There are many roles that a server can occupy

There are many roles that a server can occupy. For each one there is a unifying similarity: they have to be on a network and have other computers connect to them. In addition to that, these connecting computers have to request something that the server provides, hence the term server. This computer serves information and files out to the requesting clients. Beyond that, there really is not that much that has to be different between servers and normal personal computers. Some will have to be extremely powerful machines capable of holding massive amounts of information and doing an amazing number of calculations per second, others need only be simple machines only able to complete the tasks that are asked of them. There are some common types of servers that computer users all around the world should be familiar with. Sometimes these servers can all be the same physical computer, other times they will each be their own individual box. Complicating matters even further is the idea of virtual machines, where the physical server may not even exist except as programs running across many different machines.

The most common type of server that most people will interact with is a web server. The basic idea behind a web server is that it can give information to any other computers that are requesting it. These servers are usually behind a router and have all requests that come in on port 80 forwarded over to them. When the computer receives a request from an external machine, it sends back the file that the computer is looking for. This is a very simplistic version of how this server will work. Usually along with a web server the same machine will also run an FTP server as well. FTP servers differ from Web servers in several different ways. The main way is that on an FTP server the files will simply appear as they are with no formal structure or coding to them. In addition connecting computers can generally copy files back and forth. The files on an FTP server will typically simply look like an extension of the normal file system. On a web server, the files when requested by a web browser will actually be loaded in to create a web page. This is done via the hyper text markup language, or more commonly known as HTML. Your web browser sends a request to the IP address of the server on port 80, the server then responds by sending over the requested file. Generally speaking this will be the index file for the initial web page, or another file if it is linked directly. Again this is a very simplistic look at how a web server would work, but for every web page out there that is loaded something very similar to this is going on.

The next common type of server that people will interact with is a mail server. There are actually many different kinds of email servers out there but the most common is the POP3 server. POP3 stands for Post Office Protocol, third edition, and is by far the easiest and most stable of all the email servers available. Usually in a POP3 environment there will be two servers involved. One, called the incoming mail server, will be the place where your mailbox and all of your email physically resides. The other, called the outgoing mail server, actually sends the email out. Typically the incoming server will be on the same IP address range as the domain controller so that other email servers can map to it easily. A simple domain lookup will tell an outgoing mail server where the incoming mail server is and where the mail should go to. When you look at an email address there are two components. One is the account name, the other is the domain name. Typically and email address will look like this: user@domain_name.com. When you hit send on your email, your mail is packaged up and sent out to the outgoing mail server. This server then looks at the mail, reads the domain name, finds the server, then send the mail. The receiving, or incoming, mail server will then take all incoming mail messages and distribute them to the user accounts that they are addressed to. You then go and check your mail, retrieve it and copy the message down. A simple process that has many more complications involved, but at the basic level this is how mail servers function.

Another common type of server is the database server. This is probably the easiest of all the servers to understand. A database server is simply a collection of data that other computers can request. While they themselves do not have to do many complicated functions, the amount of data that they need to keep organized can become extremely complicated. Generally a database server will have a massive amount of hard drive storage. Other computers can then link up to the database and make searches and requests on the data. This way all of the data can be placed in one central location that many different computers can access. In addition to this many times a database server will have a backup server attached to it or in some cases they will be the same server. A backup server copies a set of data to another medium. Sometimes this can be tape, others a set of hard drives, and in some cases even DVDs or CDs.

Each of these different servers has their own unique role. There are many other types of servers out there each with their own job to do. Many of these will work together to provide you with a seamless computing experience. If you understand how each one has a roll and what that roll is you can be better equipped to see how everything functions in the computer world. These concepts are just some of the basics. The actual way that all of these servers function and operate together is incredibly complicated, but not something that cannot be understood. It just takes time and a willingness to do the work.