Every single personal computer or web server is run by an Operating System - the low-level software which interacts with the hardware, including peripheral devices such as a mouse and a printer, as well as any applications that are present on your 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 OS. On a server, every single app runs within the parameters set by the OS as well - priority, physical memory, processing time, etc. This goes for both standard Internet site scripts and server-side software such as a media server. In case a virtual server is set up on a physical one, there can be two independent Operating Systems, called guest OS and host OS, so you can set up a different software environment on the same machine.
Multiple OS in VPS Servers
We offer as many as 3 different Linux releases for the Operating System of our VPS servers - Debian, CentOS and Ubuntu. These are among the safest and the most reliable OSs available and we provide all 3 rather than only 1 because we realize that you might want to set up some software which has specific requirements regarding the Operating System it will run on. The latter is because each of the three Operating Systems has a large support community behind it and there are different software packages you can install on the server. Your OS selection will also determine what hosting Control Panel can be set up on the VPS if you want to use one and for that reason we offer several Control Panels too. If you ever decide that you need to have a different OS, our technical support can quickly wipe the current one and set up the one that you would like. We also offer an optional service to maintain the OS on your VPS updated weekly.
Multiple OS in Dedicated Servers
We offer three Operating Systems with our dedicated server plans - CentOS, Ubuntu and Debian. They are all different Linux distributions and we offer them not only because they are freely available so they won't increase the price of your new hosting server, but also because they are exceptionally secure and stable. Each one of them is supported by a vast community of developers, so you'll be able to choose from countless software packages that you may install on your server in case the app that you would like to use has specific requirements. The Operating System will also determine what internet hosting Control Panel you can use as the Control Panels that we offer are compatible with particular OSs only and because we would like to give you as much versatility as possible, we offer a couple of OSs and multiple Control Panels. If you get a server with a given Operating System, we can change it upon request in case it turns out that you will need a different one. We will also keep the OS updated on a weekly basis as part of the useful Managed Services upgrade.