Care to help knock me off the fence?

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Care to help knock me off the fence?

I've got a question for the Delphi developers that have web sites.  I made a decision when I switched my web host a few years ago based on using Delphi (5) to write ASP (or future .NET) programs for use on a Windows web server. So I selected a Windows plan over Linux.

I've not done anything with ASP (nor .NET) and I'm not certain I will. But there are a number of reasons for me to switch over to a Linux server.

Basically I'm wondering how many of you are on a Linux web platform or on IIS and what influenced your decision or regrets you may have.

Thank you.

Comments

  1. Frédéric HannesDecember 22, 2012 at 10:40 AM

    I've always hosted on Linux, using mostly PHP to serve dynamic content, where as most of my proramming is done in Delphi. However, recently I have also been hosting a Windows Server box to run my own Delphi based web platform which has the dynamic content hardcoded into the server, making it blazing fast. It kind of depends on your needs. If you don't need Windows, I'd say, go for Linux, as the cost is quite a bit lower to run a Linux server.

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  2. Eric GrangeDecember 22, 2012 at 10:56 AM

    Been historically using Linux for hobby (because of hosting costs, and I was using exclusively ready-made software like Wordpress), and Windows on all work server (because of Delphi, convenience and GUI). Currently investigating cheap Windows VMs for hobby too, as the prices have gone down drastically in the last years, though pricing model being pay as you go... In theory there is no chance of me incurring high "pay as you go" given what I use web servers for, in practice, even if unlikely, there is always the risk of unlucky murphy bugs, hacking, ddos or getting slashdotted...

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  3. Doug JohnsonDecember 22, 2012 at 11:51 AM

    I too work primarily on Linux for web, using PHP on the back end, mostly. Cost is a factor, and that there is a LOT of information on working with linux servers on the interwebs. I've found working with IIS frustrating, particularly as it seems to change each iteration and I need to learn a whole new way of doing things...not saying that that is bad, but it is frustrating when all you want is to get something up and running. That said, I still do most of my coding on a Windows box, but test and deploy on linux.

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  4. Liz KimberDecember 22, 2012 at 11:54 AM

    By choice I would go php and Unix, at work I've got a silver light app, but I never liked asp/asp.net

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  5. Doug JohnsonDecember 22, 2012 at 11:56 AM

    I don't know if you saw Silvio's announcement about his new Brook Framework, but I will be looking at that over the next few days.
    http://brookframework.org/

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  6. Dorin DuminicaDecember 22, 2012 at 12:11 PM

    a bit off topic: you can also make your web app in fpc and target linux...

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  7. Patrick HughesDecember 22, 2012 at 12:24 PM

    Thank you all for your comments. For the record I am merely talking about my hosting provider's plans, I won't be setting up my own server. It's just a place were my web sites are and a planned community and perhaps more.

    But please keep the comments coming if you have any other insight to add.

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  8. Doug JohnsonDecember 22, 2012 at 12:30 PM

    Basically, if you aren't needing anything Windows specific (a DLL that only runs under windows, or access to Microsoft SQL Server or Sharepoint) you'll find the linux environment to be stable, cheap and flexible. And if you aren't getting close to the iron (SSH access) you won't even really have to learn much about the OS itself.
    I rent a virtual machine from 1and1, but I have full ssh access because I am comfortable at the linux command prompt. That said, I am webmaster for a few other sites that only give me access via the admin panel (cPanel or Plesk) and FTP. In those cases I actually wouldn't know if it were linux or not.

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  9. Alexey PetushkovDecember 22, 2012 at 8:41 PM

    My cheap Hetzner VDS hosts a bunch of sites, git repository, mail server and much other services for 8 euro/month. But you must know linux services to make this magic cheap :)

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  10. Frédéric HannesDecember 23, 2012 at 9:06 AM

    You could also just virtualize Windows on top of your Unix platform when the need arises

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