Every single personal computer or server is run by an Operating System - the low-level software which communicates with the computer hardware, including peripheral devices such as a mouse or a printer, and any applications that are installed 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 and every app runs within the parameters set by the OS as well - priority, physical memory, processing time, etc. This goes for both standard website scripts and server-side software like a media server. When a virtual server is created on a physical one, there can be two different Operating Systems, called guest OS and host OS, so that you will be able to set up a different software environment on the same machine.
Multiple OS in VPS Servers
In case you select one of our VPS server solutions, you'll have 3 different Operating Systems to pick from - CentOS, Debian and Ubuntu. They're all Linux distributions and we offer them rather than offering just one OS, as the applications that you might want to run on the server may have specific requirements for the software environment. Each of these three has certain pros with regard to the available packages that you may afterwards install, but what's common between them is the fact that they are very stable and reliable and have huge communities that support them. The web hosting Control Panel alternatives for the VPS accounts depend on your Operating System choice, in order to provide you with more flexibility. When you order the virtual server with one OS and you need a different one later, our technical support team can easily reinstall the VPS with the new one in a couple of minutes. We also offer the option to keep the Operating System on your server up-to-date on a weekly basis.
Multiple OS in Dedicated Servers
If you decide to purchase one of our dedicated servers, you'll find three Operating Systems on the registration page since we want to give you a wider choice with regard to the system environment on your machine as different apps could have particular requirements. CentOS, Ubuntu and Debian include different modules developed by their large support communities, so you can select any of these OSs and take advantage of a stable and safe hosting service. Depending on your selection, you'll also have different Control Panels to choose from. Needless to say, we can always replace the Operating System if the one you've selected initially doesn't meet the requirements of the software that you want to run. We can also update your OS routinely to keep it as risk-free as possible using our Managed Services upgrade package.