What is a Web Server?
A web server stores and delivers files to browsers, making your site accessible to users. It also processes files for emails and data storage using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP). While it’s possible to set up your own server, renting it from a web hosting provider saves you time, money, and effort. Keep reading this article to learn how web servers work, why they’re important, and some of the popular examples.
What is a Web Server?
A web server is a software and hardware that uses HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and other protocols to respond to client requests made over the World Wide Web. The main job of a web server is to display website content through storing, processing, and delivering web pages to users. Besides HTTP, web servers also support SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol), used for email, file transfer, and storage.
Web server hardware is connected to the internet and allows data to be exchanged with other connected devices, while web server software controls how a user accesses hosted files. The web server process is an example of the client/server model. All computers that host websites must have web server software.
Web servers are used in web hosting, or the hosting of data for websites and web-based applications – or web applications.
How does it work?
Servers allow an exchange of information that follows the client-server model. When a user types in a web address, their browser sends a request to the server. Once the server receives the request, it’ll process it by retrieving the files from its storage device. From there, it sends the files back to the browser, which displays the content to the user.
Web servers use application programming interfaces (APIs) to respond to requests from browsers – this is how all website and online content gets delivered. The web server processes incoming requests and responds with the requested web page’s content, or an error message in the case that there’s a server problem.
Benefits of optimizing a Web Server
Optimizing a web server requires regular monitoring of web and application servers. Outlined below are a few benefits of monitoring and optimizing your server:
- Helps solve critical problems quickly: It’s crucial to monitor web and application servers to ensure availability and performance. Monitoring web servers provides vital insights into application pools (worker processes, cache, requests), connections (current and total connections), websites (network, files), and cache (memory usage, file cache).
- Optimize infrastructure resources: It helps to understand key performance metrics, and website load, so you can effectively use infrastructure resources such as CPU utilization, network traffic, disk capacity, and more. It also provides crucial insights, such as client connections, web server traffic and status, and server load.
Uses of a Web Server
Web servers are commonly used to:
- Host websites
- Execute web applications
- Facilitate file sharing
- Handle Email services
- Stream media
- Power eCommerce platforms
These are just a few examples that illustrate the diverse range of uses for web servers. Moreover, it can also host multiple domains.
Types of web servers
Web servers have different functions, and each type serves a specific purpose. Here are some examples:
- Static web servers (or HTTP servers). They are fast and efficient for serving static content without any processing overhead. Ideal for websites that don’t need user-specific content or real-time data. HTTP servers deliver the same content to every user. They use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files.
- Dynamic web servers. They are essential for websites that need to display different content to every user. It can vary based on user preferences, sessions, or real-time data. Online shops, news portals, and social media platforms all use them. Dynamic web servers use server-side scripting languages (like PHP, Python, or Ruby) to generate content. They do it in real-time based on user requests or interactions.
- Application servers. They process business logic based on data input by the user. Application servers interact with the database, process the data, and send the results to the client. They are the backbone of web applications, ensuring correct and efficient data processing.
- Proxy servers. They act as an intermediary between the user and another server. Proxy servers can cache content, filter requests, or support shared access for multiple users.
Conclusion
A web server connects your website to the internet. It consists of hardware and software, each playing a distinct role in processing files.
The primary function of a web server is to host websites, process HTTP requests, and deliver web content to users. Besides Apache and NGINX, other web servers in the market include Microsoft Internet Information Services and Lighttpd.
Different types of web servers can deliver dynamic content or static content to a browser. A static website displays the same content to everyone, while a dynamic website shows content that’s unique to each user.
Purchasing a web hosting plan is necessary for any website type. The web host will be responsible for maintaining the server’s security and performance. This way, you’ll have more time to focus on other matters, such as your business’s marketing and day-to-day operations.