What is a server? (Powercert animated videos)

What is a server ？

This article is a subtitle from the following linked video ：
What is a server ？(Powercert animated videos)

• The server is essentially a dedicated computer used to provide services to users , For example, an ordinary desktop computer or a workstation , So the server is a central device that many users can connect through the Internet or local network , Users usually connect to the server for a specific service , For example, search websites to get data or send and receive emails .

A server can be used to provide only one service . You can have a server dedicated to logging in to a web site , One dedicated to storing data , One dedicated to sending and receiving mail . This model is usually used by a large organization .

Or you can set up a server to handle all these services on the same server . Generally, small organizations will use such a model , The use of a model depends on what an organization needs .

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• Now when people talk about a “ The server ”, It generally refers to a powerful , Computers connected by a large number of users , To a certain extent, it is correct , However, to some extent , Servers are not just computers in the physical sense ,
  The server is actually a computer “ role ”

Because any ordinary desktop computer can be built into a server , Instead of requiring ultra-high performance , therefore , You can set up a network at home , And set up a computer as a file server , The server has a shared folder for other devices to access these files when they connect

perhaps , You can also use a computer as a web server , You can store web site data on this server , Other computers connected to this server can quickly retrieve .

However, desktop computers still have various limitations ：

Because desktop computers are not designed to handle a lot of work , It can't handle many user connections , This is not just because of the low configuration hardware of desktop computers , Because the software can only handle a limited number of concurrent connections because of the desktop operating system .

• Today, , Servers require almost 24 Hour online , Because they are very important to an organization , If a server crashes, it can endanger the entire enterprise or organization , This is why the server must be very reliable , They need solid hardware to keep running , Guarantee zero failure .
• For example, a desktop computer will use a processor designed for the desktop environment , For example, intel core series , The server uses a processor designed specifically for the server , For example, Intel Xeon processors , A server processor needs very fast speed and the ability to handle many tasks at the same time .

Both processors are now very powerful , But there are still some differences ：

• Such as Xeon Processor Support multi process environment , So it can be used to work with other processors , This means that you can put two Xeon processors on a server motherboard , This is also what many servers need to handle a huge workload
• But desktop processors don't support , They can only work independently , Without cooperation .
  

• Another difference is Xeon processor supports ECC RAM, That is to say Error Code Correcing( Error checking and correction )RAM
• This kind of memory is mainly used in the server , Now the server needs to be running at all times , Memory errors can destroy a server ,ECC All you do is Whether the data is detected RAM Deal with correctly , If you need to prevent errors at any time , It will correct it immediately , So use... In the server ECC Is an additional fail safe measure to ensure that the server does not crash .
• and Intel core processors do not support ECC RAM, However AMD Processor support ECC RAM
• Xeon processors support larger capacity RAM, They have Bigger cache There are more cores than desktop processors

• A server should also RAID Array hot swap hard disk , In this way, if a hard disk is damaged, no data will be lost , The server is still functioning .
• RAID Store data on multiple hard drives , If a hard disk is damaged, it can be replaced while keeping the server on , then RAID Automatically rebuild the data on the new hard disk .

• At the same time, a server should also have another power reserve in case of need
• The server requires a server specific operating system , such as Linux , Windows Server , macOS Server
• The server operating system is very robust and stable , Designed to work constantly
• Can handle thousands of concurrent connections

There are many different kinds of servers on the market , This category refers to what the server provides ‘ service ’ The type of :

• for example Network server , Web servers are used to store web sites , When you browse a web page with a browser, you are connected to a web server through the Internet , And ask this server for the required website , The web server contains all the data of this website , Include HTML Code and pictures , At the same time, it will also run the network server software .
• Another type of server is Email server , It makes sending and receiving e-mail easy to use , You can view the email through the browser , Or use an email account , such as Outlook perhaps Thunderbird. These service providers use email agreement , such as IMAP,POP,SMTP.
• A database server is another type of server , This server stores data on the back end , Then the computer reads the data from the front end , For example, use query language SQL.