A virtual or a dedicated hosting machine is a standalone machine, that has its own Operating System and maintaining the latter up-to-date is a crucial, though underrated task. Not simply can an update boost the functionality of your internet sites, but it can also save you lots of problems down the road. An update may be released for a number of reasons, the most prevalent being to fix recently found security holes, which may permit third-party people to access and modify the content which you have on the server. You may also see an improved performance of your web programs since updates might also be released for better compatibility between the Operating System and the configuration it operates on so that you can get the most out of the hardware. In addition, if you keep your apps up-to-date, they might also need a later OS version that will have the necessary software dependencies and will enable them to operate effectively.