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Server(computing)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Server(computing)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Aserverisarunninginstanceofanapplication(software)
capableofacceptingrequestsfromtheclientandgiving
responsesaccordingly.Serverscanrunonanycomputer
includingdedicatedcomputers,whichindividuallyarealsooften
referredtoas"theserver".Inmanycases,acomputercan
provideseveralservicesandhaveseveralserversrunning.The
advantageofrunningserversonadedicatedcomputeris
security.Forthisreasonmostoftheserversaredaemon
processesanddesignedinthattheycanberunonspecific
computer(s).
Serversoperatewithinaclientserverarchitecture.Serversare
computerprogramsrunningtoservetherequestsofother
programs,theclients.Thus,theserverperformssometaskson
behalfofclients.Itfacilitatestheclientstosharedata,
informationoranyhardwareandsoftwareresources.Theclients
typicallyconnecttotheserverthroughthenetworkbutmayrun
onthesamecomputer.InthecontextofInternetProtocol(IP)
networking,aserverisaprogramthatoperatesasasocket
listener.[1]

Serversinadatacenter.Several
serversaremountedonarackand
connectedtoaKVMswitch.

Serversoftenprovideessentialservicesacrossanetwork,eithertoprivateusersinsidealarge
organizationortopublicusersviatheInternet.Typicalcomputingserversaredatabaseserver,file
server,mailserver,printserver,webserver,gamingserver,andapplicationserver.[2]
NumeroussystemsusethisclientservernetworkingmodelincludingWebsitesandemailservices.An
alternativemodel,peertopeernetworkingenablesallcomputerstoactaseitheraserverorclientas
needed.

Contents
1Usage
2HardwareRequirement
3Operatingsystems
4Types
5Energyconsumption
6Sizeclasses
7Seealso
8References

Usage
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Thetermserverisusedquitebroadlyininformationtechnology.Despitethemanyserverbranded
productsavailable(suchasserverversionsofhardware,softwareoroperatingsystems),intheory,any
computerisedprocessthatsharesaresourcetooneormoreclientprocessesisaserver.Toillustratethis,
takethecommonexampleoffilesharing.Whiletheexistenceoffilesonamachinedoesnotclassifyit
asaserver,themechanismthatsharesthesefilestoclientsbytheoperatingsystemistheserver.
Similarly,considerawebserverapplication(suchasthemultiplatform"ApacheHTTPServer").This
webserversoftwarecanberunonanycapablecomputer.Forexample,whilealaptoporpersonal
computerisnottypicallyknownasaserver,theycaninthesesituationsfulfilltheroleofone,andhence
belabelledasone.Itis,inthiscase,themachine'srolethatplacesitinthecategoryofserver.
Inthehardwaresense,thewordservertypicallydesignatescomputermodelsintendedforhosting
softwareapplicationsundertheheavydemandofanetworkenvironment.Inthisclientserver
configuration,oneormoremachines,eitheracomputeroracomputerappliance,shareinformationwith
eachotherwithoneactingasahostfortheother[s].
Whilenearlyanypersonalcomputeriscapableofactingasanetworkserver,adedicatedserverwill
containfeaturesmakingitmoresuitableforproductionenvironments.Thesefeaturesmayincludea
fasterCPU,increasedhighperformanceRAM,andincreasedstoragecapacityintheformofalargeror
multipleharddrives.Serversalsotypicallyhavereliability,availabilityandserviceability(RAS)and
faulttolerancefeatures,suchasredundancyinpowersupplies,storage(asinRAID),andnetwork
connections.
Serversbecamecommonintheearly1990sasbusinessesincreasinglybeganusingpersonalcomputers
toprovideservicesformerlyhostedonlargermainframesorminicomputers.Earlyfileservershoused
multipleCDROMdrives,whichwereusedtohostlargedatabaseapplications.
Betweenthe1990sand2000sanincreaseintheuseofdedicatedhardwaresawtheadventofself
containedserverappliances.OnewellknownproductistheGoogleSearchAppliance,aunitthat
combineshardwareandsoftwareinanoutoftheboxpackaging.AlsoproducedweretheCobaltQube
andtheRaQ.Simplerexamplesofsuchappliancesincludeswitches,routers,gateways,andprint
servers,allofwhichareavailableinanearplugandplayconfiguration.
ModernoperatingsystemssuchasMicrosoftWindowsorLinuxdistributionsseemtobedesignedwith
aclientserverarchitectureinmind.Theseoperatingsystemsattempttoabstracthardware,allowinga
widevarietyofsoftwaretoworkwithcomponentsofthecomputer.Inasense,theoperatingsystemcan
beseenasservinghardwaretothesoftware,whichinallbutlowlevelprogramminglanguagesmust
interactusinganAPI.
Theseoperatingsystemsmaybeabletorunprogramsinthebackgroundcalledeitherservicesor
daemons.Suchprograms,suchastheabovementionedApacheHTTPServersoftware,maywaitina
sleepstatefortheirnecessitytobecomeapparent.Sinceanysoftwarethatprovidesservicescanbe
calledaserver,modernpersonalcomputerscanbeseenasaforestofserversandclientsoperatingin
parallel.
TheInternetitselfisalsoaforestofserversandclients.Merelyrequestingawebpagefromafew
kilometersawayinvolvessatisfyingastackofprotocolsthatinvolvemanyexamplesofhardwareand
softwareservers.Theleastofthesearetherouters,modems,domainnameservers,andvariousother
serversnecessarytoprovideustheworldwideweb.
TheintroductionofCloudcomputingallowsserverstorageandotherresourcestobesharedinapool
andprovidesserverswithahigherdegreeoffaulttolerance.
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HardwareRequirement
Hardwarerequirementforserversvary,dependingontheserver
application.AbsoluteCPUspeedisnotquiteascriticaltoa
serverasitistoadesktopmachine.Servers'dutiestoprovide
servicetomanyusersoveranetworkleadtodifferent
requirementssuchasfastnetworkconnectionsandhighI/O
throughout.Sinceserversareusuallyaccessedoveranetwork,
theymayruninheadlessmodewithoutamonitororinput
device.Processesthatarenotneededfortheserver'sfunctionare
notused.Manyserversdonothaveagraphicaluserinterface
(GUI)asitisunnecessaryandconsumesresourcesthatcouldbe
allocatedelsewhere.Similarly,audioandUSBinterfacesmaybe
omitted.

