What is a Server?

**JimRune** · January 31st, 2006, 04:30 AM

I'm looking at these hosting plans and the specs for the companies servers look like a build for a computer.

Is a server just a computer? How is it different than the PC I use now for gaming?

**filipino** · January 31st, 2006, 04:41 AM

Yeah its actually the same, you just need to specified what kind of server you want, for example you want a web server the specification of hardware you will use depends on your target audiance/visitors, lets say your target is like 1000 Unique visitors per day, so your hardware specification should be like dual xeon with 2 GB of RAM a SCSI drive with 10,000.00 RPM and a T1 connection or more, upload speed of your connection matters most.

**thelonegunman** · January 31st, 2006, 09:26 AM

Pretty much its just a standard machine, but there are attributs which will define a system as a server. I have a server at home, with an 1800XP, 512Mb RAM, 500Gb in removable caddies, SCSI boot disks, very basic VGA card and DVD writer. By todays standard a fairly slow machine, but its a lighting fast domain controller, DHCP/DNS/File server. It is classified as a server because it serves other computers pretty much. It sits there on all year round while another 7 machines access it, rarly will I use it for anything, apart from BT as its on all the time so might aswell keep it on the msot stable machine.

I don't have a monitor or keyboard or anything on it, I simply Terminal Service into it when I need to check things, change user details, shares etc...

If you had 3 machines, all connected with shared folders that would not be a server as such, its a peer to peer network. Client/server is much better, on the whole a server can sit with a good uptime mainly because there is no user interaction, no software being used no human errors to cause problems, just the OS (usually a Server OS or linux) doing its most basic functions.

**Ultima** · January 31st, 2006, 09:36 AM

Yeah, what he said. LOL

There's not much to add, except for maybe the part that defines a puter as being a server.

Usually servers have higher speed hard drives, but that depends on what the server is being used for. If it's a data server, it'll probably have high speed drives in a raid array.

Sometimes servers are defined by what motherboards and cpu's are being used. I mean, a computer containing dual dualcore opterons would definetely be a server, or at least a workstation, so it's kinda hard to say, if a computer has that, it is a server 100% sure.
Exceptions are always there ofcourse.

I mean, if you have a dual Itanium machine with windows 2003 datacentre on it, then I'd be willing to bet a pretty big deal on it that it is a server.

**JimRune** · January 31st, 2006, 02:51 PM

Interesting. Thanks for the replies!

**Knothead** · January 31st, 2006, 07:49 PM

Hey cool, I just learned something too!

**Mickwish** · January 31st, 2006, 09:35 PM

Actually, true definition of a server has absolutely nothing to do with hardware at all!

Like thelonegunman said, it's a machine that serves... whether it be webpages, files, or mail. I could run an old IBM 286 as a file server if I wanted to.

Cheers
Mick

**bfcx** · January 31st, 2006, 10:56 PM

filipino: I think your specs for a server are a bit too much for only 1000 visotrs a day! I ran a webhosting company with 200 accounts and many fairly heavy acounts on a 450mhz PIII

But of course at the time 450mhz was top of the line :P

And like everyone said a server is more about the software it runs rather than the hardware.

**filipino** · February 1st, 2006, 02:27 AM

Originally Posted by bfcx

filipino: I think your specs for a server are a bit too much for only 1000 visotrs a day! I ran a webhosting company with 200 accounts and many fairly heavy acounts on a 450mhz PIII

But of course at the time 450mhz was top of the line :P

And like everyone said a server is more about the software it runs rather than the hardware.

what is you hosting package back then?

**bfcx** · February 1st, 2006, 03:02 AM

hosting package? I ran my own server colocated at a datacenter.

**filipino** · February 1st, 2006, 03:08 AM

Originally Posted by bfcx

hosting package? I ran my own server colocated at a datacenter.

hosting package like do you have email, php, mysql, coldfusion etc.

**bfcx** · February 1st, 2006, 10:44 AM

ooooohh what i offered. MySQL, CGI/SSI access, perl, php all the regulars (no cold fusion). many of my clients used it for irc bouncing or eggdrop irc bots hehe (this was back in the late 90's). Had a class c network block filled. It was fun

I'm currently slowly starting webhosting again, got a few clients and just about to colocate a server again, with in the next month or so.

**filipino** · February 1st, 2006, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by bfcx

ooooohh what i offered. MySQL, CGI/SSI access, perl, php all the regulars (no cold fusion). many of my clients used it for irc bouncing or eggdrop irc bots hehe (this was back in the late 90's). Had a class c network block filled. It was fun

I'm currently slowly starting webhosting again, got a few clients and just about to colocate a server again, with in the next month or so.

oh okay, can i have free hosting ?