An Operating System is the low-level software which controls a PC. It controls the way your hardware behaves, the communication with peripherals such as a monitor, a printer or a keyboard, the allocation of memory between apps, as well as the prioritization of apps if several run at once. Every program which is installed on a computer system functions by sending requests to the OS for different services via an application program interface (API). The communication with the OS is possible through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) or a command line. In the web hosting world, the Operating System is what runs a server as well as all the software installed on it, which includes not only website scripts, but also every other application for instance a VOIP or a game server. If there're virtual machines created, they use a guest OS which is run on the server host OS.
Multiple OS in VPS
We provide as many as three different Linux distributions for the Operating System of our virtual private servers - Debian, CentOS and Ubuntu. These are some of the safest and the most reliable OSs available and we provide all three instead of only one since we realize that you may want to install some software which has specific requirements with regards to the Operating System it'll run on. The latter is because each of the three Operating Systems has a large support community behind it and there are different software applications you can install on the server. Your OS choice will also determine exactly what hosting Control Panel can be installed on the VPS in case you wish to use one and for that reason we offer multiple Control Panels too. Should you decide that you need to have a different OS, our technical support can quickly wipe the present one and set up the one that you need. In addition, we offer an optional service to have the OS on your VPS updated weekly.
Multiple OS in Dedicated Hosting
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're free and they will not increase the cost of your new server, but also because they are very stable and secure. Each one of them is supported by a vast community of web developers, so you'll be able to choose from thousands of software packages that you could install on your server in case the application that you want to use has specific requirements. The Operating System will also determine what internet hosting Control Panel you can use because the Control Panels that we offer are compatible with particular OSs only and since we would like to give you as much flexibility as possible, we offer a couple of OSs and multiple Control Panels. If you choose a server with a given Operating System, we can change it upon request in the event that it turns out that you'll need a different one. We could also keep the OS updated weekly as a part of the useful Managed Services upgrade.