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What is a web server and what does it do for you?
Web servers are the computers with web serving software that have your web site on their hard drive and deliver it to visitors who ask for it. It is the software that makes a computer a server.
Many versions of Microsoft Windows software have web server capabilities and you can have a web site on your home desktop computer. You would not want to use this software for an external web site but you can use it for testing your new site while you build it or use it for a web site within your home if you have more than one computer that can see it. Remember, it's the software that makes a computer a server.
What about a web server for business?
Web servers used for commercial sites are often set up in data centers where hundred or thousands of computers are configured just for this purpose. Your web site in most cases, shares hard drive space with a number of other web sites on any specific computer. The web server software keeps track of your site and treats it as a separate site from all of the others so anyone surfing the web gets your web site when they type in your domain name.
Web servers are usually divided into two categories, those running the Microsoft operating system and the others running Linux or Unix. Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services) is the web server software that runs on Microsoft servers. Apache is the web server that runs on Linux and Unix.
Which kind of server do you need?
Many people think that because they are running Windows or using FrontPage software they have to have a Windows server. That's not the case. A Linux or Unix server can run your web site just fine. In fact, more web servers run Apache than any other web server software.
If you are using FrontPage, you will want to have FrontPage extensions loaded on the server and they can be loaded on a Linux or Unix server as easily as a Microsoft server. Your web host will usually explain that on their home page.
If you are running an application that requires Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft Access database software, then you must have a Microsoft server. There are a few other applications that require Microsoft as well but in most all other cases, Linux or Unix works fine and is probably the better choice. Why? Web hosts often charge less for those servers, Linux especially since it is a free open source operating system and also because those servers tend to be more reliable than Windows servers and offer the web host greater administrative flexibility.
