I’m almost ready to take the plunge with EE, and in the process of selecting a web-hosting service.

I’ve got the list of basic requirements (10M disk, PHP 4.1 with XML support, MySQL 3.23.32 or newer, etc.)

However, I’m unclear on whether the operating system used by the host makes a difference or not.  Is there anything in terms of hosting operating system that I have to have/have to avoid to be able to run EE?

Hi Ertyuyu,

A fair question! The operating system shouldn’t make a difference but generally speaking non-Window’s servers tend to run php/mysql better and therefore EE better. But, to be fair, there are plenty of Windows servers running php/mysql just fine. Given a choice though, I’d go with a non-windows server platform.

No, the OS does not really matter as long as the other requirements (PHP + MySQL, mainly) are in place. EE does not care whether the web server runs under, say, Windows or FreeBSD. That said, if you do get a choice consider using not Windows. Many professionals, myself included, prefer UNIX based web servers by a wide margin.

Thanx for the quick replies!

I have no special attachment to Windows.

Do you have any thoughts on LINUX?

And what are you folks doing working so late on the day before Thanksgiving?

Much like UNIX, LINUX qualifies as “not Windows” so you’re good.

Sadly, we are workaholics! I’m leaving a bit early today and hoping to take most of tomorrow off though

Personally, I consider any professionally hosted server system fine. That could be Linux, or some other UNIX or *BSD variant. For the user, the differences are negligible.