Web Hosting Linux Vs Windows Part 3

Operating System Integration
IIS and Windows 2000 is a more "integrated" environment than Apache, since IIS is targeted specifically for the operating system. This has the advantage that the GUI and controls of IIS look and feel the same as every other tool on Windows. On the other hand, you can find Apache for just about any platform, including Lunix, Unix, BSD, and even such things as OpenVMS. If you need to be able to move between platforms, then Apache is a great choice.

Email
SMTP on IIS is primitive but functional. This is because it is only provided to allow scripts and such to send email from the server. If you need additional email support, you are expected to use Exchange or some other email system. Apache does not support SMTP (send-mail), although a version is usually provided on the target system. The provided email solution is full featured - but you must be very sure to check the configuration to be sure your system is not an open relay.

The IIS SMTP module is configured through the standard Windows 2000 entry system, while Send mail requires configuration file editing. IIS SMTP is absolutely trivial to maintain; Send mail can be a challenge.

DNS
DNS on Windows 2000 is far, far superior to anything available on Unix or Linux. Bind (he DNS for Unix and similar systems) has traditionally suffered from a huge number of security vulnerabilities) and is very involved to maintain. My own experience with DNS servers indicates the best solution is a dedicated DNS application box. These are inexpensive (for a business), easy-to-configure and much more secure than either the Windows 2000 version or the Unix version.

Search Engines
There is NO difference as far as search engines are concerned between Apache and IIS (or any other web server, for that matter).

Conclusions
Basically, IIS and Apache do the same thing. They have a vastly different design philosophy, however, and the underlying operating systems have even wider differences. My experience is that Linux and Unix people prefer apache, and windows people prefer IIS. To me, the choice of web server really comes down to "what are you and your group comfortable with?" If your experience is with apache, linux or unix, then you probably want to stick with Apache. If your experience is with Windows, then you will probably be uncomfortable with Apache.