Description:
Servers occupy a place in computing similar to that occupied
by minicomputers in the past, which they have largely replaced.
The typical server is a computer system that operates continuously
on a network and waits for requests for services from other
computers on the network. Many servers are dedicated to
this role, but some may also be used simultaneously for
other purposes, particularly when the demands placed upon
them as servers are modest. For example, in a small office,
a large desktop computer may act as both a desktop workstation
for one person in the office and as a server for all the
other computers in the office. The term 'Server' originates
from the word 'Serve', therefore this computer system is
mainly serving the whole network that it is connected to
in any form, whether by queueing up the printing jobs of
several users, to even acting as a file server for applications
that online terminals could access. The name 'Server' is
another term given to 'Host computers'.
Servers today are physically similar to most other general-purpose
computers, although their hardware configurations may be
particularly optimized to fit their server roles, if they
are dedicated to that role. Many use hardware identical
or nearly identical to that found in standard desktop PCs.
However, servers run software that is often very different
from that used on desktop computers and workstations. Servers
should not be confused with mainframes, which are very large
computers that centralize certain information-processing
activities in large organizations and may or may not act
as servers in addition to their other activities. Many large
organizations have both mainframes and servers, although
servers usually are smaller and much more numerous and decentralized
than mainframes.
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