Server

A server in computing is a powerful computer or system of computers that provides resources, data, services, or programs to other computers, known as clients, over a network. In essence, servers are dedicated to managing network resources and offering various functionalities to client devices.

The device that makes the request, and receives a response from the server, is called a client. On the Internet, the term "server" commonly refers to the computer system that receives requests for a web files and sends those files to the client.

They can be physical machines or virtual servers hosted in cloud environments. The functions and types of servers can vary widely, including:

  1. Web Server: Hosts websites, delivering web pages to users' browsers via HTTP or HTTPS protocols.
  2. File Server: Stores and manages files, allowing users to save and retrieve files over the network.
  3. Mail Server: Manages and transmits emails over a network, including storing incoming mail for local users.
  4. Database Server: Provides database services, storing, retrieving, and managing large amounts of data.
  5. Application Server: Hosts and runs specific software applications.
  6. Print Server: Manages one or more printers and accepts print jobs from the computers on the network.
  7. Game Server: Hosts multiplayer online games, connecting players and managing game state.
  8. Domain Name System (DNS) Server: Translates domain names into IP addresses, guiding internet navigation.
  9. Virtual Server: Software-based servers that emulate physical servers, often used in virtualized environments for better resource utilization.
  10. Cloud Server: Hosted in cloud computing environments, providing scalable and on-demand computing resources.