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What is a server
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- Name
- Milad E. Fahmy
- @miladezzat12
What is a Server ?
In computing, a server is a piece of computer hardware or software that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called "clients". This architecture is called the client–server model. Wikipedia
A server is a computer or system that provides resources, data, services, or programs to other computers, known as clients, over a network. In theory, whenever computers share resources with client machines they are considered servers. ... This means that a device could be both a server and a client at the same time.
We can also say that:
A server commonly refers to a computer program that receives and responds to requests made over a network. It receives the request for a web document from the client and sends the requested information to the client computer on the Internet. A device can be both a client and a server at the same time, as an individual system has the ability to provide resources and use them from another system in one go. There are different types of servers, including mail servers, virtual servers, and web servers.
Types of servers
There are many types of servers, which are as follows:
- Webserver
- Application server
- Blade server
- Cloud server
- Database server
- Dedicated server
- Print server
- Proxy server
- File server
- Mail server
- Standalone server
- Domain name service
Web Server
A web server offers web pages or other content to the web browser by loading the information from a disc and transfer files by using a network to the user's web browser. It is used by a computer or collection of computers to provide content to several users over the internet. This exchange was done with the help of HTTP communicating between the browser and the server. There are some examples of web servers given below; you can also download these web servers from given below download links:
- Apache: https://www.apache.org/
- Tomcat: https://tomcat.apache.org/
- Nginx: https://www.nginx.com/
- Savant: http://savant.sourceforge.net/
- Boa: http://www.boa.org/
- FoxServ: http://www.foxserv.net/
- IIS: https://www.iis.net/
- Lighttpd: https://www.lighttpd.net/
Application server
It is an environment where applications are able to run, no matter which types of applications and what operation they perform. It is also known as a type of middleware and can be able to develop and run web-based applications. Generally, it is used to connect database servers and end-user. There are several types of application servers, as well as .NET Framework, Java, and PHP application servers.
Furthermore, it offers users various advantages, such as:
- It allows applications for a more centralized approach to updates and upgrades, which provides data and code integrity.
- It offers security with the help of the authenticating process and centralizing the management of data access.
- For heavy usage applications, it improves performance by limiting network traffic.