Every single PC or web server is run by an Operating System - the low-level software that communicates with the hardware equipment, including peripherals such as a mouse and a printer, together with any apps that are installed on the system. Any program input using 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 application runs within the parameters defined by the OS as well - priority, physical memory, processing time, etc. This goes for both standard Internet site scripts and server-side software like a media server. When a virtual server is created on a physical one, there can be two independent Operating Systems, called guest OS and host OS, so that you can set up a different software environment on the same machine.
Multiple OS in VPS Servers
In case you choose one of our VPS server plans, you will have as many as 3 different Operating Systems to select from - CentOS, Debian and Ubuntu. They're all Linux releases and we offer them instead of offering just a single OS, because the applications that you may wish to run on the server may have specific requirements for the software environment. Each one of the three has certain pros regarding the available plans that you could eventually install, but what's common between them is that they're really secure and dependable and have large communities which support them. The web hosting Control Panel choices for the VPS accounts depend on your Operating System choice, in order to provide you with more flexibility. In case you order the virtual server with one OS and you need another 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 maintain the Operating System on your server up-to-date on a weekly basis.
Multiple OS in Dedicated Servers
In case you decide to obtain one of our dedicated servers, you'll find three Operating Systems on the order page as we want to give you a wider choice for the system environment on the server as different apps can 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 take advantage of a stable and secure hosting service. Depending on your decision, you will also have different Control Panels to choose from. Of course, we can always change the Operating System in case the one you have selected initially doesn't meet the requirements of the software that you'd like to run. We can also upgrade the OS regularly in order to keep it as secure as possible with our Managed Services upgrade package.