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In information technology, a server is an application or device that performs services for connected clients as part of a client-server architecture. International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology Sun Microsystems Inc ( is a multinational vendor of Computers computer components Computer software, and Information technology services Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics The multinational technology company Dell Inc develops manufactures sells and supports Personal computers and other computer-related products Super Micro Computer Inc or Supermicro ( is a Computer hardware company founded in 1993 by Charles Liang Information technology ( IT) as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA is "the study design development implementation support The client-server Software architecture model distinguishes client systems from server systems which communicate over a Computer network A server application, as defined by RFC 2616 (HTTP/1. Hypertext Transfer Protocol ( HTTP) is a Communications protocol for the transfer of information on the Internet. 1), is "an application program that accepts connections in order to service requests by sending back responses. " Server computers are devices designed to run such an application or applications, often for extended periods of time with minimal human direction and maintenance. Examples of d-class servers include web servers, e-mail servers, and file servers. The term web server can mean one of two things A Computer program that is responsible for accepting HTTP requests from web clients which are A mail transfer agent (MTA (also called a mail transport agent, message transfer agent, or smtpd (short for SMTP daemon) is a In Computing, a file server is a computer attached to a network that has the primary purpose of providing a location for the shared storage of Computer files (such
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Term usage in information technology
Server is an adjective in the term server operating system. A server operating system is intended, enabled, or better able to run server applications. The differences between the server version and the "workstation" version of an operating system vary. Sometimes (as in the case of Windows 2000 and WINDOWS 2000 Server), the primary difference is the removal of arbitrary license-dependent limits on the number of network file share connections accepted. Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptive, interruptible graphical and business-oriented Operating system designed to work with Some server editions include additional server applications bundled with the operating system. Some server applications (e. g. Microsoft IIS) impose arbitrary limits on the number of HTTP connections they will accept, depending on whether they are running under a server operating system or not. Internet Information Services ( IIS)&mdashformerly called Internet Information Server &mdashis a Microsoft -produced set of Internet-based services
A server computer (often called server for short) is a computer system that has been designated for running a specific server application or applications. A computer that is designated for only one server application is often named for that application. For example, when Apache HTTP Server (software) is a company's web server, the computer running it is also called the web server. Server applications can be divided among server computers over an extreme range, depending upon the workload. Under light loading, every server application can run concurrently on a single computer. Under heavy loading, multiple server computers may be required for each application. Under medium loading, it is common to use one server computer per server application, in order to limit the amount of damage caused by failure of any single server computer or security breach of any single server application. Any server computer can also be used as a workstation, but it is avoided in practice, again to contain risk.
Server or server computer is also a designation for computer models intended for use running server applications, often under heavy workloads, unattended, for extended time. While any "workstation" computer can run server operating systems and server applications, a server computer usually has special features intended to make it more suitable. Distinctions often include faster processor and memory, more RAM, larger hard drives, higher reliability, redundant power supplies, redundant hard drives (RAID), compact size and shape, modular design (e. g. , blade servers often used in server farms), rack or cabinet mountability, serial console redirection, etc. Blade servers are self-contained/ all inclusive computer servers, designed for high density A server farm or server cluster is a collection of Computer servers usually maintained by an enterprise to accomplish server needs far beyond the capability The system console, root console or simply console is the text entry and display device for system administration messages particularly those from the BIOS
The name server or server appliance also applies to network-connected computer appliances or "appliance hardware" that provides specific services onto the network. A Computer Appliance is generally a separate and discrete hardware component specifically designed to provide a specific compute resource and which often resides on a dedicated hardware Though the appliance is a server computer, loaded with a server operating system and a server application, the user need not configure any of it. It is a black box that does a specific job. Black box is a technical term for a device or system or object when it is viewed primarily in terms of its input and output characteristics The simplest servers are most often sold as appliances, for example switches, routers, gateways, print servers, net modems.
A server is defined as a multiuser computer that provides a service (e. g. database access, file transfer, remote access) or resources (e. g. file space) over a network connection.
Server hardware
Although servers can be built from commodity computer components—particularly for low-load and/or non-critical applications—dedicated, high-load, mission-critical servers use specialized hardware that is optimized for the needs of servers.
