SSH, which is an abbreviation for Secure Shell, is a network protocol which is used to transfer protected info between a client and a hosting server, which makes it impossible for unauthorized parties to intercept any data. Many tech-savvy clients choose SSH because of the enhanced security level. The connection is established and the commands are sent via a command line. The available options depend on the type of Internet hosting service - on a shared server, for instance, files may be transferred or deleted, databases can be imported and exported, and archives could be created or unpacked. On a virtual or a dedicated server, the options are significantly more - the web server and the database server can be started/stopped/rebooted, server-side software can be set up plus much 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. While SSH is used largely with UNIX-like Operating Systems, there are SSH clients for other OSs as well - Windows, Mac OS, etc.