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Linux ECommerce Hosting- In this Linux eCommerce hosting review we are going to explain to you what Linux eCommerce hosting is and where you can find the best Linux eCommerce hosting at. Linux eCommerce hosting is great to use. Linux eCommerce hosting!

eCommerce hosting is web hosting that is tailored particularly to the needs of those who conduct business online. Linux eCommerce hosting, one of the main operating systems available, was created to offer specific eCommerce solutions.

What Is Linux Hosting?

In order to have a full understanding of a discussion of Linux eCommerce hosting, it is important to know that Linux hosting is not just one thing. The term Linux hosting is used to refer to a group of hosting options that incorporate operating systems (OS’s) that have UNIX-like properties, but have been built around the open source Linux kernel, which was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991. The Linux kernel is often combined with elements of the GNU (GNU’s Not Unix) operating system, which were designed to work with the Linux kernel to create a completely free and open source OS.

Linux systems are usually called Linux distributions. Linux distributions are used as desktop and supercomputer operating systems as well as on web servers. At the end of 2005, according to Netcraft, the most widely used Linux distributions were, in order of use, greatest to least:

• Red Hat
• Debian
• Fedora
• SuSE
• Cobalt
• Gentoo
• Mandriva
• CentOS

Web hosts often do not indicate which Linux distribution is being used, but you can find out by asking them.

The Playing Field

To get a sense of how Linux fits into the world of eCommerce web hosting, let’s take a look at how it fits into the overall picture, by looking at the web servers currently in use and the top-performing sites. As of July 2010, according to Netcraft, there were 5 main types of web server in use across the world. They are, in order of use, greatest to least:

• Apache
• Microsoft
• Google
• nginx (pronounced "Engine X")
• lighttpd (pronounced "Lighty")

Obviously, Microsoft servers use Windows Server OS’s. Google runs Linux, and Apache, nginx, and lighttpd can, but don’t necessarily, run Linux. This means that most servers employed in webhosting are capable of running Linux. In addition, since its inception in April of 2007, Google, which only runs Linux, has surpassed lighttpd and nginx and climbed to 7.70% use as of July 2010.

Also according to Netcraft, in June of 2010, of the top 42 hosting providers judged by site performance:

• the OS of 3 of them was unknown
• the OS of 3 of the top 5 was FreeBSD (the others were unknown)
• overall, the OS of 7 or 16.7% was Free BSD
• overall, the OS of 3 or 7.1% was Windows Server
• overall, the OS of 29 of them or 69% i.e., the overwhelming majority was Linux

Seeking Linux ECommerce Hosting

When you seek eCommerce hosting it’s important to know that in shared solutions, you are most likely to see emphasis on store templates, shopping carts, and promotional credits with partners such as eBay and Google rather than on the operating system, which may not even be listed in the overview description of the various plans. This is likely because people who are looking for shared hosting for eCommerce usually don’t know or care what type of server the site is hosted on, but have concerns in other areas. In fact, if you are looking specifically for Linux eCommerce hosting, you may do better by looking at hosting options rather than at eCommerce options.

Types of Linux ECommerce Hosting

Though shared eCommerce webhosting may be done on Linux servers, it is not likely until you look for information about virtual private servers (VPS) starting to be referred to as Virtual Dedicated Servers (VDS) or dedicated servers that you will find reference to the server OS.

VPS and VDS provide the opportunity to have dedicate RAM, bandwidth, and storage, but with the lower cost of a shared server. Dedicated hosting comes in two flavors: it can either be managed by the hosting company in which case it is referred to as managed dedicated hosting or management can be handled by the account holder.

These services cost more than basic eCommerce shared hosting plans, but give the account holder more choices and more control. For example, at GoDaddy, one can choose from three different operating systems, two of which are Linux: CentOS, Fedora, and Windows for VDS, while for Dedicated Servers, the choices also include Ubuntu as well as CentOS and Windows 64-bit options. In the FAQs, it indicates that Red Hat Enterprise is also available and, if desired, the entire list of installed software can be viewed along with the web server. This means that this is the place you can go to establish if you have the popular LAMP server software an acronym for the combination of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and one or more of the languages PERL, PHP, and Python. In fact, all dedicated Linux servers at GoDaddy do have the LAMP infrastructure.

VPS or VDS Linux eCommerce hosting or Dedicated Server plans may come with free ad credits for Google AdWords, MySpace myAds, and/or Facebook Ad. Also often included is a free SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer), allowing the website to accept credit card transactions if a merchant account and payment gateway are set up, and a dedicated IP address. In addition to the server choices, these plans are more likely to have 24/7 tech support, and stronger security and fraud protection.

With these setups, website templates may be available, but are less likely to be mentioned as a major selling point, because it is assumed that someone interested in a particular server type is capable of doing their own website from scratch.

Who offers the best Linux eCommerce Hosting?

Simply answered…BlueHost!!! Check out our BlueHost review for more information or simply click on our BlueHost promo link to get BlueHost for only $4.95 a month instead of the normal $6.95 a month.

BlueHost- Best Linux eCommerce Host!!!

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