Hosting asp.net and sql server on Linux

honey monster · 08-03-2008, 06:24 AM

I develop web solutions for companies and have always hosted those solutions on Windows based servers. I have been approached several times now by potential clients wanting to host on Linux based servers. The web soutions we provide have content management systems to allow client update and access. They are all need asp.net and SQL Server to run. Is there any way that these solutions can be hosted on a Linux server, if so please can you tell me how?

shuuhen · 08-03-2008, 07:10 AM

I don't think Microsoft's SQL server is available for anything other than Windows. Instead you can use MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc. I like PostgreSQL myself. There should be ADO.NET data providers available for each, but I think the ODBC data provider would also work.

There are ways to get ASP.NET stuff to run on Apache. .NET in general on non-Windows systems has to be done with either Mono (like Spanish for monkey), or DotGNU's Portable.NET. I don't know if Portable.NET has anything for running ASP.NET though.

For ASP.NET, mod_mono would work with Apache.

mod_mono - http://www.mono-project.com/ASP.NET

Portable.NET - http://www.gnu.org/software/dotgnu/pnet.html

PostgreSQL ADO.NET Provider - http://npgsql.projects.postgresql.org/index.html

MySQL ADO.NET Provider - http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/5.1.html

honey monster · 08-03-2008, 10:59 AM

Thanks that is very clear. I see that some database solutions, including MySQL will run on Linux. What other web based solutions will run on Linux? I know that some web developers use Linux, what do they programme their sites in please? I cannot ignore Linux so I must adapt.

shuuhen · 08-03-2008, 07:18 PM

Anything pretty much. Microsoft's technologies like ASP.NET are probably less common on Linux and other Unix-likes. HTML/XHTML, PHP, Python, Ruby, Perl, Java and probably others that I don't know about. Ruby has the Ruby on Rails framework, Python has the Django framework and I'm sure other languages have frameworks (Java definitely).

Apache's probably the most common server on non-Windows platforms, but there are others like Mongrel and Zeus (tons I can't think of either). I don't do tons of web development, so there's probably more I don't know about. I'd personally be using the Rails framework and/or a CMS (probably Radiant since I program in Ruby for non-web related projects already - fantastic language).

I'm sure there are tons that use CMS's like Drupal (PHP-based), Radiant (Ruby-based) and Plone (Python-based). Drupal looked pretty impressive to me for a project I'm going to do. Only reason I haven't decided on it is I don't do PHP programming (and don't feel like learning it).

honey monster · 08-04-2008, 12:59 AM

Thanks for your very full responses, that is very helpful. I will now go away, do a bit more research and then work out the way forward. Keep up the good work.

08-03-2008, 06:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
honey monster Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Hosting asp.net and sql server on Linux I develop web solutions for companies and have always hosted those solutions on Windows based servers. I have been approached several times now by potential clients wanting to host on Linux based servers. The web soutions we provide have content management systems to allow client update and access. They are all need asp.net and SQL Server to run. Is there any way that these solutions can be hosted on a Linux server, if so please can you tell me how?

08-03-2008, 07:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
shuuhen Manager Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 987 OS: Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS X 10.5.8, WinXP Pro, FreeBSD 6.0, Gentoo Linux My System	Re: Hosting asp.net and sql server on Linux I don't think Microsoft's SQL server is available for anything other than Windows. Instead you can use MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc. I like PostgreSQL myself. There should be ADO.NET data providers available for each, but I think the ODBC data provider would also work. There are ways to get ASP.NET stuff to run on Apache. .NET in general on non-Windows systems has to be done with either Mono (like Spanish for monkey), or DotGNU's Portable.NET. I don't know if Portable.NET has anything for running ASP.NET though. For ASP.NET, mod_mono would work with Apache. mod_mono - http://www.mono-project.com/ASP.NET Portable.NET - http://www.gnu.org/software/dotgnu/pnet.html PostgreSQL ADO.NET Provider - http://npgsql.projects.postgresql.org/index.html MySQL ADO.NET Provider - http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/5.1.html __________________ Has it been a few days since I replied to your thread? Don't panic! I'm a busy college student and may forget a post if I'm extra busy (or it might just take me a while to be able to do a decent reply). If you still need help and are awaiting my reply after a few days, PM me about it. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier. Last edited by shuuhen; 08-03-2008 at 07:33 AM.

08-03-2008, 10:59 AM	#3 (permalink)
honey monster Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Re: Hosting asp.net and sql server on Linux Thanks that is very clear. I see that some database solutions, including MySQL will run on Linux. What other web based solutions will run on Linux? I know that some web developers use Linux, what do they programme their sites in please? I cannot ignore Linux so I must adapt.

08-03-2008, 07:18 PM	#4 (permalink)
shuuhen Manager Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 987 OS: Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS X 10.5.8, WinXP Pro, FreeBSD 6.0, Gentoo Linux My System	Re: Hosting asp.net and sql server on Linux Anything pretty much. Microsoft's technologies like ASP.NET are probably less common on Linux and other Unix-likes. HTML/XHTML, PHP, Python, Ruby, Perl, Java and probably others that I don't know about. Ruby has the Ruby on Rails framework, Python has the Django framework and I'm sure other languages have frameworks (Java definitely). Apache's probably the most common server on non-Windows platforms, but there are others like Mongrel and Zeus (tons I can't think of either). I don't do tons of web development, so there's probably more I don't know about. I'd personally be using the Rails framework and/or a CMS (probably Radiant since I program in Ruby for non-web related projects already - fantastic language). I'm sure there are tons that use CMS's like Drupal (PHP-based), Radiant (Ruby-based) and Plone (Python-based). Drupal looked pretty impressive to me for a project I'm going to do. Only reason I haven't decided on it is I don't do PHP programming (and don't feel like learning it). __________________ Has it been a few days since I replied to your thread? Don't panic! I'm a busy college student and may forget a post if I'm extra busy (or it might just take me a while to be able to do a decent reply). If you still need help and are awaiting my reply after a few days, PM me about it. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier.

08-04-2008, 12:59 AM	#5 (permalink)
honey monster Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Re: Hosting asp.net and sql server on Linux Thanks for your very full responses, that is very helpful. I will now go away, do a bit more research and then work out the way forward. Keep up the good work.