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This question is asked by people that are new to web hosting and web design every day. This question is the single most important decision you will make when looking to purchase web hosting. Unix (and Linux variants) and Windows are the two main o

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

perating systems powering web servers today, and each operating systems has its own unique features, and this brings their own advantages and disadvantages.

In this article I will outline the advantages of each operating system, and a short compa

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

ison of the two operating systems.

Before we get to the comparison of the two operating systems, you must know that the operating system you use on your desktop is not relevant to your choice of operating system used by your host to serve your we

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

site. Many people feel that if they use Windows on their desktop, they should also choose a web hosting provider that also uses Windows. This is simply not the case, for example if you used Microsoft Frontpage to design your website, typically Uni

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

x operating systems will have Frontpage Extensions installed to allow you to use Frontpage to its full potential.

Unix Overview

Today most web developers choose Unix systems to host their websites, everyday Windows loses more ground to Un

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

x in market share in the web hosting market, why is this the case? The number one reason this is occurring is price. Web hosting providers typically use free editions of Unix based Linux operating systems such as Debian, Red Hat, or Free BSD, this

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

alone reduces the end cost of a web hosting plan to the consumer due to there being no licensing fees incurred like there is with the Windows operating system.

The free editions of Linux are released under what is known as the GNU license, this l

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

icense has no costs involved, and also allows access to the source code of the operating system to allow for modification and optimization which is very important, this allows the host to optimize the operating system to their hardware requirement

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

, and also allows quick fixes for any security issues that may come up.

Typically Unix web servers are the most stable, with the flexibility required to allow upgrades and expansion. Almost always Unix servers that are setup for serving websites

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

re configured in text mode which uses fewer resources, they do not run a graphical user interface which allows the server to devote as much of its own resources to the websites it is hosting. Unix based operating systems support the following. PHP

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

MySQL, PostgresSQL, Perl, CGI-BIN, Ruby on Rails and many more.

Windows Hosting Overview

This of course is the most widely known operating system, and as you know, you pay to use the Windows operating system on your desktop, and this is

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

no different when it comes to using the Windows Server operating system. The Windows Server operating system does support some technologies that Unix currently does not. Only Windows hosting plans support scripting languages such as Active Server

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

ages (ASP), Cold Fusion, Active Perl, C++, C#, and Visual Basic.

Only Windows Server operating system will run Microsoft applications such as Microsoft Access Databases, Microsoft SQL Databases, IIS. If you are planning to use any of the above la

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

guages or database types on your website, you will need to purchase a Windows hosting plan.

The Comparison

Performance - In low server load conditions Windows and Unix have similar performance, but under high server loads, Unix is

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

superior to Windows.

Stability - Unix copes much better than Windows with high server loads, this leads to less reboots required on the server to maintain optimal performance, and in turn increases your websites uptime.

Compatibility
t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel
> - If you develop a website under Unix, typically it will be easy to run on a Windows server, but the reverse is not as easy, especially if you have used a Windows based language. Avoid using a Windows programming languages if possible, in the lo
ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
g term you may wish to move to a Unix based server, and this will not be possible without a major redesign of the websites code.

Price - Any server hosting a website requires an operating system, and the associated licenses to use that ope
y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
rating system. Windows 2003 Server and applications cost a lot of money to run, typically the cost of the software is on a per user basis, and as the users on a server increase, so does the licensing costs. On the other hand, Unix and its Linux va
.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de
iants are freely available to download, and are also free to use and operate. This is why Unix based web hosting is almost always the cheaper option.

Final Words

Unix hosting typically offers more stability, better performance, more compa
elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip
ibility, and lower costs compared to a Windows hosting plan. I typically recommend Unix hosting for the reasons stated above, I only ever recommend Windows hosting if your website has been developed using ASP, .NET or another Microsoft application

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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