Arackmountableserver.Topcover
removedtorevealtheinternal
components.

Serversoftenrunforlongperiodswithoutinterruptionandavailabilitymustoftenbeveryhigh,making
hardwarereliabilityanddurabilityextremelyimportant.Althoughserverscanbebuiltfromcommodity
computerparts,missioncriticalenterpriseserversareideallyveryfaulttolerantandusespecialized
hardwarewithlowfailureratesinordertomaximizeuptime,forevenashorttermfailurecancostmore
thanpurchasingandinstallingthesystem.Forexample,itmaytakeonlyafewminutesofdowntimeat
anationalstockexchangetojustifytheexpenseofentirelyreplacingthesystemwithsomethingmore
reliable.Serversmayincorporatefaster,highercapacityharddrives,largercomputerfansorwater
coolingtohelpremoveheat,anduninterruptiblepowersuppliesthatensuretheserverscontinueto
functionintheeventofapowerfailure.Thesecomponentsofferhigherperformanceandreliabilityata
correspondinglyhigherprice.Hardwareredundancyinstallingmorethanoneinstanceofmodulessuch
aspowersuppliesandharddisksarrangedsothatifonefailsanotherisautomaticallyavailableis
widelyused.ECCmemorydevicesthatdetectandcorrecterrorsareusednonECCmemoryismore
likelytocausedatacorruption.[3]
Toincreasereliability,mostserversusememorywitherrordetectionandcorrection,redundantdisks,
redundantpowersuppliesandsoon.Suchcomponentsarealsofrequentlyhotswappable,allowing
technicianstoreplacethemontherunningserverwithoutshuttingitdown.Topreventoverheating,
serversoftenhavemorepowerfulfans.Asserversareusuallyadministeredbyqualifiedsystem
administrators,theiroperatingsystemsarealsomoretunedforstabilityandperformancethanforuser
friendlinessandeaseofuse,Linuxtakinganoticeablylargerpercentagethanfordesktopcomputers.
Asserversareoftennoisyandtheyneedastablepowersupply,goodInternetaccess,andincreased
security,itisusualtostorethemindedicatedservercenters.Thisrequiresreducingthepower
consumption,astheextraenergyusedgeneratesmoreheatthuscausingthetemperatureintheroomto
exceedacceptablelimitshencenormally,serverroomsareequippedwithairconditioningdevices.
Servercasingsareusuallyflatandwide(typicallymeasuredin"rackunits"),adaptedtostoremany
devicesnexttoeachotherinaserverrack.Unlikeordinarycomputers,serversusuallycanbe
configured,poweredupanddownorrebootedremotely,usingoutofbandmanagement,typicallybased
onIPMI.
Manyserverstakequitealongtimeforthehardwaretostartupandloadtheoperatingsystem.Servers
oftendoextensiveprebootmemorytestingandverificationandstartupofremotemanagementservices.
Theharddrivecontrollersthenstartupbanksofdrivessequentially,ratherthanallatonce,soasnotto
overloadthepowersupplywithstartupsurges,andafterwardstheyinitiateRAIDsystemprechecksfor
correctoperationofredundancy.Itiscommonforamachinetotakeseveralminutestostartup,butit
maynotneedrestartingformonthsoryears.
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Aserverrackseenfromthe
rear

