What is a server?
In short, a server is software that runs on a computer used to serve data to clients (other computers). Servers come in a lot of different models and use different operating systems just like PC’s that you would see at Best Buy. Most servers look different than your average PC, they are often not very tall about 19″ wide and fairly deep. This is because servers are typically used in equipment racks so the small form factor allows data centers to put a lot of servers in smaller spaces. The graphic above is an illustration of three servers and this is commonly how they are stacked in an equipment rack. Servers are typically very focused in the tasks that they accomplish. For instance, this website is running on a web server. This type of server is built for running websites. There are other types of servers other than web servers, in fact, there are a lot more. Some of the other types of servers include application servers, database servers, file servers, media servers, and mail servers to name a few. It takes a lot of “behind the scenes” action to make the technologically advanced world that we live in work. Servers are part of the core of many services and technologies.
Server Operating Systems
Some of the most common server operating systems are :
Common Server Applications
Some Common Server Applications are:
I hope that this gives you enough to handle those “techies” at the coffee shop. If you have questions please leave them in the comments.