Each desktop or notebook or web server is run by an Operating System - the low-level software which interacts with the computer hardware, including peripheral devices such as a mouse or a printer, as well as any applications that are present on the system. Any program input through a command line or a Graphical User Interface (GUI) is processed by sending an Application Program Interface (API) request to the Operating System. On a server, each app runs within the parameters established by the OS as well - priority, physical memory, processing time, etcetera. This goes for both standard Internet site scripts and server-side software like a media server. In case a virtual server is created on a physical one, there can be two independent Operating Systems, referred to as guest OS and host OS, so you will be able to set up a different software environment on the same machine.
Multiple OS in VPS Servers
We provide as many as three different Linux releases for the Operating System of our VPS servers - Debian, CentOS and Ubuntu. These are among the most stable and reliable OSs out there and we offer all three rather than just 1 as we realize that you may want to install some software with specific requirements for the Operating System it will run on. The latter is due to the fact that each of the three Operating Systems has a huge support community behind it and there're various software programs you could install on the server. Your OS choice will also determine what hosting Control Panel can be installed on the VPS if you would like to use one and that's why we offer several Control Panels too. In case you decide that you need some other OS, our tech support can quickly wipe the current one and install the one that you'd like. In addition, we offer an optional service to keep the OS on your VPS updated weekly.
Multiple OS in Dedicated Servers
We offer three Operating Systems with our dedicated server plans - CentOS, Ubuntu and Debian. They're all different Linux distributions and we offer them not only because they are free so they won't increase the cost of your new web hosting server, but also because they are exceptionally stable and secure. Each one of them is backed up by a vast community of developers, so you'll be able to choose from countless software packages that you could install on your server if the application that you want to work with has certain requirements. The Operating System will also determine what internet hosting Control Panel you can use because the Control Panels that we offer run on specific OSs only and because we want to give you as much flexibility as possible, we offer several OSs and multiple Control Panels. In case you choose a server with a certain OS, we will change it upon request in case it turns out that you will need alternative one. We will also keep the OS updated on a weekly basis as part of our useful Managed Services upgrade.