WikimediaFoundation
serversasseenfromthe
front

WikimediaFoundation
serversasseenfromtherear

WikimediaFoundation
serversasseenfromtherear

Operatingsystems
Serverorientedoperatingsystemstendtohavecertainfeaturesthatmakethemmoresuitableforthe
serverenvironment,suchas
GUInotavailableoroptional
abilitytoreconfigureandupdatebothhardwareandsoftwaretosomeextentwithoutrestart,
advancedbackupfacilitiestopermitregularandfrequentonlinebackupsofcriticaldata,
transparentdatatransferbetweendifferentvolumesordevices,
flexibleandadvancednetworkingcapabilities,
automationcapabilitiessuchasdaemonsinUNIXandservicesinWindows
tightsystemsecurity,withadvanceduser,resource,data,andmemoryprotection.
Serverorientedoperatingsystemscan,inmanycases,interactwithhardwaresensorstodetect
conditionssuchasoverheating,processoranddiskfailure,andconsequentlyalertanoperatorortake
remedialmeasuresthemselves.[4]
Becauseserversmustsupplyarestrictedrangeofservicestoperhapsmanyuserswhileadesktop
computermustcarryoutawiderangeoffunctionsrequiredbyitsuser,therequirementsofanoperating
systemforaserveraredifferentfromthoseofadesktopmachine.Whileitispossibleforanoperating
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systemtomakeamachinebothprovideservicesandrespondquicklytotherequirementsofauser,itis
commontousedifferentoperatingsystemsonserversanddesktopmachines.Someoperatingsystems
aresuppliedinbothserveranddesktopversionswithsimilaruserinterface.[5]
WindowsandMacOSXserveroperatingsystemsaredeployedonaminorityofservers,asareother
proprietarymainframeoperatingsystems,suchasz/OS.Thedominantoperatingsystemsamongservers
areUNIXlikeopensourcedistributions,suchasthosebasedonLinuxandFreeBSD.[6]Theriseofthe
microprocessorbasedserverwasfacilitatedbythedevelopmentofUnixtorunonthex86
microprocessorarchitecture.TheMicrosoftWindowsfamilyofoperatingsystemsalsorunsonx86
hardwareand,sinceWindowsNT,havebeenavailableinversionssuitableforserveruse.[7]
Whiletheroleofserveranddesktopoperatingsystemsremainsdistinct,improvementsinthereliability
ofbothhardwareandoperatingsystemshaveblurredthedistinctionbetweenthetwoclasses.Today,
manydesktopandserveroperatingsystemssharesimilarcodebases,differingmostlyinconfiguration.
Theshifttowardswebapplicationsandmiddlewareplatformshasalsolessenedthedemandfor
specialistapplicationservers.

