A virtual or a dedicated server is a standalone machine, that has its own Os and keeping the latter up-to-date is an important, although underestimated task. Not simply can an update boost the overall performance of your sites, but it will also save you lots of issues down the road. An update can be released for several reasons, the most prevalent being to fix recently discovered security holes, which may permit third-party people to access and change the content you have on the hosting machine. You might also see an improved functionality of your web applications since updates can also be released for better compatibility between the Os and the configuration it functions on so that you can get the most out of the hardware. Furthermore, if you keep your apps up-to-date, they might also need a later OS version which will have the required software dependencies and will enable them to work adequately.