Introduction to web servers.
SERVERS: A server basically can be simply defined as any computer device on a network that servers as a provider of services to other computer devices on that network (Whalts, 2015) . Some examples of servers are; a file server which is a computer device on a network that houses or store files in it other for other people with their devices to access. Also, print servers are computers also on a network with a printer device attached to it with the primary aim of sharing that printer device to any other computer on that network.
WEB SERVERS: There are many individuals today that know how to drive a vehicle without really knowing the real mechanism behind the process. The same mechanism is applied in websites as many people who view webpages on the internet do not really know the process involved and what causes the web pages they are looking for to be sent to them. This whole process of delivering the web page a user searched for is done with the help of a web server.
A web server could simply be defined as a computer program that stores or houses websites (Hypertext markup language (HTML) pages, files etc.) so that people can visit them on a network (Techopedia, 2015) . These web servers respond to the HTTP (Hypertext transfer protocol) request from a client by delivering the content of the requested page to the client.
The web browser in a computer is a web client that requests for webpages in form of HTML (Hypertext markup language) files from the web servers. This process is achieved when a user types in the uniform resource locator (URL) example; www.konga.com in a web browser. The device that the web browser is running on with the help of its internet protocol (IP) address sends a request to the Internet protocol (IP) address of the device serving as the web server for the requested web page by the client.
A daemon is a computer program that continually runs and exists for the purpose of handling periodic service request that a computer service expect to receive. All web servers have HTTPD (Hypertext transfer protocols daemon that continually waits for request to come in from web clients or users and forwards the request to other programs as appropriate. These request is then processed from the web servers via Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to the web browser that requested for the page as only HTML data. The web browser now translate these files to images, text, videos, links etc. that the end users see on many web pages. If the requested web page is not found, the web server send an error message to the client.
(Maryskc, 2015)
The diagram above explains the concept of how web pages are gotten from web servers over the internet and displayed for the clients as explained above.
It is also important to note that web servers also have software installed on them that can be accessed by the clients. Examples of such software are; Wordpress and Joomla.
Some examples of these web servers includes; Microsoft Internet Information services (MIIS), Apache hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) server etc.
References
Techopedia, 2015. Web servers. [Online]
Available at: https://www.techopedia.com/definition/4928/web-servers
[Accessed 5 December 2015].
Available at: https://www.techopedia.com/definition/4928/web-servers
[Accessed 5 December 2015].
Whalts, 2015. Server. [Online]
Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/server
[Accessed 3 December 2015].
Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/server
[Accessed 3 December 2015].
Whalts, 2015. Web servers. [Online]
Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Web-server
[Accessed 5 December 2015].
Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Web-server
[Accessed 5 December 2015].
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