Iain, tell us a bit about you and RapidHost. Iain: I've been in the computer industry for about 20 years, although the last time I worked for an outside company was when I was with Apple, back in 1996.
RapidHost essentially started off as a design company with a little bit of hosting on the side, but we now focus nearly 100% on hosting. We provide business Internet services, and we don't really address the home market at all.
Compared to other UK Web hosting organizations, we are mid-sized and reasonably well-established in terms of longevity.
What is the typical profile of a user who comes to you looking for Linux-based hosting? Iain: They tend to come to us with pretty modest Web hosting requirements. Many of them are PHP developers working with clients that need a site hosted.
What's your experience with how Microsoft Windows has matured as a hosting platform? Iain: I'm ecstatic about Windows Server 2008, especially when I look back all the way to NT4, which I have fond memories of grappling with. I've personally been through NT4, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, and now Windows Server 2008.
The Windows platform has just gotten better and better for hosting, from my point of view, and that makes it a more comfortable choice. In terms of running the business, it has provided a consistent standard of service for our customers.
The last thing we want is to wake up in the middle of the night with a problem that could have been avoided through a different choice of the underlying operating system the customer is running. Meeting customer expectations for robustness and resilience is a vital factor for us, and Windows has genuinely helped us achieve that over the years.
What has Microsoft been like as a partner to work with? Iain: Years ago, we had a bit of a sense that hosting was not a major priority for Microsoft and that we had to get by largely on our own knowledge and experience. Over the last two to three years, though, we've seen a lot more attention on their part being paid to hosting.
I've been very impressed with the number of business and technical briefings that Microsoft offers, and I've found them to be very useful in helping us meet our business goals.
By contrast, how does Red Hat reach out as a partner? Iain: The simple answer is that they don't. I can't recall a single instance of anyone from Red Hat approaching me directly as a business owner. I may get an email from them here and there talking about one of their products, but not on a partnership level.
What is your opinion of Linux as a web hosting platform? Iain: I have always been somewhat concerned about Linux as a platform. There are many complex ways that things might be put together with Linux that could be achieved more simply with Windows. In our experience, it's also not particularly easy to get good Linux hosting experts. Once you've got them, you tend to be more dependent on those individuals than if you had a team of Windows-based experts.
Luckily, we've never been in the position of a single individual choosing to leave the company with key unique knowledge, but that is more of a concern with Linux than Windows. By contrast, with a Windows based implementation, we can deal with problems that arise irrespective of the particular staff involved.
At the technical level, Linux can be made to perform well, but at the business level, it has a level of complexity that makes me uncomfortable.
It seems that what you're saying is that it takes more work to get to the same level of "business security" with Linux than with Windows. To put it another way, would it be accurate to say that Linux keeps you up more at night than Windows does? Iain: I would definitely agree with that sentiment. It's important that we can get a quick turn-around on a question from any of our vendors. I feel that Microsoft does a better job at that than Linux vendors do.
Likewise, even though Linux can be a capable platform, our staff tends to spend more time than I'm comfortable with making Linux systems work exactly as we want them to work on a consistent basis.
Do you have some examples of the challenges you've run into? Iain: One example is that, with Windows, my staff can easily work out how long it's going to take to get a new piece of hardware up and running, whereas with Linux that is just not the case. Bringing a Linux box online is not always as straightforward as it should be.
Someone will come to me and say, "Well, this release of Linux does not support this and that other piece of hardware." They might have to go to some lengths to find the right Linux driver to get that hardware up and running, even though we focus on HP as a standard hardware platform.
Another example is the complexity that can arise when we are tracking down a problem with one of our Linux servers. For example, every so often the Web services stop on one of our Linux-based virtual private servers. I asked one of my Linux guys what was going on, and he said, "Well, I'm not really sure yet. I don't know why it's doing that, and I've got to do a bit of fiddling around to get an answer."
That response didn't fill me with the same confidence I suspect I would have had if the same problem had appeared on a Windows-based server. We would probably have had the answer much more quickly.
Would you say that troubleshooting issues on Linux versus Windows systems is the difference between "divining" and "determinism?" Iain: That's right; I am focused on delivering good products and services to our customers on a consistent basis. Anytime we are forced to deviate from that, it's a problem. Even suspecting that we may have to deviate from it is a distraction that can interfere with how we spend time dealing with customers and our ability to make sure that things are working day to day as they should.
It's very important to know that I've got technology I can rely on.
In summary, would you say that you see it as a greater risk to commit to a Linux-based solution versus a Windows one? Iain: Clearly, the Microsoft and Windows Server names are well-known to our customers, which puts a lot of weight behind the ability to say, "We are talking to Microsoft about your issue, this is how far we've gotten, and this where we intend to go next."
That level of communication and assurance helps give our customers confidence that significant steps are being taken to address their issue or problem. Linux and Red Hat aren't necessarily in that same position to inspire the confidence of our customers.
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