Linux hosting: simple & cost-effective

Linux is an open-source operating system released in 1991 by Linus Torvalds as an alternative to Unix and other existing operating systems such as Windows. The main difference from other operating systems is that Linux is based on open-source code – free to the public and viewable and editable by contributors. Linux has several distributions built around the Linux kernel; among the most popular are Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora, commercial ones include Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Linux is popular for cloud hosting and server environments because it is flexible, needs few resources, is compatible with many systems and is supported by the community thanks to its open-source nature – most web hosting services today use Linux servers.

Linux hosting or Linux web hosting refers to hosting providers that use the Linux operating system on their servers. Many companies use Linux web hosting for their VPS hosting because it is compatible with popular languages and tools such as PHP and MySQL. centron offers Linux hosting via its virtual machines, ccloud³ VMs, which use Linux as their base operating system.

Popular distributions such as Ubuntu and Debian are available as ready-made images – deployed in seconds and with full root access for your own configuration.

Each Linux distribution has its own maintainers; some are maintained commercially, others are open source. Among the most popular is Ubuntu, which releases new versions every six months and LTS (long-term support) versions every two years – many developers choose an Ubuntu server as it is compatible with a wide range of tools. Debian forms the technological basis (upstream) for Ubuntu, which is why the architectures are very similar. Commercial distributions include Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Rocky Linux, which is based on RHEL and free to use; others are Fedora, Arch and Alpine Linux. The choice is often a personal preference based on your needs – the tutorial on lightweight Linux distributions gives an overview.

ccloud³ VMs start from €3.12 per month (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 10 GB SSD), billed by the hour. Calculate larger configurations in the ccloud³ pricing.

Yes – your VM is yours: your own packages, your own services, your own configuration. Cloud firewalls and snapshots protect you at no extra cost.

The choice depends on your use case, how you use it and the features you want. Some providers offer Linux server hosting at an affordable price with few features, others are more expensive. Besides costs, consider the level of customer support, access to documentation and hands-on tutorials, whether dedicated hosting plans are offered rather than only shared web hosting packages, and the data centre locations.

Yes. The ccloud³ VMs come in various configurations: the Worker Pool offers basic Linux hosting for applications and websites with variable CPU, the Power Pool a guaranteed 3.5 GHz per core for applications with additional performance needs, and the High Availability Pool resilience for production workloads. If you need exclusive hardware, choose dedicated servers.

centron does not offer a free domain name, but you can easily connect your domain from common providers or book domains & DNS at centron. A free SSL certificate is not included; you can use purchased SSL certificates or Let’s Encrypt, which provides free certificates for Linux web servers.

The Linux command line lets you manage Linux via the terminal – with greater access and more control over the operating system. Anyone using Linux hosting will almost certainly need to learn to manage the server via the command line: editing files, controlling services, creating users. You will find introductory guides in the tutorials.

Yes, as a managed server: centron takes over set-up, updates, security patches, monitoring and backups – Linux performance without administration effort.

centron offers Linux hosting options for companies of every size. With virtual machines, managed servers and dedicated servers, companies scale their IT infrastructure as needed and run their workloads flexibly and efficiently.

centron offers cloud storage solutions such as S3 Object Storage and block storage for your Linux hosting. These storage solutions are ideal for applications with large storage needs and high availability requirements.

centron offers root server solutions for companies that need full control over their server environment. These dedicated servers enable flexible management of the IT infrastructure with maximum performance and security.

With snapshots before changes, automatic cBacks (no base fee, up to 10 per VM) and rule-based cloud firewalls – all directly from the console.

centron offers web hosting on Linux web servers – reliable and cost-efficient for developers and companies looking for a hosting platform for their websites and applications without managing a server themselves.