A server Operating System

A server Operating System is designed to run on “server grade” computers. Typically, a

server is designed to run continuously for years. It should be able to handle large
workloads. So it is set up with ample high power CPUs, lots of high speed RAM with
error correction, redundant power supplies, I/O and network, etc.

So,a good server OS needs to be stable (fewer bugs), performant, able to handle external
storage, networks, etc., ability to handle (drivers for) high end devices (Infiniband, Fibre
Channel, etc). Because of infrequent and small downtime windows, ability to patch a live
running OS is a great feature.

Linux, Solaris, AIX, etc are some popular ones.

A server operating system is an operating system specifically designed to run on servers,

which are specialized computers that operate within client/server architecture to serve
the requests of client computers on the network.

The server operating system, or server OS, is the software layer on top of which other
software programs, or applications, can run on the server hardware. Server operating
systems help enable and facilitate typical server roles such as Web server, mail server,
file server, database server, application server and print server.

Some of the key features of a server operating system include:

• Ability to access the server both in GUI and command-level interface

• Execute all or most processes from OS commands

• Advanced-level hardware, software and network configuration services

• Install/deploy business applications and/or web applications

• Provides central interface to manage users, implement security and other

administrative processes

• Manages and monitors client computers and/or operating systems

Some common examples of server operating systems include Red Hat Enterprise Linux,
Windows Server, Mac OS X Server.