Types
Inageneralnetworkenvironmentthefollowingtypesofserversmaybefound.
Applicationserver,aserverdedicatedtorunningcertainsoftwareapplications
Catalogserver,acentralsearchpointforinformationacrossadistributednetwork
Communicationsserver,carriergradecomputingplatformforcommunicationsnetworks
Computeserver,aserverintendedforintensive(esp.scientific)computations
Databaseserver,providesdatabaseservicestoothercomputerprogramsorcomputers
Faxserver,providesfaxservicesforclients
Fileserver,providesremoteaccesstofiles
Gameserver,aserverthatvideogameclientsconnecttoinordertoplayonlinetogether
Homeserver,aserverforthehome
Mailserver,handlestransportofandaccesstoemail
Mediaserver,aspecializedapplicationserver,usuallyenterpriseclassmachine,providingvideo
ondemand
MobileServer,orServerontheGoisanIntelXeonprocessorbasedserverclasslaptopform
factorcomputer.
NameserverorDNS
Printserver,providesprinterservices
Proxyserver,actsasanintermediaryforrequestsfromclientsseekingresourcesfromother
servers
Soundserver,providesmultimediabroadcasting,streaming.
Standaloneserver,aserveronaWindowsnetworkthatdoesnotbelongtoorgovernaWindows
domain
Webserver,aserverthatHTTPclientsconnecttoinordertosendcommandsandreceive
responsesalongwithdatacontents
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responsesalongwithdatacontents

AlmosttheentirestructureoftheInternetisbaseduponaclientservermodel.Highlevelroot
nameservers,DNS,androutersdirectthetrafficontheinternet.Therearemillionsofserversconnected
totheInternet,runningcontinuouslythroughouttheworld.[8]
WorldWideWeb
DomainNameSystem
Email
FTPfiletransfer
Chatandinstantmessaging
Voicecommunication
Streamingaudioandvideo
Onlinegaming
Databaseservers
VirtuallyeveryactiontakenbyanordinaryInternetuserrequiresoneormoreinteractionswithoneor
moreserversthatoperateonaninterserverlevel.Otherservicesdonotusededicatedserversfor
examplepeertopeerfilesharing,someimplementationsoftelephony(e.g.Skype),andsupplying
televisionprogramstoseveralusers(e.g.Kontiki,SlingBox).

Energyconsumption
In2010,datacenters(servers,cooling,andotherelectricalinfrastructure)wereresponsiblefor1.11.5%
ofelectricalenergyconsumptionworldwideand1.72.2%intheUnitedStates.[9]Oneestimateisthat
totalenergyconsumptionforInformationandCommunicationsTechnologysavesmorethan5timesits
carbonfootprint[10]intherestoftheeconomybyenablingefficiency.

Sizeclasses
Sizesinclude:
rackserver
towerserver
miniature(home)servers
minirackservers
bladeserver
MobileServer
UltraDenseServer
Superservers

Seealso
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Homeserver
Fileserver
Printserver
Mediaserver
MobileServer

References
1. ^WindowsServerAdministrationFundamentals.MicrosoftOfficialAcademicCourse.111RiverStreet,
Hoboken,NJ07030:JohnWiley&Sons.2011.pp.23.ISBN9780470901823.
2. ^Comer,DouglasE.Stevens,DavidL.(1993).VolIII:ClientServerProgrammingandApplications.
InternetworkingwithTCP/IP.DepartmentofComputerSciences,PurdueUniversity,WestLafayette,IN479:
[[PrenticeHall]].pp.11d.ISBN0134742222.
3. ^Li,Huang,Shen,Chu(2010)." "ARealisticEvaluationofMemoryHardwareErrorsandSoftwareSystem
Susceptibility".UsenixAnnualTechConference2010"
(http://www.cs.rochester.edu/~kshen/papers/usenix2010li.pdf).
4. ^"ServerOrientedOperatingSystem"(http://www.ingelec.uns.edu.ar/rts/soos/).Retrieved20100525.
5. ^Siering,Peter(1993)."PaarigePremiere:MicrosoftWindowsNT3.1undAdvancedServer".c't(11):142
ff.
6. ^http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/oslinux/all/all.Retrieved18Jan2013.Missingorempty|title=
(help)
7. ^Siering,Peter(1993)."PaarigePremiere:MicrosoftWindowsNT3.1undAdvancedServer".c't(11):142
ff.
8. ^"WebServers"(http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/index.php/V2Vi).ITBusinessEdge.Retrieved
July31,2013.
9. ^Markoff,John(31Jul2011)."DataCentersUsingLessPowerThanForecast,ReportSays"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/technology/datacentersusinglesspowerthanforecastreport
says.html?_r=0).NYTimes.Retrieved18Jan2013.
10. ^"SMART2020:Enablingthelowcarboneconomyintheinformationage"
(http://www.smart2020.org/_assets/files/02_Smart2020Report.pdf).TheClimateGroup.6Oct2008.
Retrieved18Jan2013.

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