Have you ever wondered why cloud computing giants like AWS, Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, and Google Cloud almost uniformly choose Linux as their underlying system? Isn’t Windows Server appealing? Today, we will unveil the “five key advantages” of Linux’s dominance in the cloud computing market, and by the end, you’ll understand why it is indispensable for 90% of cloud platforms!
1. Open Source and Free, Reducing Costs by 60%
Windows Server: Each server incurs a licensing fee, with enterprise licenses being exorbitantly priced.
Linux: Completely free, enterprises can deploy it at will, saving substantial costs.
Case Study: A financial company migrated to Alibaba Cloud, switching from Windows Server to Alibaba Cloud Linux, saving several million dollars annually just on software licensing fees.
Why does cloud computing favor open source?
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Cloud vendors can deeply customize the kernel to optimize performance (like Alibaba Cloud’s Alibaba Cloud Linux).
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No worries about “license audits”, avoiding legal risks.
2. Exceptional Stability, 24/7 Uptime
What is the biggest fear in cloud computing? Server crashes! And Linux’s stability is renowned as the “workhorse of servers”.
Comparison Experiment:
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Windows Server: Requires several reboots each year (due to patch updates and blue screen risks).
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Linux: Some servers can run for years without rebooting (like some of Google’s servers).
Case Studies:
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Tencent Cloud’s TDSQL database uses a Linux-optimized kernel, achieving 99.999% availability with annual downtime ≤ 26 seconds.
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Netflix’s streaming service runs on AWS Linux, supporting 200 million users watching simultaneously.
3. Extreme Performance Optimization, Maximizing Hardware Potential
The Linux kernel can be deeply tuned for different scenarios, while Windows’s closed nature limits optimization space.
1) Higher Virtualization Density
Linux (KVM): A single physical machine can run over 120 containers.
Windows (Hyper-V): Supports only 80 containers, with greater resource overhead.
2) Superior Network Performance
BBR Algorithm (exclusive to Linux): YouTube’s tests showed a 14x speed increase.
DPDK/OVS: Achieves 200Gbps line-speed forwarding in Linux user space, far beyond Windows’s capabilities.
Case Studies:
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ByteDance’s global K8s cluster, optimized on Ubuntu, supports millions of requests per second for TikTok.
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A gaming company used Linux + BBR, reducing cross-border latency from 300ms to 180ms.
4. Unmatched Ecosystem, Cloud-Native’s “Favorite Child”
The core technologies of cloud computing—containers, K8s, Serverless—are all natively supported by Linux, while Windows can only “patch” its way through.
1) Containerization Support
Docker: Originally designed for Linux, Windows containers are still considered “second-class citizens”.
Kubernetes: 90% of K8s clusters run on Linux, with Windows nodes making up a negligible proportion (almost none).
Case Study:
Alibaba Cloud ACK (Kubernetes service) defaults to using Alibaba Cloud Linux, with container startup speeds three times faster than Windows.
2) DevOps Toolchain
Ansible, Terraform, Prometheus… almost all mainstream DevOps tools prioritize support for Linux.
5. Security: A “Nightmare” for Hackers
Linux’s permission management, SELinux, and kernel-level security mechanisms make it the preferred choice for cloud security.
Comparison:
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Windows: A primary target for viruses and ransomware.
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Linux: Rarely gets compromised, and even if vulnerabilities arise, they can be quickly patched (the open-source community responds rapidly).
Case Studies:
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A certain government cloud platform uses Galaxy Kirin Linux (a domestic system), achieving a 90% reduction in hacker attack success rates through Level 2 certification.
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AWS Shield (DDoS protection) relies on the traffic cleaning capabilities of the Linux kernel, with a single instance capable of withstanding 1.5Tbps attacks.
The Future: Will Linux Continue to Dominate Cloud Computing?
Short-term (within 5 years):
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Linux will remain the dominant force in cloud computing, especially with the rise of AI and edge computing, which require lightweight and efficient Linux.
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Domestic Linux distributions (like Galaxy Kirin and Alibaba Cloud Linux) will gradually replace CentOS.
Long-term Challenges:
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Windows Server still holds advantages in the .NET ecosystem (such as certain enterprise applications).
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The Rust language + microkernel OS (like Google’s Fuchsia) may introduce new variables.
Conclusion: Why Does Linux Win?
✅ Low Cost: Open source and free, saving enterprises huge licensing fees.
✅ Strong Performance: The kernel can be deeply optimized, maximizing hardware performance.
✅ Excellent Ecosystem: Full support for containers, K8s, and DevOps toolchains.
✅ Greater Security: Strict permissions and fast vulnerability fixes.
✅ Higher Stability: 24/7 operation with minimal crashes.