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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