For example, servers may incorporate “industrial-strength” mechanical components such as disk drives and computer fans that provide very high reliability and performance at a correspondingly high price. Disk storage is a general category of a Computer storage mechanisms in which data is recorded on planar round and rotating surfaces ( disks, discs, or A computer fan can be any fan inside a Computer case used for cooling purposes and may refer to fans that draw cooler air into the case from the outside expel warm Aesthetic considerations are ignored, since most servers operate in unattended computer rooms and are only visited for maintenance or repair purposes. Although servers usually require large amounts of disk space, smaller disk drives may still be used in a trade-off of capacity vs. reliability.
CPU speeds are far less critical for many servers than they are for many desktops. Not only are typical server tasks likely to be delayed more by I/O requests than processor requirements, but the lack of any graphical user interface (GUI) in many servers frees up very large amounts of processing power for other tasks, making the overall processor power requirement lower. If a great deal of processing power is required in a server, there is a tendency to add more CPUs rather than increase the speed of a single CPU, again for reasons of reliability and redundancy.
The lack of a GUI in a server (or the rare need to use it) makes it unnecessary to install expensive video adapters. Similarly, elaborate audio interfaces, joystick connections, USB peripherals, and the like are usually unnecessary.
Because servers must operate continuously and reliably, noisy but efficient and trustworthy fans may be used for ventilation instead of inexpensive and quiet fans; and in some cases, centralized air-conditioning may be used to keep servers cool, instead of or in addition to fans. The term air conditioning refers to the cooling and dehumidification of indoor air for Thermal comfort. Special uninterruptible power supplies may be used to ensure that the servers continue to run in the event of a power failure. An uninterruptible power supply ( UPS) also known as a continuous power supply ( CPS) or a battery backup is a device which maintains a continuous
Typical servers include heavy-duty network connections in order to allow them to handle the large amounts of traffic that they typically receive and generate as they receive and reply to client requests.
The major difference between servers and desktop computers is not in the hardware but in the software. Servers often run operating systems that are designed specifically for use in servers. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination They also run special applications that are designed specifically to carry out server tasks.
Servers have a unique property where the more powerful and complex the system, the longer it takes for the hardware to turn on and begin loading the operating system. Servers often do extensive pre-boot memory testing and verification, along with starting up remote management services. The hard drive controllers then start up banks of drives in sequence so as not to overload the power supply with the sudden surge of everything turning on at once, then followed by RAID system prechecks for correct operation of redundancy. RAID — which stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks,or alternatively Redundant Array of Independent Disks (a less specific name and thus now the It is not uncommon for all these preboot hardware checks to take several minutes, but then for the machine to run continuously for over a year of uptime. Uptime is a measure of the time a Computer system has been "up" and running
Server operating system
Some popular operating systems for servers—such as FreeBSD, Solaris, and Linux—are derived from or similar to the UNIX operating system. FreeBSD is a Unix-like free Operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD branch through Solaris is a Unix -based Operating system introduced by Sun Microsystems in 1992 as the successor to SunOS. Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks Unix (officially trademarked as UNIX, sometimes also written as Unix with Small caps) is a computer UNIX was originally a minicomputer operating system, and as servers gradually replaced traditional minicomputers, UNIX was a logical and efficient choice of operating system for the servers. A minicomputer (colloquially mini) is a class of multi-user Computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum in between the largest Multi-user UNIX-based systems, many of which are free, are the most popular.
Server-oriented operating systems tend to have certain features in common that make them more suitable for the server environment, such as the absence of a GUI (or an optional GUI); the ability to be reconfigured (in both hardware and software) to at least some extent without stopping the system; advanced backup facilities to permit online backups of critical data at regular and frequent intervals; facilities to enable the movement of data between different volumes or devices in such a way that is transparent to the end user; flexible and advanced networking capabilities; features (such as daemons in UNIX or services in Windows) that make unattended execution of programs more reliable; tight system security, with advanced user, resource, data, and memory protection, and so on. Any change in a Computing system such as new feature or new component is transparent if the system after change adheres to previous external interface as much as In Unix and other computer multitasking Operating systems a daemon (ˈdiːmən or /ˈdeɪmən/ is a Computer program that runs in the background Server-oriented operating systems in many cases can interact with hardware sensors to detect conditions such as overheating, processor and disk failure, and either alert an operator, take remedial action, or both, depending on the configuration.
