Linux Web Servers Explained: The Complete Guide for Business Owners

What is a Linux web server?

A Linux web server is a physical or virtual machine running a Linux-based operating system and web software (like Apache or Nginx) to deliver websites, APIs, and apps over HTTP/HTTPS. Typical stacks include LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP) or LEMP (Linux, Nginx, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP), plus optional extras like caching, firewalls, and monitoring.

Market dominance: how many web servers run Linux?

Independent web-technology surveys show Linux leads by a wide margin. According to W3Techs’ live measurements, Linux is used by ~57.8% of all websites whose operating system is known (daily updated). See the methodology and current figure here:

• W3Techs — Usage statistics of Linux for websites
• Linux vs Windows usage comparison

For web servers specifically, W3Techs reports Nginx and Apache as the two most widely used servers globally:

• Web server market share (live)
• Nginx vs Apache usage

Which Linux is best for web servers?

There’s no single “best” distro—pick based on support, familiarity, and ecosystem. For most business websites, Ubuntu LTS or Debian Stable offers an excellent balance of stability and up-to-date packages. In enterprise contexts, RHEL-compatible distros (AlmaLinux/Rocky Linux) are common.

Cost analysis: how much does a Linux server cost?

OS licensing

Most Linux distributions are free to use (no license fee). Costs arise if you purchase enterprise support or premium tooling.

Total cost of ownership (TCO)

• Compute: VPS/dedicated/cloud instance (CPU, RAM, storage, bandwidth).
• Ops: Backups, monitoring, CDN, security tools, SSL certificates.
• People: In-house admin time or managed services.
• Upgrades & migrations: Periodic maintenance to stay secure and performant.

Business benefits: what’s the point of a Linux server?

Why is a Linux server often better than Windows for web hosting?

• Performance & concurrency: Efficient under heavy traffic and parallel connections.
• Resource usage: Minimal footprints possible (great for VPS/cloud).
• Native ecosystem: Most open-source web tooling targets Linux first.
• Automation: Shell, cron, systemd, and config management tools are first-class.
• Licensing: Avoid per-core or per-instance OS licensing fees.

Windows/IIS can be a good choice for .NET/Windows-native stacks. For PHP/WordPress and most open-source frameworks, Linux is the default.
 

Web server software: Apache, Nginx & others

Apache HTTP Server is the classic, module-rich workhorse; Nginx is designed for high concurrency and is widely used as a reverse proxy and for serving static files.

• Live market shares:W3Techs — Web server usage
• Nginx vs. Apache:Compare usage on W3Techs
• Also consider: LiteSpeed/OpenLiteSpeed, Caddy, Lighttpd, and Cloudflare’s edge for caching/SSL.

Implementation guide: how does a web server work?

1. DNS lookup: A user requests yourdomain.com; DNS resolves it to your server’s IP. (How DNS resolution works)
2. Connection: The browser connects over HTTP/HTTPS (ports 80/443).
3. Web server routing: Apache/Nginx maps the domain to a site directory and processes the request.
4. Response: Static files are served directly; dynamic requests pass to PHP/Python/Node, then back to the client.
5. Security & logging: TLS, firewalls, WAF/CDN, and access/error logs protect and inform.

How to host a website on a Linux server (step-by-step)

1. Pick a distro: Ubuntu LTS or Debian are safe starting points.
2. Provision a server: VPS or cloud instance (start ~2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 50 GB SSD).
3. Secure access: SSH keys; update packages (sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y).
4. Install web software: 
   • Nginx: sudo apt install nginx 
   • Apache: sudo apt install apache2 
   • PHP-FPM: sudo apt install php-fpm php-mysql
5. Point your domain: Create an A record to your server IP in your DNS (EuroDNS DNS • DNS records explained).
6. Virtual host: Map your domain to /var/www/yourdomain and test with a simple index.html.
7. HTTPS (free): Install Let’s Encrypt via Certbot (sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx or ...-apache), then sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com.
8. Hygiene: Enable a firewall (UFW), set up automatic security updates, and configure backups/monitoring.

Prefer to skip the server admin?
Choose fully managed WordPress hosting—SSL, updates, and backups handled for you.

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Setup tutorial: create a Linux web server today

Here’s a concise checklist you can follow or hand to your developer:

• Register/point your domain, set A/AAAA records (EuroDNS DNS).
• Spin up an Ubuntu LTS VPS and harden SSH (keys only, disable root login).
• Install Nginx + PHP-FPM (or Apache + PHP-FPM) and your database.
• Create a site definition (server block / virtual host) and deploy your app.
• Issue TLS via Let’s Encrypt; force HTTPS; enable HTTP/2 and gzip/brotli.
• Add a CDN/WAF if needed and set up daily off-site backups.

If you want a control-panel-driven path, Plesk simplifies everything from SSL to staging:

• EuroDNS Plesk Web Hosting  •  Get your website running (guide)

Sources (live stats & how-tos):Linux usage (W3Techs), Linux vs Windows (W3Techs), Web server market share (W3Techs), Nginx vs Apache (W3Techs).

Further reading:WordPress vs Plesk hosting, How DNS resolution works, DNS records explained.