Web Server
The term web server is used to refer both to the computer on which are hosted the websites and to the software that delivers websites content or performs the required operations to build the dynamic content which is later served to the user.
Let’s see the difference between the two more in depth:
Web Server ( Computer )
Every website must be hosted on one or more computers ( server, web server ): the hardware employed to build this computer can be extremely simple or extremely complicated, groups of multiple servers ( clusters ) might be used, sharing the load of the requests coming from the web. This particular configuration is required when a website gets massive traffic.
On the other hand a web server can be a computer as simple as your home computer, or a computer with a particular case designed for data center usage. These servers can be mounted inside server racks to optimize space. These servers are usually wide, deep and very thin. The width is 19 inches, it’s standard so that servers can be mounted in any server rack.
Rackable servers can have different heights. The base unit the rack Unit, commonly referred to as U, which is 1.75 inches high. Most common sizes for servers are 1U, 2U and 4U depending on the number of the components ( disks, cpus, ram memory sticks, power supplies etc).
As far as it regards their functionalities there’s no difference between the two types of servers, the difference is only in terms of space required inside the server farm.
Web Server ( Software )
If we refer to a web server software we’re talking about that program that actually delivers the content of your website.
This software waits for requests of web pages coming from the internet and, when such requests arrive, retrieves the page and pushes it to the browser from which it reveived the request the request.
This is the functioning in case of static websites, instead if the website is dynamic the web server software uses additional modules and functions to build the content to be delivered.
It is really easier to explain this with an example.
Let’s say we have a database of events with dates and cities, and one of the pages of our website is events.php, it is written in PHP and it’s used to display to the visitors the events based on their search settings: the visitor sends a request ( submitting a form or clicking a link ) searching for events in Miami on March 28, which will lead him to a URL like http://www.yourdomain.com/events.php?city=miami&month=03&day=28 ( if you have no clue what this url means then read this article ): the web server receives this request and executes the php instructions in the page events.php; this will retrieve the events in Miami on March 28 and format these events in HTML. When this part has been completed the server will send the just composed HTML document to the visitor’s browser.
The most widely used web server softwares are Apache on unix/linux based systems and Microsoft IIS on Windows systems.
Check out What is a web server for more information. Compare prices and features, find the perfect web hosting plan for your needs at Recommended Web Hosts
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