What is a server?

[King_of_Oz]

Can someone give me a long, detailed explanation as to WHAT IS A SERVER?

[Mira Yurizaki]

I can technically give you one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_(computing)

[King_of_Oz]

1 minute ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I can technically give you one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_(computing)

I understood like 4% of that article. Can you explain it to me in a noob-appropriate fashion?

[Mira Yurizaki]

6 minutes ago, King_of_Oz said:

I understood like 4% of that article. Can you explain it to me in a noob-appropriate fashion?

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server

 

Well you asked for a "long, detailed" explanation

[tt2468]

10 hours ago, King_of_Oz said:

Can someone give me a long, detailed explanation as to WHAT IS A SERVER?

Here is a shorter answer. If you want long and detailed, you will run into the issue where you start getting confused. Here is an article that I found off of a google search "server" (7th result): http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/server.html

 

Keep in mind that the best definitions of servers are a google search away. Youtube can be a very good place to start, not LTT.

[King_of_Oz]

Thanks y'all.

[Mikensan]

Simply put, server is anything dedicated to a purpose. The hardware nor software doesn't make it a server, as even an old computer can be a server. It is the purpose that makes it a server.

 

You can setup a Windows 10 PC to share files, and it is now a server. Or you can install LAMP/WAMP on to a linux or windows machine, which gives you all the essentials to hosting a website - and bam now it's a server.

 

It's a very loose term honestly.

[King_of_Oz]

51 minutes ago, Mikensan said:

Simply put, server is anything dedicated to a purpose. The hardware nor software doesn't make it a server, as even an old computer can be a server. It is the purpose that makes it a server.

 

You can setup a Windows 10 PC to share files, and it is now a server. Or you can install LAMP/WAMP on to a linux or windows machine, which gives you all the essentials to hosting a website - and bam now it's a server.

 

It's a very loose term honestly.

Thanks!

[Electronics Wizardy]

58 minutes ago, Mikensan said:

server is anything dedicated to a purpose

Not really. Its more of any computer thats primally used over the network rather than a monitor or keyboard plugged right into it.

 

I could have a workstation that is only used for capturing photos from a camera, not a server. You can also have a server doing many thing, esp with vms.

[Mikensan]

2 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Not really. Its more of any computer thats primally used over the network rather than a monitor or keyboard plugged right into it.

 

I could have a workstation that is only used for capturing photos from a camera, not a server. You can also have a server doing many thing, esp with vms.

I suppose I could've been more specific or added a clause about any purpose for serving (hoped was the name "server" would imply that). You can plug that same workstation (used to store pictures/clips) into a monitor, TV, or projector and it's now a media server sans networking. You can have cold storage that requires you to physically walk up to, to store data, and it's still a storage server (air gapped for security reasons).

 

Never said a single purpose - but if you had a server with vms then it's a hypervisor with the single purpose of hosting virtual machines. Then those virtual machines would be independent of the main hypervisor and serve their own purpose(s). Sort of the initial point that it isn't the hardware that makes something a server. But you are correct - much like a domain controller is usually also a DNS.

 

"Server" can be used pretty loosely. Granted by my initial definition would include a computer with internet access only to be used for banking lol.

 

But now I wonder, that technically by definition would a networked robotic tape library be a server? I would consider it a component of a backup server, but any client could technically connect to it and pull data from it with the right software. It's kind of hard to be so absolute with a definition.

[.:MARK:.]

A server serves. It's a term used so loosely, I feel that is the best way to describe it.

You'll see things like hardware called servers but also software called servers. Some more unusual things like display servers, it isn't a server in the conventional meaning, but it serves a graphical display output on a computer.

If you want to know what a specific type of server is, like if people you talk to frequently mention "steam servers", or "xbox servers" then you are likely looking at gameservers, or webservers. These are usually servers in the sense of a software program running on a remote machine that serves something to you or others.

The fact that people above may or may not agree on a definition or a meaning, indicates that the meaning of the word is relatively unimportant, but the general idea is.