SSH, which is an abbreviation for Secure Shell, is a network protocol which is used to transfer encoded data between a client and a server, which makes it impossible for unauthorized parties to intercept any information. Many tech-savvy users choose SSH due to the improved security level. The connection is created and the commands are sent through a command line. The accessible options depend on the type of web hosting service - on a shared server, for instance, files may be moved or deleted, databases may be imported and exported, and archives can be created or unpacked. On a virtual or a dedicated server, the options are much more - the web server and the database server may be started/stopped/rebooted, server-side software could be set up and more. These things are not possible on a shared server, for the reason that full root access is needed and all the other clients on that server shall be affected. Though SSH is used predominantly with UNIX-like Operating Systems, there are SSH clients for other OSs as well - Windows, Mac OS, and so on.