A virtual or a dedicated hosting server is a standalone machine, which has its own Operating System and always keeping the latter up-to-date is an essential, though underestimated task. Not simply can an update enhance the general performance of your sites, but it could also save you lots of problems later on. An update can be released for many different reasons, the most common being to fix recently found security holes, which may permit third-party people to access and modify the content which you have on the hosting server. You may also see an improved functionality of your web programs since updates can also be released for better compatibility between the Operating System and the configuration it works on as a way to get the most out of the hardware. Also, if you keep your applications up-to-date, they may need a later OS version which will have the needed software dependencies and will allow them to work effectively.