An Operating System is the fundamental software which manages a computer. It controls how your hardware operates, the communication with peripheral devices like a monitor, a printer or a keyboard, the allocation of memory between applications, plus the prioritization of applications when several run at once. Any program which is installed on a PC functions by sending requests to the OS for various services using an application program interface (API). The communication with the OS can be done via a Graphical User Interface (GUI) or a command line. In the hosting world, the Operating System is what commands a web hosting server and any software installed on it, which includes not only website scripts, but also every other application such as a VOIP or a game server. If there're virtual machines created, they use a guest OS which runs on the server host OS.
Multiple OS in Dedicated Servers
The dedicated server solutions that we offer come with three different Operating Systems to select from. They are all Linux release - Ubuntu, CentOS and Debian, and not only do they have no license fees, but they are also considered to be among the most reliable and safe OSs. We supply three different ones since each one of them is supported by a separate community. The packages that you can add on your server are different and this could matter in case you need to install some piece of software with particular requirements for the hosting environment. In this light, the hosting Control Panel which you can select for the dedicated server also depends on the OS that you'll choose. You can choose any of the three Operating Systems during the order process, but if needed, we can always install the server once again with an alternative one upon your request. As an optional service that you could add to the plan at any time, we can update your OS regularly to keep it as risk-free as possible.