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All server operating systems must provide some measure of security to protect the network from unauthorized access. Hacking seems to be the national pastime these days. With most computer networks connected to the Internet, anyone anywhere in the world can — and probably will — try to break into your network.

The most basic type of security is handled through user accounts, which grant individual users the right to access the network resources and govern which resources the user can access. User accounts are secured by passwords; therefore, good password policy is a cornerstone of any security system. Most server operating systems give you some standard tools for maintaining network security:

 Establish password policies. For example, you can mandate that passwords have a minimum length and include a mix of letters and numerals.

 Set passwords to expire after a certain number of days. Network users must change their passwords frequently.

 Encrypt network data. A data-encryption capability scrambles data before it’s sent over the network or saved on disk, making unauthorized use a lot more difficult. Good encryption is the key to setting up a virtual private network (VPN), which enables network users to securely access a network from a remote location by using an Internet connection.

 Manage digital certificates. Digital certificates are used to ensure that users are who they say they are and files are what they claim to be.

The overwhelming majority of business networks rely on server versions of Windows, known as Windows Server. Microsoft periodically releases updated versions of Windows Server, so Windows Server is frequently improved, and older versions are occasionally rendered obsolete. Currently, the most commonly used versions are Windows Server 2012 Release 2, Windows Server 2016, and the latest-and-greatest version, known as Windows Server 2019.

But Windows Server is not the only server operating system at your disposal. Many servers — especially those whose primary responsibility is to host websites — use Linux instead of Windows Server. Apple also makes an excellent server operating system, known as OS X Server.