What is a server? What does it do?

Answer 1

A server is basically a computer with a large disk drive that controls a network. All the computers in the network would save their data on the server. The server will also enable all the computers to connect to internet. A server is simply another computer with a bunch of computers connected to it, so that files can be shared and printers can be shared and internet connectivity can be enaled from one computer. Your computer can be a server, it just needs the right software.

Answer 2

A server can mean two things.

One, it can mean a software program that serves many clients providing information, services, etc. Example, your web browser is a client, when you go to yahoo.com you are connecting to yahoo's servers.

An easy way to remember it is that it is a program that provides services to some information or service over a network for many people to use.

A web server serves many web browser clients. A file server provides access to files on a hard disk for many computers over a network. An email server provides email for your email client (Outlook, Eudora, etc) to retrieve email.

The term server can also mean the physical machine on which a server program normally resides. Server machines normally do not have a monitor, keyboard/mouse attached to it as clients connect to it over a network. They are normally located in specialized server rooms that have climate control, and uninterruptible power supply to keep it running 24x7.

Answer 3

A "server" is a networked computer that performs one or more specific tasks that other computers and/or users on the network need.

At my place of employment, I supervise servers that:

- authenticate user logins
- host shared files, folders, and printers
- synchronizes computer time/date settings
- routes email
- filters and logs web usage
- hosts accounting software database
- hosts client casework database
- hosts website data
- downloads and distributes antivirus definitions

In other words, "server" is a generic term to describe a a computer -- or a "cluster" or "farm" of computers -- that is not used by one person for ordinary uses, but rather is accessed by many. Yahoo.com is a website hosted by a server computer -- actually a "farm" of hundreds of computers all acting in concert. You could think of them as being "hundreds of servers" or of being one big interconnected server... and both conceptions would be right.

Answer 4

What kind? A server in a multiplayer rpg game is just like different worlds so not too many players are crowded in one place at once so that it will crash and you can meet your friend in the same server to play together.

or

6. a computer that makes services, as access to data files, programs, and peripheral devices, available to workstations on a network. Compare client (def. 5), file server.

Answer 5

As the very name indicates, it 'serves'. A decade ago,
hard disks were very expensive. The concept of server
originated at that time. One computer is equipped with
a hard disk of good capacity and called it 'server'.
It is connected to many disk-less computers through LAN.
Users will use the programs loaded in the hard disk of the
server through disk-less PCs. It is also called client server.

The server can be anything from a mainframe to a PC but
is usually a platform suited for a specific application
or task.
http://rintintin.colorado.edu/~epperson/clntsrvr.intro.html

Later, a server bacame the central place for information,
and users through LAN could access that common
information. Airline reservation is an example to it.

In information technology, a server is a computer
system that provides services to other computer
systems called clients over a computer network. The
term server can refer to hardware (such as a Sun
computer system) or software (such as an RDBMS
server).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_(computing)

An application server is a server computer on a
computer network dedicated to running certain software
applications (as opposed to e.g. a file server or print
server). It can be a software engine that delivers
applications to client computers. Moreover, an
application server should handle most, if not all, of
the business logic and data access of the application.
The main benefits of application server technology are
ease of application development and centralization.

Although the term application server applies to all
platforms, it has become heavily identified with the
Sun Microsystems J2EE platform; however, it has also
come to encompass servers of web-based applications,
such as integrated platforms for e-commerce, content
management systems, affiliate management systems and
occasionally, even applied to simplistic web-site page
builders. The paradigm is more similar to mainframe
based applications than traditional client-server.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/PC+server
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/p/proxy_server.html
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/a/application_server.html
http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=clientserver&i=39801,00.asp
http://www.pcai.com/web/ai_info/client_server.html
http://www.ibm.com/eserver/iseries/conslt/dsd_tco.htm
http://www.ala.org/ala/pla/plapubs/technotes/clientserver.htm
http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci881593,00.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/application-server
http://www.winaxe.com/what-is-pc-x-server.html
http://dict.die.net/file%20server/
http://www.answers.com/topic/pc-x-server

Answer 6

servers store information or programs that can be accessed by other computers accross the world. the servers information and programs offer services, entertainment or any other number of benefits.

Answer 7

Your 'server' here is called Yahoo. If you go to MSN, THAT is your server. Would you like me to bring you a drink? THEN, I am your server. AND...
you have to pay me.

Answer 8

Interesting question, i don't know the exact answer but I waiting for it.