Let's dive deeper into the world of servers and their role in IT infrastructure:

What is a Server:

• A server is essentially a software or hardware system that provides services to other software or hardware systems.
• Servers store and serve content to clients, such as web servers, email servers, SSH servers, and more.
• Clients are the machines or software applications that request services from servers.

Server Functionality:

• Servers can provide services to multiple clients simultaneously.
• Clients can use services from multiple servers, depending on their needs.
• Any computer can theoretically act as a server, but industry-standard servers are powerful, reliable, and typically run 24/7.

Server Hardware:

• Server hardware comes in various forms, including tower servers, rack servers, and blade servers.
• Rack servers are commonly mounted in a 19-inch wide server rack.
• Blade servers are even slimmer than rack servers and are designed for high-density installations.
• Server hardware can be customized based on the specific services it needs to provide. For example, a file server might require more storage resources.

Connecting to Servers:

• In a small IT organization, you may deal with multiple servers, and connecting to each with a dedicated monitor, keyboard, and mouse would be impractical.
• Remote connection methods like SSH are commonly used to manage servers.
• However, it's advisable to have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse available as backup in case of network issues.
• KVM (Keyboard, Video, and Mouse) switches are used to control multiple servers from a single set of peripherals. This is especially useful for managing multiple servers efficiently.