Once you have chosen on obtaining your business dedicated server, you need to decide on the server operating system which can depend on the availability, cost and employee expertise.

Unlike the desktop world Microsoft have overwhelming market share. There is a multiplicity of open source operating systems including Linux and FreeBSD. These are often bundled at no extra charge to the customer. Commercial operating systems such as Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or 2008, can be installed on the server if the dedicated server hoster has a Microsoft SPLA agreement.

Red Hat Enterprise is a commercial version of Linux or RHEL offered to hosting providers on a monthly fee basis. However you can use the a RHEL derivative known as Centos which has free updates. With Red Hat there is a subscription which provides for OS updates through the Red Hat Network using an application called up2date which is rpm based

Other operating systems are available from the open source community at no cost. These include CentOS, Fedora Core, Debian, and many other Linux distributions or BSD Unixsystems such as FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD.

Typical support for any of the operating systems above depends on the type of supervision offered with a particular dedicated server package. Operating system support may include updates to the core system in order to that the latest patches and security fixes are installed.

It is quite common on non-Microsoft Servers to be provided with a control panel to manage the server, especially if the server is required for web hosting. Cpanel which includes Web Host Manager (WHM) allows for the upgrade of the core operationg system as well as the routine admin tasks.

Host Gator is one of the top hosts in the web hosting field, the over 1.3 million domains hosted by this company represent about 1% of the world’s internet traffic. The company was actually started by the current CEO in his university dorm room in 2002 and has since grown into a giant in the web hosting field with over 5000 servers. HostGator offers a wide variety of services and pricing options, which is great for two reasons: 1) You can tailor the exact plan that suits your needs 2) You have room to grow into a more robust plan as your website grows. To add to their flexibility, Host Gator distinguishes themselves as one of the only hosts that allow customers to pay monthly. (although it will cost you a bit more)

HostGator offers shared hosting, reseller hosting, and dedicated server hosting (Windows and Linux) – each one with numerous pricing options depending on your needs.

HostGator Shared Hosting Plans: offers their Shared Hosting customers a number of options depending on their needs and budget. The plans are separated into three categories: Hatchling, Baby, and Business. The most popular of the three being the “Baby” plan which is basically equivalent to the plans offered by other budget hosts. (ie: unlimited domain hosting, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space) The plans range from $4.95/mo* to $12.95/mo* as long as you take a term, on a monthly basis you will pay more and have to pay a small setup fee.

HostGator Reseller Hosting: offers five different products for reseller customers ranging from $24.95/mo* to $99.95/mo*.

HostGator Dedicated Server Hosting: offers four products for their dedicated server customers, ranging in price from $174.00/mo* to $374/mo*.

Customer reviews we found for HostGator indicated a very effective and efficient customer service and technical support team. That is particularly impressive given the fact that they host over 1.3 million domains. Customers reported that they rarely have to wait long for a phone representative and an extremely efficient technical support response to phone calls, chat, and email trouble tickets.

*Pricing may vary. Prices valid as of posting date (January 2009). Pricing may be based on a 24 or 36 month term.