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Operating systems

servers.com allows you to select an operating system that will be automatically installed and configured on your server. This article will introduce you to the most popular systems and describe how they can be used in practice.

You can get the most up-to-date list of operating systems when ordering a cloud or dedicated server in the customer portal.

Concepts

An operating system (OS) is basic software installed on a server while provisioning to manage hardware resources and allow the running of other programs. When working with cloud servers, the operating system is called an image.

An OS family is a group of operating systems with common principles and core components. There are two main OS families:

  • Linux
  • Windows

An OS distribution (distro) is a particular operating system from an OS family.

Operating systems can be classified according to how updates are delivered:

  • Rolling release implies continuous flow of updates as soon as they are ready. This means, an operating system gets the latest software but is less stable.
  • Standard release collects changes in one major update that is rolled out in accordance with a schedule. This approach gives more stability but can delay getting the latest software.

Use cases

This section briefly reviews the most popular operating systems and their use cases.

AlmaLinux

As CentOS has been discontinued and its last version is no longer supported, many users are looking for something similar. AlmaLinux can be a good option. It's a free and community-driven operating system that provides enterprise stability and binary compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). AlmaLinux offers 10 years of security support with each major version.

Use cases:

  • Web servers
  • Enterprise applications
  • Hosting control panels
  • Database servers

CentOS Stream

CentOS Stream is a rolling-release distribution that sits between Fedora and RHEL: new update packages firstly come to Fedora, then to CentOS Stream, and eventually land in RHEL. Thus, CentOS Stream previews how RHEL may lookin the future.

Use cases:

  • Pre-production testing
  • Development targeting RHEL ecosystems
  • Continuous integration setups

Debian

Debian is a community-driven Linux distribution that also formed the basis of Ubuntu. Debian is known for its conservative approach to updates and is preferred in environments where stability, predictability and uptime matter more than having the latest software versions.

Use cases:

  • Production servers
  • Long-lived systems
  • Research clusters
  • Critical infrastructure

Rocky Linux

Rocky Linux was founded by CentOS’s original creator and shares a similar philosophy with AlmaLinux. It's also stable, production ready and offers long-term support. Some users prefer Rocky Linux because of its CentOS heritage and a primary focus on the community.

Use cases:

  • Enterprise servers
  • Hosting
  • RHEL-compatible applications

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a Debian-based operating system by Canonical that offers a more user-friendly interface and newer packages. Due to the large ecosystem and broad community support, Ubuntu has up-to-date libraries and a wide range of tools that makes it popular for cloud deployments and development environments.

Use cases:

  • Cloud servers
  • Container hosts (Docker/Kubernetes)
  • General-purpose Linux systems

Windows Server

Windows Server is Microsoft's operating system designed to run enterprise applications, directory services, file services, and a variety of workloads built on the Microsoft ecosystem. servers.com offers the Standard and Datacenter editions.

Use cases:

  • Integration with Microsoft stack: Ideal for when you need to extend your infrastructure into the cloud and need tight integration with Microsoft stack and management tools (Active Directory, Group Policies, Exchange Server, .NET applications etc).
  • Remote desktop infrastructure: Unlike Linux, Windows Server comes with a familiar graphical environment making providing remote app access or full desktop sessions to employees a breeze.
  • SQL Server: While SQL Server has been available on Linux since the 2017 version, some advanced SQL Server features are only available or better supported on Windows. Additionally, many user guides and instructions, third party management/monitoring/compliance tools assume you run SQL Server on a Windows Server platform.

No operating system

servers.com allows you to order a server without any operating system. In this case, you can reach a server by the out-of-band (OOB) connection and set up it in accordance with your needs.

Use cases:

  • Custom projects

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