Server
Depending on who you ask, it can mean different thing. Typically a server is referred to a piece of computer hardware that is designed to deliver data to a network. But the hardware does not really need to be enterprise grade server rack stuff, to be called a server in your home network. A server can also be a laptop, small desktop computer or even a Raspberry Pi.
I like to define ‘server’ as a role you can assign to a piece of computer hardware. One piece of computer can have multiple server roles, like handling e-mail and a webpage at the same time. A server is a server, because of the software that runs on it.
A computer can be assigned a lot of different roles and one computer is more suitable for one role then the other. Here I will highlight some different types of servers:
| Type of Server | Used for |
|---|---|
| Application server | A server that runs an application. Can be as simple as one simple server that simply serves some files when requests by a webbrowser, but can also include databases or application software to provide more functionality. Most applications that run in the webbrowser do run a whole suite of different software to provide a service. |
| Mail server | A server that handles mail traffic. Commonly it consists of two applications: one for sending e-mail and one for receiving mails. |
| Network Attached Storage (NAS) | A server that commonly has a lot of storage space that can be accessed by multiple clients at the same time. Runs one or multiple file servers for easy reading and writing of files. |
| Proxy servers | Forward traffic from one server to another. It is used for a whole lot of reasons, including but limited to caching, load balancing and additional security. |