After you have decided to go the Windows route while shopping for a dedicated server, you will be presented with multiple options for the platform. We provide the Windows Server 2003 Web, Standard, and Enterprise editions for use on our servers, with the 32 and 64 bit flavors of Standard and Enterprise. Most people will only need either Web edition or Standard, depending on what their needs are. Enterprise is used as well, but it is far less common than the latter two. Enterprise is built more for people that know exactly what they need from the operating system, such as clustering, so I will just be covering Standard and Web editions today.
The main difference between Web and Standard, and usually the deal breaker between the two, is the inclusion of Active Directory. Web edition does not include Active Directory, which is usually just fine for what our clients need. The lack of AD will not stop you from hosting your website and e-mail, and the popular control panel for Windows, Plesk, works just fine without it.
For those that don’t know, Active Directory is a solution that is included with Standard editions and higher that basically allows you to have multiple servers and computers that will authenticate users from one central database. If you have a server with Windows Server Standard, you can promote it to be a Domain Controller, which basically means you can install Active Directory on it, and once you have done that, you can add other servers to the “domain” you setup with the same solution. Now, if you create a user called “jdoe” on the domain controller, you can now login to the main server and any server that you have added to the domain, using that username. It also allows you to control what features are available on each joined machine for each user. If you are interested in finding out more about Active Directory, and what it can do for you, please take a look at this.
MS SQL Server 2005 compatibility is a big factor in choosing a Windows edition as well. If you want to run SQL Workgroup 2005 or above, you have to have at least Windows Server Standard Edition. SQL Express, the free version of SQL, will support Web edition, but Express is usually too light weight for anyone’s needs, aside from learning purposes.
Another big difference between the two is the amount of memory (RAM) each can support. Web edition can only support up to 2 GB of ram, where as the Standard edition can support up to approximately 3.5 GB if you are using 32 bit. The same server can utilize up to 32 GB of memory if you are using the 64 bit version. Now, with web hosting, the need for 32 GB of ram will rarely, if ever, come up, but the need for 4-8 GB is very common, especially with database servers. In these cases, using Standard 64 bit is definitely the way to go, assuming you don’t need any sort of clustering. Web edition is more for light load websites that really won’t use extensive resources.
The remaining differences are usually negligible, as they have to do with special file system support, and different types of processor architectures that you will never have to worry about with us. Although, if you are interested in learning the differences, feel free to take a look at the Windows Server 2003 edition comparison chart, located here. If you have any questions about the differences, or would like to know how upgrading to Standard could help you with your application or website, go ahead and give our support department a call. We are always waiting to help.