A NOS contains additional features to increase functionality and manageability in a networked environment. A NOS has the following characteristics:
- Supports multiple users
- Runs multi-user applications
- Provides increased security compared to desktop operating systems
A NOS provides network resources to computers, including:
- Server applications, such as shared databases
- Centralized data storage
- Centralized repository of user accounts and resources on the network
- Network print queue
- Redundant storage systems, such as RAID and backups
The following are examples of network operating systems:
- Windows Server
- Red Hat Linux
- Mac OS X Server