An Operating System is the software that interacts with the hardware of a computer and functions as the intermediary between applications and the hardware, including peripheral devices such as a printer, a computer mouse or a keyboard. When you run an app, it sends requests to the OS using an API (Application Program Interface) and the contact is done through a command line or a Graphical User Interface (GUI). A lot like a personal computer, web hosting servers also feature an Operating System which functions as a host for all the software installed on them, which includes script apps or server-side software such as a flash server, a VOIP server, etc. A virtual machine can be created on a physical one, so you'll be able to install a guest OS on it and have a different system environment in contrast with the physical server host Operating System.
Multiple OS in VPS Servers
If you pick one of our VPS server solutions, you will have 3 different Operating Systems to select from - CentOS, Debian and Ubuntu. They're all Linux distributions and we offer them instead of offering just a single OS, since the applications that you might want to run on the server could have specific requirements about the software environment. Each one of these three has some advantages in terms of the available plans that you could eventually install, but what's common between them is the fact that they are really stable and reliable and have large communities which support them. The web hosting Control Panel options 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 the option to keep the Operating System on your server up-to-date weekly.
Multiple OS in Dedicated Servers
In case you decide to buy one of our dedicated servers, you shall find three Operating Systems on the order page because we want to give you a broader choice for the system environment on your server as different apps could have specific requirements. CentOS, Ubuntu and Debian include different modules developed by their huge support communities, so you can select each of these OSs and enjoy a stable and safe hosting service. Depending on your decision, you will also have different Control Panels to choose from. Needless to say, we can always replace the Operating System if the one you have selected initially doesn't meet the requirements of the software which you would like to run. We can also update your OS routinely to keep it as secure as possible with our Managed Services upgrade package.