An Operating System is the low-level software which controls a computer. It controls how the hardware functions, the communication with peripherals for instance a monitor, a printer or a keyboard, the allocation of memory between various applications, and the prioritization of applications in case several run at once. Each program that's installed on a PC functions by sending requests to the OS for different services via an application program interface (API). The communication with the OS can be done using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) or a command line. In the hosting world, the Operating System is what controls a server along with all of the software installed on it, which includes not only website scripts, but also every other application for example a VOIP or a game server. When there are virtual machines created, they work with a guest OS that is run on the server host OS.
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're absolutely free so they won't increase the price of your new server, but also because they are really stable and secure. Each of them is supported by a huge community of web developers, so you'll be able to choose from countless software packages that you could install on your server if the application that you would like to employ has specific requirements. The Operating System will also determine what internet hosting Control Panel you can use because 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 certain Operating System, we will change it upon request in case it turns out that you'll need another one. We could also keep the OS updated weekly as a part of our optional Managed Services upgrade.