Web servers

A web server is a WWW server that stores web documents and responds to the request made by web browsers.   

             A Web server is a computer that stores websites on the Internet and delivers web 

             page to viewers upon request. A web server is also called WWW server.

             Web Servers are generally programs or software that wait for requests from the

             web browser. Some examples of web servers are Apache, IIS, GWS, Net site etc.

         Services Provide by a server

            As you already know that a server is a computer dedicated for managing network 

            resources, it is responsible for handling the requests related to the resources on                    network.

           Services provided by a server on a network include the following among many                     others   

•                           Equipment/Resource sharing: High quality printers and photocopiers are often designed to connect directly to a network and all authorised users can share the equipment. A server is responsible for such a resource-sharing request.

•                      Centralised File Saving for Data Sharing: Servers help the user save files to their home directories on the file server; workers can load their documents on any networked computer.

•                         Centralised Virus Scanning: Most file servers run virus scanners constantly to detect and take care of viruses introduced by any user on any computer.

•            Centralised Backups: High-capacity tape devices in the file server back up all users’ work, usually every night. In case of system failure (or worker failure), lost work can be recovered quickly and easily. 

                                               

                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                 Services Provided by Webservers

       Unlike a server, a web server is completely dedicated to                     handling requests for webpages. It provides following major             services:

•    Serving web Pages: The primary function of a webserver is to deliver webpages on the request of clients using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). This means delivery of HTML documents and any additional content that may be include by a document, such as images, style sheets and scripts.

•      Running Gateway Programs (CGI) and Returning Output: In order to process the requests received, the webservers need to run special programs called CGI programs, which help them the required output as the request made by the client.

•     Controlling Access to the server: A full implementation of HTTP also includes ways of receiving content from clients. This feature is used for submitting web forms, including uploading of files. 

•   Monitoring and Logging all Access: The webservers also ensure that only authenticated access takes place and thus they keep running   many monitoring programs and keep logging all the activities.

•     Server Side Scripting: Many generic web servers also support server-side scripting using active Server Pages (ASP), PHP, or other scripting languages.