An Operating System is the low-level software that manages a PC. It controls the way the hardware behaves, the communication with peripherals including a monitor, a printer or a keyboard, the allocation of memory between applications, as well as the prioritization of applications in case multiple ones run simultaneously. Every program that's installed on a notebook or a desktop functions by sending requests to the OS for various services via an application program interface (API). The contact with the OS is possible through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) or a command line. In the hosting field, the OS is what controls a hosting server together with all of the software installed on it, which includes not only website scripts, but also every other application for instance a VOIP or a game server. In case there are virtual machines created, they use a guest OS which is run on the server host OS.
Multiple OS in VPS Servers
If you pick one of our VPS server packages, you'll have as many as 3 different Operating Systems to choose from - CentOS, Debian and Ubuntu. They're all Linux releases and we offer them rather than offering just a single OS, because the apps that you may want to run on the server could have specific requirements for the software environment. Each one of these three has certain pros in terms of the available packages that you may afterwards install, but what's common between them is that they're very stable and reliable and have huge communities that support them. The internet hosting Control Panel choices for the VPS accounts depend on your Operating System choice, so as to give you more flexibility. When you order the virtual server with one OS and you need a different one later, our tech support team can easily reinstall the VPS with the new one in a matter of minutes. We also offer you the option to maintain the Operating System on your server up-to-date weekly.
Multiple OS in Dedicated Servers
We offer three Operating Systems with our dedicated server plans - CentOS, Ubuntu and Debian. They are all different Linux distributions and we offer them not only because they're absolutely free and they will not increase the cost of your new web server, but also because they are very secure and stable. Each of them is backed up by a vast community of developers, so you will be able to choose from a large number software packages that you can install on your server if the app that you want to work with has specific requirements. The Operating System will also determine what web hosting Control Panel you can use since the Control Panels that we offer are compatible with specific OSs only and because we would like to give you as much adaptability as possible, we offer multiple OSs and multiple Control Panels. If you get a server with a certain Operating System, we can change it upon request if it turns out that you'll need alternative one. We can also keep the OS updated weekly as part of our optional Managed Services upgrade.