An Operating System is the software that interacts with the hardware of a computer and functions as the intermediary between all the applications and the hardware, which includes peripheral devices such as a printer, a mouse or a keyboard. When you run an app, it sends requests to the OS using an API (Application Program Interface) and the communication is done through a command line or a Graphical User Interface (GUI). Identical to a personal computer, web hosting servers also feature an Operating System which serves as a host for the software installed on them, which includes script apps or server-side software such as a flash server, a VOIP server, and many others. A virtual machine can be set up on a physical one, so you could install a guest OS on it and have a different system environment compared to the physical server host OS.
Multiple OS in VPS Servers
If you choose one of our VPS server packages, you will have 3 different Operating Systems to choose from - CentOS, Debian and Ubuntu. They're all Linux distributions and we offer them instead of offering just a single OS, because the applications that you may want to run on the server may have specific requirements about the software environment. Each of these three has some pros regarding the available packages that you may later install, but what is common between them is the fact that they are really stable and reliable and have vast communities that support them. The hosting Control Panel alternatives for the VPS accounts depend on your OS choice, so as to provide you with more flexibility. If 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 just a few minutes. We also offer the option to maintain the Operating System on your server up-to-date on a weekly basis.
Multiple OS in Dedicated Servers
If you decide to get one of our dedicated servers, you shall find three Operating Systems on the registration page because we want to give you a larger choice with regard to the system environment on the server as different apps may have particular requirements. CentOS, Ubuntu and Debian feature different modules developed by their vast support communities, so you can select each of these OSs and benefit from a stable and secure Internet hosting service. Based on your selection, you will also have different Control Panels to choose from. Needless to say, we can always replace the Operating System in case the one you've selected at first doesn't meet the requirements of the software that you'd like to run. We can also upgrade your OS routinely to keep it as risk-free as possible through our Managed Services upgrade package.