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Updated on 2023-09-28 GMT+08:00

Should I Choose Windows OS or Linux OS for My ECS?

Difference Between Windows OS and Linux OS

The following table shows the difference between Windows OS and Linux OS. Select an OS based on your service requirements.

Table 1 Differences

OS

Developer Language

Database

Windows

ASP.NET, MFC and C#

ACCESS and SQL Server

Linux

Shell

MySQL and SQLite

Both Window and Linux support developer languages HTML, C, Java, and PHP.

Windows OS

HUAWEI CLOUD supports five versions of Windows OS, each of which is available in 32-bit and 64-bit.

Microsoft has ended support for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and therefore it is not recommended.

Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019 have some advanced features, such as network performance and system compatibility optimization. For the best performance, Windows Server 2019 is recommended.

Difference Between 32-bit and 64-bit OSs

A 32-bit OS allows you to use up to 4 GB of RAM, while a 64-bit OS supports more.

A 32-bit CPU can process 32-bit data at a time, while a 64-bit CPU can process 64-bit data at a time. Theoretically, the processing speed of a 64-bit CPU is faster than that of a 32-bit CPU, but the actual speed is also affected by the RAM size.

Linux OS

There are a variety of Linux versions. You can select an appropriate version based on your service requirements.

OS Change

If you want to change the OS of your ECS, perform the following operations:
  1. Select the target ECS and click Stop in the upper left corner of the ECS list.
  2. Locate the row that contains the target ECS and choose More > Manage Image/Disk/Backup > Change OS in the Operation column.

    The Change OS dialog box is displayed.

  3. Select the target image type and image.
    • Only changes between free OSs are supported.
    • If an ECS is created from a private image on Marketplace and is billed on a yearly/monthly basis, the OS cannot be changed.
    • OS change between Windows and Linux is supported only in the Chinese mainland regions.
  4. Set the login mode. You can select Password or Key pair.
  5. Set the other parameters and click OK.

    After the application is submitted, the ECS status changes to Changing OS. The OS changing has been successfully completed when the ECS status changes to Running.

For details, see Changing the OS.

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