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Choosing a Web Hosting Provider

What Operating System is the Server Running?

SUMMARY: Your web hosting provider's operating system may determine the types of scripts you can run and databases you can access.

Before choosing a web hosting provider, find out on what type of server the website will be operating. Normally this will be either:

* A flavor of UNIX such as Linux, BSD, or Solaris
* Windows 2000/2003
* Macintosh

For basic websites the operating system may not matter. However, if you plan on writing (or purchasing) software for your website such as search engines, blogs, community forums, etc., the operating system may directly affect the types of software you can write and/or use. It may also determine what database server types you can access (this is another good question to ask!).