server
1. A program which provides some service to other ({client})
programs. The connection between client and server is
normally by means of message passing, often over a network,
and uses some {protocol} to encode the client's requests and
the server's responses. The server may run continuously (as a
{daemon}), waiting for requests to arrive or it may be invoked
by some higher level daemon which controls a number of
specific servers ({inetd} on {Unix}). There are many servers
associated with the Internet, such as those for {Network File
System}, {Network Information Service} (NIS), {Domain Name
System} (DNS), {FTP}, {news}, {finger}, {Network Time
Protocol}. On Unix, a long list can be found in /etc/services
or in the {NIS} database "services". See {client-server}.
2. A computer which provides some service for other computers
connected to it via a network. The most common example is a
{file server} which has a local disk and services requests
from remote clients to read and write files on that disk,
often using {Sun}'s {Network File System} (NFS) {protocol} or
{Novell Netware} on {IBM PC}s.
[{Jargon File}]
(1996-09-08)