Linux servers just don’t hit the spot? We’ve got some quality Windows alternatives.
Most web hosting packages run on Linux servers, and it’s easy to see why: the operating system is fast, reliable, secure and free, with an impressive software ecosystem that includes some of the best web applications around. For all these benefits, Linux won’t be the right setup for everyone. If your site is based on Microsoft technologies like ASP. NET or. NET, or you’re intending to run Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server or some other Microsoft stack product, you’ll need to choose a Windows plan. Opting for Windows hosting doesn’t restrict you to Microsoft products. Most plans offer easy one-click installation of popular apps like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop, phpBB and more. There’s no cPanel, but something similar (like Plesk) will make it easy to view your website status, create email accounts, tweak settings and generally manage your plan. Select a VPS or dedicated hosting plan and you’ll also be able to use Remote Desktop to manage the server from its own desktop. Windows hosting has some issues. You won’t get the same choice of applications as with Linux, and there’s less help available for troubleshooting apps like WordPress on the Windows platform. Furthermore, there are Microsoft license fees to pay, so it’s a little more expensive than Linux plans. Overall, though, if you need to take advantage of Microsoft technologies, Windows hosting can deliver a great service for a surprisingly low price. Read on for five top Windows hosting providers you might want to check out. Windows hosting has a reputation for being costly, but the shared Windows range from 1&1 IONOS shows that it doesn’t have to be that way. Prices start at $5 a month for the first year, $10 afterwards, yet even the most basic plan is better specified than some of the Linux competition. You get 1 website,100GB web space and unlimited bandwidth, along with 25 email accounts with 2GB storage per account, plus daily backups,24/7 phone and email support, a free domain and an SSL certificate thrown in. Windows-specific features include five Microsoft SQL databases of up to 1GB each, ASP. NET 4.7, ASP. NET Ajax and MVC 3,4 and 5. There’s support for SQL import, SSI and dedicated app pools, and your plan will be running on Windows Server 2019 (many hosts are still using Server 2012). Ramping up to the top-of-the-range Expert Windows plan gets 500 databases (1GB SSD),500 email accounts, a dedicated IP, regular malware scanning and an integrated Cloudflare-based CDN. Again, this is good value at $10 a month for the first year, $20 thereafter. These are shared plans and don’t give you full control over the server, but more flexible VPS and dedicated plans are also available at very low prices, and opting for Windows instead of Linux will cost an extra $20 a month. Factor in the one-month trial and 1&1 IONOS could be a sensible choice for novices looking to try out Windows hosting with the minimum of risk. GoDaddy stands out among web hosts because while offering both standard Linux hosting and Windows too, if you choose to go the Windows route, there’s no extra cost. So clearly, that’s an impressive benefit to begin with (as normally providers will charge more in this case). The entry-level Economy plan starts from $4.49 monthly (on a 3-year contract – it renews at $8.99), and for that outlay you get one website, unlimited bandwidth,100GB storage,10 MySQL databases (1GB each) and one MSSQL database (200MB in size). There’s also unlimited bandwidth, a free domain (with an annual subscription), and you get a year’s worth of usage of an Office 365 Outlook mailbox thrown in to boot. Backup functionality is also an option (that you must pay extra for). Step up from that to the Deluxe plan and the limits on websites and storage are lifted so they’re unlimited as well as bandwidth, plus you get 25 MySQL databases and two MSSQL databases. This plan starts from $7.49/month (renewing at $11.99/month). The Ultimate plan gives you unlimited databases on top of everything else, as well as GoDaddy’s Premium DNS service and an SSL certificate, from $8.
