I'd appreciate a response from someone "in the know" at SM.

Hypothetically, if I was to come by the datacenter some time and would like to install an operating system of my choice (say Gentoo =), would I run into any trouble from SM. In other words do any SM policies prevent me from doing this?

Also, hardware-wise, can I install my choice of hardware into my dedicated server or am I limited in some way from doing this?

Thank You,
alphaneutrino

You are free to install anything legal on the machine but installing an OS which SM does not support would waive their support for your machine apart from hardware and network issues.

Besides, having a dedicated server means that it is their hardware in their secured datacenter, you are not even any access into the datacenter.

Hardware-wise, the dedicated server plans are isolated to what they provide. You do not have any choice apart from what is on their order form.

If you want your own OS and hardware configuration, you could consider their Colocation plan. You could purchase and configure your server as you like it and send it to ThePlanet and have them host it on their rack. You may visit your server and do anything you like with it.

Check this thread for the official answer

http://forums.servermatrix.com/viewtopic.p...ighlight=gentoo

I was under the impression that if I had a dedicated server I might be able to visit it personally. Do you know for a fact that this is not that case?

-- alphaneutrino

Yes, I know for a fact. With a dedicated server, you are just renting a hardware, the hardware is not yours but theirs. They provide the 'remote hands and eyes' so that they could do the work for you on your behalf. Most of what you can do can be done remotely.

No dedicated server provider would allow customers access to their datacenter to work on their rented machine because there are safety protocols involved. Security is vital especially now after 9/11.

From what you requested, it seems that what you need would be to colocate your own server. That is the only way you could satisfy your need for your own hardware and software configuration and access to your machine.