8 Different Types of Servers in

Computer Networks
Written By Harris Andrea

Have you ever tried searching the web for information, videos, music or
photos? If you have then you’ve already utilized the client-server model
without even realizing it. You (as the client) have requested a resource which
was served to you by a webserver.

This is the prevailing architecture for modern communications whereby digital

data is offered by servers to clients.

The alternate model, known as peer-to-peer, or “P2P”, relies on computers

connecting to one another to share data.

Unlike the P2P model, client-server architecture relies on a main server

machine or set of machines connected to a network, typically in a data center.
Clients, or normal computers connected to the web or to a local network, send
packets to request data from the server.

When the server receives these requests, they can do one of three things:
accept the packet, reject or “drop” the packet, or silently kill the connection.

Relying on the usage of “ports” to control the flow of data, clients and servers
must send requests to and from one another on the correct ports.

Most firewalls are set up to receive different kinds of requests. For example,
most servers using Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or “HTTP”, will only accept
requests for their data over port 80 or 443.

If you send a packet from a client to a correctly configured server to another

port, the server will typically silently drop the packets sent.

Now that we’ve had a brief discussion on how the client-server model works
broadly, let’s dive into some of the most popular types of servers found in
computer networks and in Information Technology field in general.

We’ll look into how they work, why they do what they do, and how they’re
integral in a computer network.

Then we’ll jump into the difference between a real, physical server and a
virtual server.

Let’s start with the various types of servers in network environments.

1. Web Server
A web server powers the site you’re looking at right now. This genre of server
focuses on serving web content to clients.

Web servers simply take “GET” and “POST” requests from clients (among
other verbs).

A “GET” request is when a client simply wants to retrieve information and

doesn’t have any information to submit to the server.

A “POST” request on the other hand is when a client does have information to
share with the server and expects a response back. For example, filling up a
form on a web server and clicking the submit button is a “POST” request from
the client to the server.

Web servers are typically “headless” in nature. This is to preserve the memory
on the server and ensure that there’s enough to power the operating system
and applications on the server.

“Headless” means that it doesn’t run like a traditional home computer, but
rather just serves content. The administrators of these servers can only
connect to them through command line terminals.

Remember that these types of servers can run any type of application just like
your home computer can.

They can also run on any operating system, as long as they obey the general
“rules” of the web.

Modern web applications usually run on a series of layers, starting with

server-side scripts and programs that process data (e.g PHP, ASP.NET etc),
and ending with client-side scripting (e.g Javascript) that programs how the
data should be displayed.

A web browser then renders the content accordingly to show the page as
you’re reading it now.

Some popular webservers include Microsoft IIS, Apache, Nginx etc.

2. Database Server
A database server typically operates in tandem with another type of server.
This kind of server simply exists to store data in groups.
There are countless methods of keeping data that operate on different
theories. One of the more common types is known as “SQL” or “Structured
Query Language”.

Database programmers can create databases on these servers using

scripting in the language of the database.

Web applications usually have their server-side components connect to a

Database server to grab data as users request it.

A good practice is to have webservers and database servers on different

machines. The reason that database servers should exist on their own is for
security.

If a hacker gains access to the main webserver but not the database server,
they will be able easily to retrieve or modify the data stored in the database
server.

Some popular Database servers include MySQL, MariaDB, Microsoft SQL,

Oracle Database etc.

3. eMail Server
An email server typically runs on “SMTP” or “Simple Mail Transfer Protocol”.
There are other possible protocols that newer mail servers operate on, but
SMTP remains the dominant protocol.

An email server powers mail services. These servers in themselves simply

take in emails from one client to another and forward the data to the other
server.

Data is simplified when sent through SMTP, so some information, like web
formatting, is usually lost in email transactions.

The modern approach to email servers typically pairs them with web servers.
This allows for users to have a “web client” that graphically shows the data on
a web page. Some newer web applications can even mimic a home computer
email client without installing anything.

4. Web Proxy Server

A web proxy server can run on one of many protocols, but they all do one
thing in common.

They take in user requests, filter them, and then act on the user’s behalf. The
most popular type of web proxy server is designed to get around school and
organizational web filters.

Because web traffic is all through one IP address and website that isn’t yet
blocked, users can gain access to sites that are forbidden through these
filters.

The less popular type is an organizational proxy server. This has the same
effect, but it’s typically authorized by an organization.

It takes users’ web traffic, usually logs it for evaluation later, and sends it to
the Internet.

This puts users’ traffic all together so that one computer cannot be
differentiated publicly from another.

This is done intentionally by an organization to prevent users from being

targeted and usually to be able to inspect, cache and analyze packets sent
and received.

5. DNS Server
A DNS server, or “Domain Name Service” server, is used to translate domain
names to their corresponding IP addresses.

This server is what your browser references when you type in a domain name
and press Enter. The idea is that users don’t have to memorize IP addresses
and organizations can have a fitting name.

Typically, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide DNS servers to their

users. However, there are many organizations that provide this lookup service
for free, as well (such as the popular Google DNS server with IP 8.8.8.8).

Some users who are more concerned about their privacy on the web often
use these alternate DNS servers.
DNS servers are also tapped when users create a new domain name. DNS
servers operate on a hierarchical basis, so there are some more
“authoritative” servers than others.

The domain name is registered with one higher-up DNS server that other,
lower-level DNS servers reference. Usually through a process taking
anywhere from 24 to 48 hours, this registration propagates across the world.

6. FTP Server
FTP servers, or “File Transfer Protocol” servers, have a single purpose: to
host a file exchange among users.

These servers do not provide any type of encryption by default, so there are a
number of secured versions of the protocol that are often used in its place
(such as sFTP which is FTP over secure SSH protocol).

This type of server allows users to upload files to it or download files after
authenticating through an FTP client. Users can also browse the server’s files
and download individual files as they wish.

7. File Server
A File Server is different from an FTP server. This type of server is more
modern and is typically capable of “mapping” networked files onto drives. This
means that users can use their home computer’s file browser to look into
folders.

The main advantage of this form of server is that users can upload and
download shared files. Permissions to files are controlled by the administrator.

Usually File Servers exist in corporate networks in a Windows Active Directory

environment or in Linux environments.

8. DHCP Server
A DHCP Server uses the Dynamic Host Communication Protocol (DHCP) to
configure the network settings of client computers.
Instead of having to manually configure static IP address and other network
settings to client computers in a large network, a DHCP server in the network
configures dynamically these network settings to LAN computers.