Each virtual or dedicated hosting machine has its own Operating System and functions separately from the hosting machines of other customers. Updating the OS is often ignored, but doing that may have quite a lot of benefits for your internet sites. The most important reason to employ the latest version is that patches are frequently released to fix security holes in the Os code, so if you do not install the updates, you risk people with harmful intentions to use these holes and to gain access to your content. OS updates are also released for enhanced performance of the system as a whole and for much better compatibility with the hardware on the market, which could directly influence the efficiency of your internet sites. If the efficiency and the security of your scripts is the reason to update them, you could also find out that their most recent versions require an updated Operating System so as to work effectively, thus keeping the OS up-to-date is always wise.