Describe How Web Host Servers Work
The World Wide Web could not exist without web servers. There would be no Google and no Facebook. Web servers send the text, graphics, sounds, movies and other parts of every web page that you read to your computer. Understand how a web server works to have a better grasp of the tools you use every day.
Other People Are Reading
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Function of a Web Server
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When you click on a link or type in a website address, the web browser on your computer performs a series of actions that ends with your computer sending a request for a specific file to the web server. The web server sends that file to your computer, where it is interpreted and put up on your screen by your web browser. The web server only sends files that your computer requests, unless the request was malformed or the file your computer requested isn't on the web server.
Requests That Web Servers Answer
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Computers that attach to the Internet to provide services listen for requests on specific ports. A port is a sub-part of an address. Web servers listen for specific types of requests sent on port 80. The specific type of request is called the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or http. It's the "http://" at the beginning of web pages.
HTTP determines the form of the requests to the server and the way it answers. The actual files, however, are determined by what subjects the web browsing computer asks for. Web servers send out the text, graphics, flash and java files, movies and music files that make up a web page. Any kind of file can be transferred by HTTP.
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Web Server Sizes
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The amount of physical computing power that is required to run an individual website is surprisingly small. Many small websites are hosted on "virtual servers," where a single physical computer plays host to as many as a hundred websites. A web server must be able to send and receive messages in TCP/IP, the base code the Internet is built upon, and store and send files when asked.
Web Server Costs
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Purchasing a computer to use as a web server is not very difficult. Almost any computer that can connect to the Internet will suffice. Web servers are usually managed and programmed remotely, so the computer doesn't need to have the ability to make graphics. The majority of the cost for a website is for it's connection to the Internet. Certain companies, known as web hosts, will rent space in their buildings to hold people's web servers. They keep the room secure and cool and guarantee a good connection to the Internet.
Web Server Software
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The most common kind of web server is named after the software it runs. "LAMP" stands for Linux, Apache, MySql and PHP. Linux is a free-to-use operating system that is known for being good at running servers. Apache is a free-to-use program that can turn a Linux-running computer into a web server. MySql is a free-to-use progam that makes and manages databases, which allows the websites being served to be more flexibly constructed because Apache can request data from MySql. PHP is a free-to-use scripting language that allows a website administrator to describe how the website should look and allows access to information from the MySql database to assemble web pages that Apache can then send out.
It's possible to host web servers under almost any operating system, including every version of Windows. There are even web servers for computers that were popular before the World Wide Web if someone had developed a way to connect them to the Internet.
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References
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