What is a server?
In one sentence: A computer that waits for requests and answers them. This site runs on one with a single processor.
A little more
A server is any computer whose job is to wait for requests and answer them. It might be a huge machine in a data centre or something as small as a single-processor computer, like the one running this site.
Servers can get overwhelmed when too many requests arrive at once, which is why websites use caches, rate limits and load balancers.
It's a bit like… A waiter: it waits for orders, fetches what you asked for, and brings it back.
See it in action
- 3Can a website get tired?Why websites slow down or fall over when too many people visit at once.7 min · interactive
- 1What happens when you open a web page?Follow one click from your keyboard to a server and back: DNS, the padlock handshake, HTTP, tunnels and painting the page.6 min · interactive
- 14How can lots of people play the same game together?Share a pretend park with friends in other houses: every move is a message to a shared world on a server.7 min · interactive