What is a Web Server?

By Tyler Downer
2/9/08

A Web Server is a large, fast computer that is always on and connected to the Internet. Servers store web sites, like the one you are using now, so that anyone can see them.Not any computer can do this. Most servers run special server software, like Apache, or Microsoft Server 2003. These allow people to access the web sites, while keeping the rest of the Server secure. While anyone can use software and set up a server on their home computer, it it difficult to do properly, and would be very slow. That is why web sites are stored on dedicated web servers. These are expensive however, and most people who want a web site cannot afford to buy and maintain and server. That is where Hosting Services come in. These are companies that usually have several severs, and rent space on them out to anyone for the asking. Some even give free space away, though often with ads or other sources of revenue.

E-mail also uses servers. When you send a message to a friend, it is sent to your e-mail provider's server, then to your friend's email provider's then finally to their computer. Servers are what makes the web work. Their are Domain Name Servers (DNS) that take a web address that you type out, like www.soswd.com, translate it into an address that it can understand, then looks for the server that says it has the soswd site. Without servers and the people that maintain them, the Internet would almost cease to exist and life would be much different.

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