Because the requirements of servers are, in some cases, almost diametrically opposed to those of desktop computers, it is extremely difficult to design an operating system that handles both environments well; thus, operating systems that are well suited to the desktop may not be ideal for servers and vice versa. Regardless of OS vendor, system configurations that are ideal for servers may be unsatisfactory for desktop use, and configurations that perform well on the desktop may leave much to be desired on servers. As a result many operating systems have both a server and a desktop version released. Nevertheless, the desktop versions of Windows and the Mac OS X (also Unix-based) operating systems are used on a minority of servers, as are some proprietary mainframe operating systems, such as z/OS. z/OS is a 64-bit Operating system for Mainframe computers, created by IBM. The dominant operating systems among servers continues to be UNIX versions and clones.
The rise of the microprocessor-based server was facilitated by the development of several versions of Unix to run on the Intel x86 microprocessor architecture. See also X86 assembly language The generic term x86 refers to the most commercially successful Instruction set architecture in the history of Personal In Computer engineering, computer architecture is the conceptual design and fundamental operational structure of a Computer system The Microsoft Windows family of operating systems also runs on Intel hardware, and versions beginning with Windows NT have incorporated features making them suitable for use on servers. Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Windows NT is a family of Operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993
Whilst the role of server and desktop operating systems remains distinct, improvements in both hardware performance and reliability and operating system reliability have blurred the distinction between these two classes of system, which at one point remained largely separate in terms of code base, hardware and vendor providers. Today, many desktop and server operating systems share the same code base, and differ chiefly in terms of configuration. Furthermore, the rationalisation of many corporate applications towards web-based and middleware platforms has lessened the demand for specialist application servers. Middleware is computer Software that connects Software components or applications
Servers on the Internet
Almost the entire structure of the Internet is based upon a client-server model. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks The client-server Software architecture model distinguishes client systems from server systems which communicate over a Computer network High level Root name servers, ISP (Internet Service Providers) DNS servers (Domain Name System) and routers direct the traffic on the internet. Many millions of servers are connected to the Internet and run continuously throughout the world.
Among the many services provided by Internet servers are: the Web; the Domain Name System; electronic mail; file transfer; instant messaging; streaming audio and video, online gaming, and countless others. The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked Hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. The Domain Name System (DNS is a hierarchical naming system for computers services or any resource participating in the Internet. Electronic mail, often abbreviated to e-mail, email, or originally eMail, is a Store-and-forward method of writing sending receiving Streaming multimedia is Multimedia that is constantly received by and normally presented to an end-user while it is being delivered by a streaming provider (the Streaming multimedia is Multimedia that is constantly received by and normally presented to an end-user while it is being delivered by a streaming provider (the Online games are games played over some form of computer network. Virtually every action taken by an ordinary Internet user requires one or more interactions with one or more servers.
There are also technologies that operate on an inter-server level. In Computing, inter-server is a technical term used in Network protocol design to refer to the extension of the Client-server model by having parts of a
Servers in daily life
Any computer or device serving out applications or services can technically be called a server. In an office or enterprise environment, the network server is easy to identify. A DSL/Cable router is a server as it provides a computer with application services such as assigning an IP address (via Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, DHCP), and Network Address Translation (NAT) services which is the firewall that protects a computer from the internet. In Computer networking network address translation (NAT is the process of modifying Network address information in datagram packet headers while in transit across A firewall is an integrated collection of security measures designed to prevent unauthorized electronic access to a networked computer system iTunes software is a music server for MP3 players. iTunes is a proprietary digital media player application introduced by Apple Inc Shared printers or folders on a computer use it as a server. These instances can cause security problems for home users. Wireless access points, if not properly secured, can also serve out a network connection to those within range who may then be able to access previously shared data. In Computer networking, a wireless access point ( WAP or AP) is a device that allows wireless communication devices to connect to a Wireless network This is why securing wireless networks has become important of late. Wireless security is the prevention of unauthorized access or damage to computers using Wireless networks [1] Many private servers are around for such online games as Everquest, Everquest II, GunZ: The Duel, World of Warcraft, Counter-strike, RuneScape, MapleStory etc. EverQuest, often called EQ, is a 3D fantasy -themed Massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) that was released EverQuest II ( EQ2) based upon the popular EverQuest, is a Fantasy Massively multiplayer online role-playing game GunZ The Duel (건즈 더 듀얼 also known simply as GunZ or Gunz, is a massively multiplayer online third-person World of Warcraft (commonly acronymed as WoW) is a Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG Counter-Strike (commonly abbreviated to CS) is a tactical First-person shooter Video game which originated from a RuneScape is a Java -based MMORPG ( Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) operated by Jagex Ltd MapleStory (메이플스토리 is a free-of-charge, 2D, Side-scrolling Massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by
References
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic