SSH, which is an abbreviation for Secure Shell, is a network protocol employed to exchange protected info between a client and a web server, which makes it impossible for unauthorized parties to intercept any info. Many tech-savvy clients opt for SSH because of the enhanced level of security. The connection is created and the commands are sent using a command line. The accessible options depend on the type of Internet hosting service - on a shared server, in particular, files can be relocated or deleted, databases could be imported and exported, and archives may 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 plus much more. These things are not possible on a shared server, since full root access is required and all the other clients on that server will be affected. Though SSH is employed largely with UNIX-like OSs, there are SSH clients for other OSs too - Windows, Mac OS, and so on.