Windows Server 2008 Hosting
Windows Server 2008 brings you many more features that have not been seen in previous releases of Microsoft server operating systems; as well as there being many new features for you to make use of, Microsoft has updated existing components such as the transfer of the new IIS 7 web server to the Windows server operating system series. Although many web hosting providers will still continue to offer shared, reseller, VPS and dedicated server hosting services based on the Windows Server 2003 operating system, many will also be offering the same web hosting services but instead based on Windows Server 2008. The important thing to remember is that all of your existing websites, even those that have been built using classic ASP, will continue to function as normal on Windows Server 2008 servers. The most radical change that many web hosting providers will make to their services offerings is the introduction of Hyper-V VPS hosting servers; this means that over time many providers will be moving away from traditionally offering Virtuozzo based Windows VPS servers as well as gradually moving their existing Windows infrastructure over to Windows Server 2008. The introduction of Windows Server 2008 dedicated servers will mean that companies and individuals who may be using older dedicated servers can now get an upgraded server running Windows Server 2008 for the same or maybe even less than what you pay for your existing server.
Shared Hosting
When it comes to shared hosting services, Windows Server 2008 is unlikely to have a large influence since many will just see it as another server upgraded that will help make the system more reliable than it is at current. However, there are also new releases of third party software that are highly likely to have an influence in the shared web hosting world. When cPanel releases its highly anticipated Windows based control panel it is expected that many web hosting providers are going to automatically adopt this new control panel for use on their Windows based shared hosting servers; this is mainly down to the fact that the cPanel control panel for Linux has been a massive success and can be classed as the most popular Linux web hosting control panel. Parallels has also recently released version 9.0 of its Plesk control panel. Although the new release of Plesk hasn’t sparled that much interest, it has still bought those who use it many more features as well as a new design that is very similar to that of Windows Vista; Plesk 9.0 now also supports IIS 7 as well as Windows Server 2008 servers.
VPS Hosting
Due to the introduction of the new Hyper-V technology that will allow web hosting providers to create virtual machines on their Windows Server 2008 servers, the Windows VPS hosting market is highly likely to change as many web hosting companies move over to using Hyper-V and phase out the use of the Parallels Virtuozzo VPS daemon. Web hosting companies in many cases provide a control panel free of charge to their Windows VPS customers, and this is mainly down to their good relationship with the Parallels software vendor; although such an offering is unlikely to end, it must be noted that some web hosting providers will start to phase in the use of the new cPanel/WHM suite for Windows when it is eventually released. Some Windows VPS services will continue to be hosted on Windows Server 2003 nodes as web hosting providers want to fill their existing servers as well as the fact that some of those purchasing Windows VPS servers may not necessarily know how to use Windows Server 2008. For those companies that are going to continue to use Virtuozzo for the foreseeable future they will only be able to offer Windows Server 2003 VPS because Virtuozzo doesn’t support Windows Server 2008 at current.
Dedicated Servers
Windows Server 2008 is going to have the most affect in the area of dedicated server hosting. Web hosting providers will want to start rolling out Windows Server 2008 based dedicated servers as soon as possible, and customers will want to be upgrading their existing dedicated servers to the new Windows Server 2008 operating system. Those who are using dedicated servers normally want to be using the most up-to-date technology, and by using Windows Server 2008 they are able to make use of the new IIS 7 web server as well as the other features that come with it. Windows Server 2008 also comes with updated support for the POP3 and IMAP protocols for those who are using Microsoft’s built in email server.
However, it should be noted that higher end dedicated servers that are of a high specification are used if users want to use Windows Server 2008. Low end dedicated servers may not be able to cope with the operating system that well, and at the end of the day the main purpose of dedicated server hosting is to offer businesses and individuals a more reliable web hosting service.
In conclusion, Windows Server 2008 hosting can be purchased in many different forms meaning that there will be one form available to meet your needs. As it is a more up-to-date operating system, you may find that Windows Server 2008 is harder and more complicated to manage, more so if you have been managed Windows Server 2003 boxes for the past few years. However, Microsoft has tried to make the opposite be applicable to Windows Server 2008 by making the GUI more user intuitive so that the management of a Windows Server 2008 server can be made as easy as possible. If you are already on a VPS server or a dedicated server that is running Windows Server 2003 then you may be able to request your web hosting provider to upgrade the operating system for you on your server; shared and reseller hosting servers will be upgraded in good time by your web hosting provider.
