Apollo Hosting- Company Blog

Lot of blogs about Microsoft products recently. I mean I've written a lot of blogs about Microsoft products, not to say that are "a lot of blogs" about Microsoft. Well, I'm sure there are a lot of blogs about Microsoft, I suppose. There's even one from the people who are making Internet Explorer. What I find most amusing about that blog is comments on certain posts, deemed "sensitive issues", are simply never allowed. Granted, there's really not much constructive criticism to be found in an Greek chorus of "I told you so's" and "You suck's".

The IE Blog recently updated with a list of CSS fixes in IE7. The comments on the CSS fixes ran from a few obligatory pats on the back quite quickly to a standard assortment of "Took you long enough", "Great. What about...?", and "Why do keep ignoring...?" In a way, I'm sympathetic, as it's probably tough for those guys to feel love.

Yes, IE7 is not going to be fully standards compliant. (As I mentioned in my last blog, Firefox isn't either). It's a step in the right direction, but it's not there, and probably will never be. It's more likely, if it ever happens, you'll be looking at 8 or even 9 before that kind of "success" is achieved.

Windows Hosting- The Really Basic FAQ

Which brings us, in a round-about way, to one of the reasons I've been focused on MS products recently. We have our own MS product now, namely Windows Server 2003, and all that that implies.... (Hey, a movie quote from the last 7 years, I'm rapidly getting more "current"). Well, it implies we have Windows Hosting, and we do. What is Windows Hosting? That name sounds familiar for some reason... Do you need it? I will endeavor to answer a few of these questions and, with any luck, help you make this grave, weighty decision.

What is Windows Hosting?
That one is both easy and hard. The "easy" answer is that is it website hosting on a server run by Windows Server, using the IIS web server program. That answer is only "easy" if you have any clue what Windows Server and IIS are. If you do, then that answer is also fairly pointless, as it's pretty obvious. If you don't know what those things are, but are vaguely aware you're sitting in front of a computer with "Windows" installed on it (and odds are, you are), then think of it this way...

"Windows Server" is just another version of the operating system you're using now. You're probably using Windows XP (again, odds are in my favor here). Windows Server 2003 is another "flavor" of Windows that is purpose-built to be installed and run on machines called "servers". Servers are kind of like the machine you're using now, only they generally look a lot different on the outside. Inside, they have a lot of the same stuff, just stuff that is optimized for the express purpose of "serving" up websites.

Do I Need It?
Here's another "easy" answer: If you have to ask, probably not. This brings us to the most common misconception about Windows Hosting, namely that little fact that, again, you're probably reading this on a Windows machine. Windows machine, Windows hosting... A match made in heaven, right? Well, not necessarily. In fact, it's a match that does not need to be made at all, except under certain limited circumstances.

The majority of websites on the Net, and the one you're looking at now, with your very Windows machine, are not run on Windows servers. Yet your Windows machine and its Windows-based browser get along just fine. Until you read this, the thought may never even have crossed your mind, in fact. One of the reasons the Internet is so popular, and powerful, is that it is built using platform independent technology. This technology means that a website running on a "Linux" server can be seen without incident on a browser running on a Windows machine half a world away.

So... Why Would I Need It?
That's a very thoughtful question, congratulations. People who "need" Windows servers are those who wish to develop websites using a specific type of server technology, usually ASP.NET. ASP.NET is a kind of programming language that allows developers to create scripts that provide a wide variety of interactivity on a website. Most websites are just static HTML, but when you start looking at things like forums, polls, surveys, online banking, or anything else that requires interactivity between the end user and the website, you will need some kind of server scripting language to do the "work".

ASP.NET is one such language, provided by Microsoft, that will only function on a machine running Windows Server. If you're suddenly worried about that "platform independency" I touted earlier, fear not. Though ASP.NET requires a Windows server to run, it, like any other server scripting language, outputs the same HTML that all browsers, no matter their operating system, can view. That is the key to "server side" scripting- all the work is done on the server, and what is transmitted is the same HTML that all browsers know and love.

I Don't Need ASP.NET or any of This "Server Side Scripting" of which You Speak, Can I Still Use Windows Hosting?
Wow, that one was a bit longer than the other ones, but no less focused and intuitive. The answer is "yes". Windows servers will function just as well as any other server when providing basic HTML websites with no fancy "bells" and/or "whistles." They can display Flash, JavaScript, and many other common platform-independent technologies. They can even run PHP, a common open-source alternative to ASP.NET. If you don't think you'll need ASP.NET now, but perhaps later, then getting started with Windows Hosting early won't have any adverse effect on your website.

Is ASP.NET Better Than PHP or Any of those "Other" Languages?
Sorry, not going to drag me into this debate. I'm sure, like any debate fostered by the Internet, there are people on both sides who will make staggering claims about the efficacy of their side, whilst decrying the heretics on the other side of some non-existent "line." The "line" here is the bottom one: ASP.NET is one way of doing things, PHP is another. Both are two paths to a similar solution, and what one chooses is based more on personal preference than anything else. If you've learned PHP, you're probably going to use it, likewise if you've learned ASP.NET. Go with what you know, and you'll be fine.

Is Unlimited Database cool?
Yes, yes it is.

Well, hopefully that clears up a few questions you might have about the whole Windows Hosting "thing." The core points to take away here are that you don't need Windows Hosting just because you have a Windows machine. You do need Windows Hosting if you're going to develop using ASP.NET. And, finally, Windows won't be any better or worse for your plain old HTML site, so don't sweat the choice unless you think you'll need ASP.NET in the future. In fact, since PHP runs on Windows as well, you could start with Windows Hosting and keep your options open, right from the beginning.