They're hundreds of millions of computers on the Internet, but

they don't all do exactly the same thing.

Typically the computers on the net are either requesting information or

responding to those requests.

These two actions, requesting and responding,

divide computers on the net into two main categories, clients and servers.

While computers can be both the clients and servers even on the same machine,

let's take a look at a simple client-server relationship to find

out what makes a computer client and what makes a computer a server.

A server is both a piece of hardware, the computer itself and

a piece of software that responds to requests.

While the term server is used to describe this type of computer,

not all servers do all things.

Within the server umbrella,

there are several different types of servers including database servers,

file servers, mail servers, web servers, and gaming servers among others.

A server is typically made for production and speed, meaning they often have

faster CPUs, high performance RAM, and more storage capacity.

In addition, servers are typically more resilient than your personal devices,

meaning they have backup power supplies and storage in case anything goes amiss.

A client is a computer that makes requests to a server.

Clients come in many shapes and sizes.

The most common ones are desktops, laptops, tablets, and smart phones.

The typical client request and server response cycle

begins once you pop on the web and try pulling up your favorite web page.

At this point your computer is the client requesting a webpage and

the computer sending back the webpage is the server responding to your request.

This is a classic client-server relationship.

Now that you're familiar with the terminology, client and server,

let's dig into the main protocols these computers use to perform their duties and

share information over the Internet.