From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)
This section describes some of the most common hosting technologies.
Windows hosting means hosting of web services that runs on the Windows operating system.
You should choose Windows hosting if you plan to use ASP (Active Server Pages) as server scripting, or if you plan to use a database like Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server. Windows hosting is also the best choice if you plan to develop your web site using Microsoft Front Page.
Unix hosting means hosting of web services that runs on the Unix operating system.
Unix was the first (original) web server operating system, and it is known for being reliable and stable. Often less expensive than Windows.
Linux hosting means hosting of web services that runs on the Linux operating system.
Web pages can be executed as CGI scripts. CGI scripts are executables that will execute on the server to produce dynamic and interactive web pages.
Most Internet service providers will offer some kind of CGI capabilities. Internet service providers will often offer preinstalled, ready to run, guest-books, page-counters, and chat-forums solutions written in CGI scripts.
The use of CGI is most common on Unix or Linux servers.
Active Server Pages is a server-side scripting technology developed by Microsoft.
With ASP you can create dynamic web pages by putting script code inside your HTML pages. The code is executed by the web server before the page is returned to the browser. Both Visual Basic and JavaScript can be used.
ASP is a standard component in Windows 95,98, 2000, and XP. It can be activated on all computers running Windows.
If you want to learn more about ASP, please visit our ASP tutorial.
PHP is an open-source software and is a powerful server-side scripting language for creating dynamic and interactive websites.
PHP is the widely-used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft's ASP. PHP is perfectly suited for Web development and can be embedded directly into the HTML code.
The PHP syntax is very similar to Perl and C. PHP is often used together with Apache (web server) on various operating systems. It also supports ISAPI and can be used with Microsoft's IIS on Windows.
PHP supports many databases, such as MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc.
If you want to learn more about PHP, please visit our PHP tutorial.
JSP is a server-side technology much like ASP developed by Sun.
With JSP you can create dynamic web pages by putting Java code inside your HTML pages. The code is executed by the web server before the page is returned to the browser.
Since JSP uses Java, the technology is not restricted to any server-specific platform.
Cold Fusion is another server-side scripting language used to develop dynamic web pages.
Cold Fusion is developed by Macromedia.
Microsoft's ASP technology runs only on Windows platforms.
However, Chili!Soft ASP is a software product that allows ASP to run on UNIX and some other platforms.
FrontPage is a website design tool developed by Microsoft.
FrontPage allows users to develop a web site without any deep knowledge of web development.
Most Windows hosting solutions support FrontPage server extensions for users that use FrontPage to develop their web site.
If you plan to use FrontPage, you should look for a Windows hosting solution.
Dreamweaver is a website design tool owned by Adobe Systems.
Dreamweaver allows users to develop a web site without any deep knowledge of web development.
Dreamweaver has support for web technologies such as CSS, JavaScript, ASP.NET, ColdFusion, JavaServer Pages, and PHP.
Dreamweaver is available for both Mac and Windows operating systems.
A secure server can transmit data encrypted.
If you plan to do online credit card transactions, or other types of web communication that needs to be protected against unauthorized access, your web host must provide a secure server.
From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)