servers

server
servers

   1. A program which provides some service to other ({client})
   programs.  The connection between client and server is
   normally by means of {message passing}, often over a
   {network}, and uses some {protocol} to encode the client's
   requests and the server's responses.  The server may run
   continuously (as a {daemon}), waiting for requests to arrive
   or it may be invoked by some higher level daemon which
   controls a number of specific servers ({inetd} on {Unix}).

   There are many servers associated with the {Internet}, such as
   those for {HTTP}, {Network File System}, {Network Information
   Service} (NIS), {Domain Name System} (DNS), {FTP}, {news},
   {finger}, {Network Time Protocol}.  On Unix, a long list can
   be found in /etc/services or in the {NIS} database "services".
   See {client-server}.

   2. A computer which provides some service for other computers
   connected to it via a network.  The most common example is a
   {file server} which has a local disk and services requests
   from remote clients to read and write files on that disk,
   often using {Sun}'s {Network File System} (NFS) {protocol} or
   {Novell Netware} on {PCs}.  Another common example is a {web
   server}.

   [{Jargon File}]

   (2003-12-29)