Aviva Directory » Computers & Internet » Software » Internet & Intranet » Servers

Software that is designed to be used on a computing server, where it is used to harness the computing power of the server for use in a variety of services and functions, is known as server software, the focus of this category.

Servers, consisting of both hardware and software, provide the functionality to other programs and devices that are known as clients. This client-server model is used in email, network printing, and the World Wide Web, the part of the Internet that most of us are familiar with.

In response to a request from the client, the server software interacts with the server's hardware infrastructure to accomplish a specified purpose.

Server software can be categorized according to the type or usage of the server, including application server software, cloud computing server software, database server software, filer server software, and web server software, each of which use the server for different functions and services, but they all depend on the server computer's capacity and resources.

In some cases, the same computer might operate as both a server and a client, depending on the scenario. As an example, a web server might receive a request from a client and, in response to that request, become a client to a separate database server. Some servers have specialized hardware, although server software is often run on top of an operating system, such as Linux, macOS, or Microsoft Windows. When this software receives requests from clients, it turns the computer into a server.

A common type of server is the web server, which is often stylized as one word, webserver. A web server handles requests from browsers, such as Safari or Microsoft Edge, across the Internet or on local networks, and responds with webpages, images, or whatever else might be requested by the browser. Server software from the Apache Foundation powers a large portion of the World Wide Web, but others exist, as well, including Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS)

Other types of servers include database servers, and file and print servers. For our purposes, however, database servers are covered in the Database category, and file and print servers are commonly found in office networks, and run on computers that are also be used for other office work.

This category, then, primarily refers to web servers software, and the resources listed here are focused on such software.

 

 

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