Servers

It doesn’t matter how how big your server is, without it, some critical part of your network is not going to function correctly.

It might be as simple as a home computer managing connected devices, or it could be a virtual server farm hosting business critical applications.

We’ve seen all sorts of servers over time, from old Unix based boxes, or Windows 2000 desktops, through to Virtual Server farms running on VMWare with multiple host OS’s.

We’ve had some interesting operating systems and setups that don’t usually qualify as a server environment too. But if it’s providing your network with a service, it is a server and it’s important or even critical to your needs.

What qualifies as a Server?

Like many terms used in IT, the term ‘Server’ nowadays refers to a broad range of devices and applications that serve a resource of some nature to other devices that request it.

Typically we think of a dedicated device or machine that has an operating system that is configured to perform one or more services to other computers (known as clients) on the network.

The services (sometimes called daemons) can be anything from providing information (such as DNS) configuration information (such as DHCP) storage (like Shared files or printers) or resources (such as shared processing)

Some common services you might come across (and are using even if you don’t realise it) are;

• DNS (Domain Name System) Which is like the phonebook of the internet and networks, letting one device connect to another over a network.
• DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Which is the way a device can connect to your network and be identified by a number. (IP Address)
• File (Sometimes called NAS, SMB, CIFS, AFP, NFS, FTP and many more protocols) This is how networks share files around, usually by means of a ‘shared folder’ on your computer.
• Printer (Or spooler) This is the way many computers can print to a single printer that itself is not necessarily network aware.
• Web This is a type of server that provide web pages when you visit a website.

There are many other types of daemon/service that are in common use and many many more that are specialised. Some require quite specialised knowledge on how to configure and maintain them, others are more simple or are able to maintain themselves to a certain degree.