Although most Internet web servers run on Unix platforms, many people elect to
deploy their websites on Windows web servers. There are many reasons for
this. For example, many people are able to take advantage of the tools and languages that they have
grown comfortable at work, working with Microsoft Office products. Web authoring tools such as
FrontPage 2003 have a similar look and feel as other MS Office products. Microsoft
Access, a low-cost Microsoft database, is widely used by small businesses.
An MS Access database can easily be integrated into a FrontPage web. As the
website grows and web transactions increase, the migration from the MS Access
database to
Microsoft's "industrial strength" SQL Server database can easily occur.
Similarly, when a more
sophisticated development environment is required, FrontPage can be discarded
and Microsoft's Visual Studio suite of products can be adopted.
Microsoft has recently introduced a number of new internet technologies that will
allow businesses to share data more easily using XML. Some of this new
functionality requires that the website be hosted on a Windows 2003 web server running SharePoint Services.
The following table compares web hosting packages available on Windows
servers. The list is sequenced in ascending sequence based on monthly
web hosting cost.
Comparison of Hosting Packages Available on Windows
Servers
