server ELI5: Why do we need servers?

[YouShouldTryHarder]

So everyone needs somewhere to store data and I get that, but i'd like to know why corporations,small businesses, and schools need servers. What is necessarily stored on them that requires so many drives? If they need more powerful hardware on the inside to drive them, what is it used for that my gaming rig cant necessarily do on its own? I've seen the fast as possible but id still like to know how people use them.

 

I'm a big scrub and I'm kinda new to this stuff.

[manikyath]

for small buisinesses, the answer is actually very, very simple: data sharing, and redundancy.

in a lot of small buisinesses theres a windows server set up with a domain, and every workstation logs on trough the domain server, meaning the following:

- the workstations have their own windows installation, but beyond that dont contain much

- everyone can log into their account, with their files, on any desk.

- if a workstation is stolen, it contains no sensitive data

- the server containing the data can be locked up against theft, can be easily backed up to a fireproof storage solution, etc.

- people who work remote can log in to the server trough a VPN, and work as if at the office

- workstations can be cheaper because they dont *have* to be 100% reliable, if one cuts out they can just grab a spare off the shelf. (if a company has a workstation that HAS to be active in order for the company to function, thats usually the one that dies, the less of those around, the less of them that die. dang murphy.)

- administrative settings go trough the domain, meaning people cant fudge witht heir workstation *as* easily.

- probably some more stuff i forgot.

 

as for schools, mostly the same deal, but for them its more to avoid those little rebels from ruining their expensive stuff.

 

as for big corporations, take what i just said, and multiply by 100.

[TechFnatic]

There are tonnes of uses for servers and different kinds of servers, for example, a company such as Sony Pictures or similar companies have massive server farms in a remote location that they perform all of their work and rendering on. I'm talking 40,000 + CPU's in these servers. So how this works is all the employees at one of these companies would have a little box at their desk rather than a traditional computer and this is called a "thin client" the thin client is a tiny box that weighs a few pounds and allows the user to make a secure VPN connection to that render farm where they can do all of their work on those massive powerful servers. To the user it seems as though all the work they are doing is being done at their desk, but in reality it is being done in a location that could be hundreds of miles away (which is their render farm). 

 

Just 1 example of how servers are used in a work environment and I hope it helps you see how significant they are

[alex75871]

Servers provide high up time and reliability. A gaming rig is not rated for 24/7 operation and contains consumer grade hardware. For most business, if their server is down, the business is down. Servers can also scale to include more CPUs, RAM etc to suite the business needs.

[Jarsky]

Servers are dedicated systems, for specified jobs. 

They are typically locked down for security, making it easy to audit who is doing what - and restrict unwanted access

They centralise information and services on a network - so you can connect from many different devices.

They provide redundancy and backup to protect against data loss and down time.

They provide assurance that resources are available to do what needs to be done.

 

@manikyath pretty much summed it up on how they can work for big enterprises. Uses in these type of environments are typically (but not limited to):

- Domain Controllers

- DNS Servers

- DHCP Servers

- Time Servers

- Network Storage

- IVDN (VPN) Connections

- Application Hosts

- Database & CRM systems

- Web Proxies & Firewalls

- Building Security/Access

- Front End Web Servers

- Automation Systems (importing/transforming data for various systems)

 

The above are only some of the uses at my work.

 

As far as home use?

I have a domain server which houses all my user account info, and a storage server with all the data - that is centralised in the house.

It means any of my computers in the house, I can login with the same credentials on any machine and have access to all my stuff under the profile. 
Also because my profile is not saved to the computer or my files, it means if any of the computers are stolen, someone cannot gain access to my information as its not housed on the computer.

Having a dedicated network share at home, also means that I can access files from any machine as long as my servers are online (which they are 24/7) - I can switch off my more energy draining gear like my Gaming PC's and still stream stuff to the Raspberry Pi or HTPC attached to the TV's.

 

 

[Guest]

19 hours ago, YouShouldTryHarder said:

So everyone needs somewhere to store data and I get that, but i'd like to know why corporations,small businesses, and schools need servers. What is necessarily stored on them that requires so many drives? If they need more powerful hardware on the inside to drive them, what is it used for that my gaming rig cant necessarily do on its own? I've seen the fast as possible but id still like to know how people use them.

 

I'm a big scrub and I'm kinda new to this stuff.

The guys above have been pretty thorough but i'll delve a little deeper as to what they'll actually run.

 

• Active Directory  (Windows) - has a list of users plus has their permissions
• DHCP server (Windows) - most routers do not cope well with large DHCP servers/pools running off the hardware. This is often offloaded to a dedicated DHCP server(s). Ubiquiti routers for instance don't like much more than 150-200 high load active clients on the ER Pro's. DHCP is what assigns a devices IP.
• DNS server (Windows) - similarly, a lot of routers don't like to be bombarded with large numbers of DNS requests. Again, offloaded to a dedicated DNS server(s). DNS is where a device can look up an IP address for a hostname. Eg the IP for www.google.com.
• Anti Virus appliances - with most good AV companies moving away from signature databases to cloud infastrucutre (Bitdefender is a prime example), AV companies are having appliances on site to cache the applications.
• IIS/Web servers - either Windows IIS, Apache or another version of a web server - used to host internal and external websites.
• Exchange Server - used to host emails
• Bandwith tracking like Sinefa - used to monitor bandwith usage of WAN.
• Terminal Server (Windows) - used to generate virtual desktops for users to use. Instead of having everyone work on deciated PC's, users can use thin clients to access their own virtual PC. This can reduce operational cost of having lots of desktops to maintain.
• Propriatery software servers - things to run software like MYOB, QuickBooks and other software vital to the function of a users job.
• SQL server

These are a few of the core things that you'll find running on servers in a business environment. These days a lof of things are being pushed to the cloud. 365 Business allows the removal of Exchange from being on premise however it is recomended to keep AD, DHCP and DNS on prem.