Clients & Servers

Client & Servers

  • Computers connected to the web are called clients and servers

  • Communication between the client and server are done through requests and responses

  • A simplified diagram of how they interact might look like this:

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Clients

  • Typically user-facing devices connected to the internet:

    • Computers

    • Mobile devices

    • Smart Speakers (Amazon Echo, Google Home)

    • Smart Appliances (Ring Doorbell, Nest Thermostat, etc)

Server

  • A computer dedicated to run services to serve the needs of other computers; examples include the following:

    • Web server (stores and delivers files needed to generate web pages)

    • Database server (stores and delivers data)

    • File server (stores and delivers files)

    • Print server (sends and receives print jobs)

    • Home media server (stores and delivers video and/or audio)