based web hosting plans. This is why these plans began to take the backseat. The ability of Linux web hosting plans and PHP web hosting plans to support the latest software gave it an upper hand over Windows based plans.

Cost is one of the things that most of the website owners consider while selecting web hosting plans. A few years ago, it was challenging to establish the perfect balance between the cost and the type of hosting plan. This is no longer a concern, thanks to the Linux web hosting plan and the PHP web hosting plan. Though these plans support the latest software, the cost of availing them is just a fraction of opting for the Windows based plans. One of the main reasons for the higher cost of the Windows based hosting plans is the license. Windows is a registered platform and one needs to pay money in order to use it. On the other hand, Linux is an operating system that is built using open source code. This implies that there is no need to buy a license in order to use it, thus resulting is huge cost savings and making the hosting plans highly affordable.

The ease of use and the performance are two other aspects that work in favour of the Linux web hosting plans and PHP web hosting plans. Most people nurture the wrong notion that the Linux interface is not as easy to use as the Windows interface. Though there is a world of difference between the two, Linux is user friendly too. In fact, making changes to your website is easier if you choose the Linux or PHP hosting plans. You can save all the changes online as you work on it and preview the changes. You can also restore the website to its previous state if you are not happy with the changes. This kind of flexibility is absent in Windows based plans which is the reason they got left behind.

What Is Linux Hosting

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Linux hosting is an alternative to using Microsoft Windows-based technology for operating a website. Linux is an open-source operating system, which means the code that makes it run is publicly available. This means computer experts all over the world can share ways of improving how the system works. Although it is more complicated to understand than Windows, most computer experts say Linux is much more reliable and less likely to crash’. This makes it particularly useful for running websites.

Linux hosting makes use of several technologies:

* PHP is a programming language which produces dynamic web pages. These are pages which can change in appearance and content in response to something the person viewing it does (such as filling in a form). PHP is a server-side language, meaning the program runs on the server (the computer that physically stores the website) rather than the computer being used to view the page.

* MySQL is a database system used for websites. It can be used for features such as a real estate company letting site visitors search for properties of a certain size and cost. It is used by popular sites such as Craigslist and LiveJournal.

* Python is a programming language which is well-regarded among many programmers. It is relatively sophisticated, but is easier to understand than many programming languages. Python often uses common English words where other languages simply use symbols. Python also gives programmers the ability to make a draft alteration to a program and check the effects immediately without having to make the change permanent.

* XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a more flexible method of organizing the information that makes up a website. With the old HTML system, each piece of information is labeled only for appearance (for example bold’ or italic’). With XML, any type of label can be used. For example, in a page containing a recipe, a piece of text could be labeled as ingredient’ or safety warning’. XML means that a website owner has much more control over the information on their site.

Linux Reseller Hosting Important Advantages And Disadvantages

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One of the best ways of earning money on the internet is by getting into the reseller hosting business. Increasing numbers of people are eager to have their own web based businesses. One important requirement for an online business is to have the best web hosting service which is reliable, feature rich and affordable at the same time. If you are planning to sell Linux reseller hosting then you should first understand its advantages and disadvantages. Linux hosting is very different from Windows hosting and each type has its loyal adherents.

The main advantages of Linux server hosting comes from the fact that it makes use of open source software. As a result, it is extremely affordable. It is also very versatile since there are many different applications designed around it. A major advantage comes from the fact that it is compatible with PHP which is one of the most popular programming languages at the present time. In addition, Linux offers a high degree of security and stability when compared to Windows since they do not crash except under extreme circumstances.

People who host their websites on a Linux server are able to do a lot of business because it increases productivity. Also, since it is easy to use they dont need to spend a lot of time managing their websites.

Linux servers tend to operate at very high speed even though they have huge numbers of web domains. It also scores over Windows hosting on account of having a very user friendly interface. As a reseller, you will be able to host as many customer accounts as you get and you will also be able to manage them with a great deal of ease.

A huge disadvantage of Linux server hosting comes from the fact that it is not compatible with Windows applications. Whether you like Windows or not, it is widely used all over the world and a huge number of websites are therefore designed for its applications. Also, Linux hosting tends to have problems with scalability. Applications such as SQL, ASP and Active Sync, just to name a few, will not run well on Linux. In many instances, they will not work at all.

You have to think about the long term prospects of your reseller hosting business before you get into it since your long term earning capacity depends upon it. Linux currently has a lead over Windows when it comes to popularity because of the reasons mentioned above. This means that you will easily find plenty of customers if you opt for Linux. Get started on your Linux hosting India business without any delay; you will be able to earn a good income this way.