Which Linux OS can I use on my Unmetered Dedicated Server?
You can virtually use any Linux distribution or Microsoft Windows OS you need on our Unmetered Dedicated Servers.
There are "officially supported operating systems" on the Unmetered Servers hosted in our Edge data center locations. They are CentOS 7.9, Ubuntu 22.4, Ubuntu 20.4, Ubuntu 18.4, and RockyLinux 8.6. Our clients can use virtualization like Kernel-based Virtual Machine (Proxmox VE), VMware ESXi, VirtualBox, OpenVZ, Linux Containers, Kubernetes, and Docker.
These and other Linux OS distributions and virtualization technologies can be used on our 1gbps Unmetered Bandwidth Server configurations and all dedicated hosting services with up to 30Gbps bandwidth, delivered from the following Edge data centers: Albany, NY; Albuquerque, NM; Ashburn, VA; Austin, TX; Billings, MT; Boise, ID; Cambridge / Boston, MA; Casper, WY; Cedar Rapids, IA; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; El Paso, TX; Fresno, CA; Honolulu, HI; Herndon, VA; Houston, TX; Indianapolis, IN; Jackson, MS; Jacksonville, FL; Las Vegas, NV; Little Rock, AR; Madison, WI; Minneapolis, MN; Munich, Germany; Nashville, KY; New Orleans, LA; New York City, NY; Omaha, NE; Tustin, Orange County, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; Raleigh, NC; Sacramento, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; Spokane, WA; Saint Louis, MO; Tampa, FL; Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In all other data centers where HostColor delivers Unmetered Server hosting services, there is a wide choice of Linux, Windows OS, and virtualization technologies.
How does HC assign IP addresses on the Unmetered Servers?
Each Unmetered Dedicated Server hosted in an Edge data center is assigned its own IPv4 subnet that varies from /29 (8 IPs addresses) to /24 (256 IPs). The first three IP addresses are used for the networking service of your server as follows: 1st IP address is for the router default gateway; 2nd IP address is reserved for router1; 3rd IP is reserved for router2. The 4th IP address is the main IP of your Edge Dedicated Server.
All other Unmetered Servers are delivered with 1 usable IP address. IPv4 subnets from /29 (5 IP addresses) to /24 (256 IP addresses) can be assigned to your Unmetered Dedicated Server for usage compliant with ARIN guidelines, based on availability. Additional IP addresses can be ordered from Accounts.HostColor.com.
Is my Unmetered Server Unmanaged or Managed?
While most dedicated hosting providers offer 'Unmanaged' or 'Managed' hosting services, HostColor does 'Semi-Managed' and 'Managed' Dedicated Servers.
'Unmanaged' means that the client is solely responsible for the management of the bare-metal dedicated server they have. The provider's responsibility is to make sure that the server network connection works properly and in case of a hardware failure, to fix the failed components, or to replace the whole physical server.
'Managed' means that the provider is responsible for managing the network, the physical server, the installed operating system, and the software environment. The provider does operating system updates, software updates, and other management and configuration tasks on the physical server. In other words 'Unmanaged Dedicated Servers' does not feature server-side support and therefore the clients pay for the base infrastructure service. The 'Managed Dedicated Servers' feature full server-side infrastructure, OS, and software environment support and therefore are more expensive, as the provider's experts commit time and work hours to deliver technical and system administration.
HostColor fills the gap by offering 'Semi-Managed' Dedicated Servers in Chicago. 'Semi-Managed' means that our administrators install your preferred OS on the physical server or your preferred virtualization platform to transform the physical server into a Cloud infrastructure. We create a custom technology environment per your requirements and keep on record a description with the 'base desired state' of your Chicago server. As a part of the 'Semi-Managed' support contract, HostColor reinstalls the server OS per the request and helps the client fix issues and troubleshoot in case of any operating system, networking, or software configuration issues. All 'Semi-Managed' Chicago dedicated servers feature up to 30 minutes per month of technical and system administration. Any time spent by HC experts on managing the server OS, software environments, or troubleshooting is charged per standard HostColor's managed service provider (MSP) rates.