What are My Operating System Options?

When it comes to our Web Shared, Business, Reseller, and White Label reseller hosting packages, it's important to note that we exclusively offer Linux web hosting environments built on a LAMP stack framework. This framework consists of a Linux server, Apache webserver (or equivalent), MySQL (or equivalent) for database management, and PHP for development purposes.

For our Web Shared, Reseller, and White Label reseller web hosting services, we utilize Apache servers running on CentOS 7 operating systems. Our Business web hosting, on the other hand, operates on CloudLinux with the LiteSpeed webserver. In all cases, we ensure that the hosting services incorporate the latest versions of MySQL (or MariaDB) and PHP.

Currently, Hostwinds does not provide shared hosting environments for Windows, .NET, Sharepoint, Nginx LEMP stack, or Node.js (with MongoDB). If you require any of these options, you would need to consider a VPS or Dedicated server solution.

We offer a wide range of operating systems for both virtual private and dedicated servers as part of our server solutions. You can find a comprehensive list of our current options for both Windows and Linux servers on the respective pages.

If you don't see your preferred Operating System listed or have specific requirements for a custom operating system (applicable to VPS and Dedicated plans only), please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. We are here to provide guidance and assistance based on your individual needs.

Available Operating Systems

Please note that each operating system has its own minimum requirements.  Please review the Minimum System Requirements for Operating Systems before purchase if you are uncertain if a chosen operating system will run smoothly on the server of your choice.

Windows Servers

• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter (Dedicated Servers only)
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter (Dedicated Servers only)
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2016 Datacenter (Dedicated Servers only)

Review our handy article if you need help Choosing Your Windows OS Version.

CentOS Servers (Linux)

• CentOS 6
• CentOS 7
• CentOS 7 optimized for cPanel/WHM (Please see cPanel Minimum Requirements for information about what resources your server will need to run cPanel)
• Stream 8
• Stream 9
• AlmaLinux 8
• AlmaLinux 9

cPanel

• Centos 7 + cPanel/WHM (w/ purchased licensing)
• AlmaLinux 8 + cPanel/WHM (w/ purchased licensing)
• Ubuntu 2 + cPanel/WHM (w/ purchased licensing)

Debian Servers (Linux)

• Debian 8
• Debian 9
• Debian 10
• Debian 11
• Debian 12

Fedora Servers (Linux)

• Fedora 24
• Fedora 25
• Fedora 26
• Fedora 27
• Fedora 28
• Fedora 29
• Fedora 30
• Fedora 31
• Fedora 32

Ubuntu Servers (Linux)

• Ubuntu 14.04
• Ubuntu 16.04
• Ubuntu 18.04
• Ubuntu 20.04
• Ubuntu 22.04

Related Web Hosting Tutorials:

• How to Update Your Linux Server
• Using Windows Remote Desktop with Ubuntu 20.04 TLS
• How to Natively Run Linux on Windows 10 and Higher