Getting Started

[gotplz2]

I'm a web developer at work. I write JSP's and Servlets at work using Webshpere Rational for the state government. I've had a couple people ask me to make some web pages for them and thought about doing it on the side for a little extra cash. The problem is I don't know anyone who does home web development to ask about getting started. I need recomendations on where I might get a free IDE that is similiar to what I use since they want over $2000 for Rational. I also use an e server at work to do local testing and our server admin move my EAR files to prod. I found an eserver for under $500 but is that the way to go since I need to buy a computer anyways? I've never set up or ran a server before just wrote programs. Can I host my sight from my eserver or is it better to host it on something like goDaddy? Any help is appreciated.

[koots]

I would recomend going through someone like go daddy. Hosting is very cheap!!

[gotplz2]

Thanks. What would you do for an IDE? What would you do for a pc?

[Compguy Pete]

GURRRRRR... Check out www.thelist.com GD might be "cheap" but your going to hit a wall very quickly with the extra charges here than there to get what you need. to find a proper host you need to first figure out 2 things.

1. linux server
2. Windows Server

From there you will need to look for a site with a good reseller account. You want to be in control of the billing you should beable to find a provider who can allow you to host a good deal of sites at least 20 or more sites for a "low" fee, which should be more or less the cost of a dinner for 2.

[loon]

Normally people will suggest linux as everyone think it is cheaper compare...

For me i think is not much different after i read this article

One of the most confusing decisions someone new to web hosting will have to make is which platform their server should be on. There are a number of different choices out there but the main two are Linux and Windows web servers. There are also a lot of sources of information about hosting, but the majority of them are tainted by the author's biased personal opinion unfortunately confusing the issue. Having just put in some solid hours researching the topic I have come to the conclusion that in general it quite probably does not matter which server you use. For the majority of people it will be far more important to choose a really good web host than to worry about the server-type that they implement.

Microsoft developed and owns the Windows operating system. Linux is open source and generally free. This means it can often be more expensive to set up and run a Windows server. However, this fact doesn't really affect you unless you are actually setting up a server for yourself and if you're reading this article then I'm guessing that it's safe to assume you're not. This article is going to offer information for those trying to decide which hosting company to go with. The cost involved in running a server does not affect the cost of a web-hosting package as much as you may think. Despite the general opinion that Windows servers are more expensive to run, buying a Windows hosting package can often turn out to be just as cheap or even cheaper than an equivalent Linux hosting package.

Some people naturally assume that because their PC runs Windows they need to buy a Windows hosting package. This isn't true. Access to your web account will most likely be through FTP or a control panel and both servers support these methods. The main difference is that some of the FTP commands are slightly different between Linux and Windows and some FTP programs will be designed with one or the other in mind. This means you may occasionally find that when you try and get your FTP program to do something it returns an error message, but it won't happen very often.

Your choice of server platforms should be dictated by the use to which you intend to put it. The majority of web features run fine on both platforms including PHP, mySQL, POP3 etc. If you intend to create your site using ASP, FrontPage, the .NET environment, Windows Streaming Media, Access, MSSQL, or any of the other Microsoft proprietary technologies then you probably need to use a Windows host. There is limited support for a number of these technologies in Linux, but they can be expensive and are usually lacking in features. It is probably worth considering the fact that if you use server specific technologies and then change hosts you'll have a much harder time of it than if you use technologies that can be run on any system. Having it run generic technologies removes the need to focus on specifics and allows you to focus on the quality of service itself.

The reliability and stability of the different platforms have been the topic of many long arguments. The main reason that Windows is seen as being insecure is that it is the most widely used operating system for home PC's. People spend more time looking for flaws in the most common system. With Linux being the most common server type, it has a surprising number of successful hack attempts made on it. In the end the security of both platforms comes down to the competency of the system administrators. If you are security minded then you'll do better to make sure that the hosting company is reputable and highly skilled than to worry about the server they use.

In terms of performance there's not a huge difference between the two servers. Linux reportedly performs faster because Windows (as usual) attempts to offer an 'all in one' package instead of the extendable Linux implementation. You'll generally not notice a difference but if performance is of utmost importance to you then maybe this will influence your decision.

I've come to the conclusion that unless you are specifically using features that are unique to one platform or another your time will be much better spent looking for a really good quality host than a really good quality server. Developers are constantly improving both Linux and Windows so they should be fairly close in terms of features, security, and reliability for a long time. It's the people implementing them that you should be basing your decision on.


What do you think?

[gotplz2]

I think I'm going to go with a linux server because that's what we use at work with java websphere. I never thought about what type of server I needed to use but that article helped.

[sutabi]

When I started doing freelance web design/development I used a very cheap server, when my clients outgrew that server I'd upgrade or move to a new one. I'm to the point of I now have a self-managed dedicated server.

I loved HostGator.com, awsome support and great servers.

[gotplz2]

When I started doing freelance web design/development I used a very cheap server, when my clients outgrew that server I'd upgrade or move to a new one. I'm to the point of I now have a self-managed dedicated server.

I loved HostGator.com, awsome support and great servers.

Do you use your own IDE our do you use their site builders? I was thinking of using eclipse to make jsp's and servlets. I've only found one site that hosts jsp's though.