Other Dell Server Components

In information technology, a server is a computer system that provides services to other computing systems—called clients—over a network. The term server can refer to hardware (such as a Sun computer system) or software (such as an RDBMS server). more...

Home
Cables, Connectors
Filers, Load Balancers
Home Networking, Cable & DSL
Hubs
KVM Switch Boxes, Cables
Mainframe, DEC, VAX, AS/400
Network Interface Cards,...
Networking, Telecom Tools
Other Networking Equipment
Print Servers, Wired
Racks, Mounts & Patch Panels
Router Components, Memory
Routers, Wired
Security, Firewall, VPN
Server Components, Memory
Compaq
Dell
Dell Boards
Dell Hard Drives
Dell Power Supplies
Dell Server Memory
Other Dell Server Components
HP, Hewlett Packard
IBM
Other Brands
Sun Cobalt
Servers
Software
Software, Operating Systems
Storage Equipment, NAS, SAN
Switch Components, Memory
Switches
Telephone Systems, Telecom
UPS, Power Protection, APC
Wholesale Lots
Wireless Networking, WiFi
Workstation Components,...
Workstations, Terminals

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.

Servers frequently host hardware resources that they make available on a controlled and shared basis to client computers, such as printers (print servers) and file systems (file servers). This sharing permits better access control (and thus better security) and can reduce costs by reducing duplication of hardware.

History

Servers have come into being in parallel with computer networks. Networks allow computers to communicate with each other, and an outgrowth of this was the tendency to dedicate some computers to a serving role while other computers (those that interact directly with human users) assume a client role. Server computers and their associated software evolved to fill the server role.

As networks have grown and developed, so have servers; and minicomputers—small computers larger than a desktop computer but more modest than a mainframe—have been largely driven out of existence in consequence, their niche partially disappearing and partially being absorbed into that of servers.

Read more at Wikipedia.org