Server
A Server is a piece of hardware and/or software which makes information (data, documents, applications, articles, text messages, images, audio, video and just about anything that can be represented digitally) available through a network (whether public or private).
Serverless
Just like the comical "there's no 'cloud'; only other people's computers" quote from FSF[1][2], there's certainly no such thing as "serverless computing" in that some machine no matter how big or small, public or private, local (i.e. in front of your or within arms reach) or remote (some unknown data center) must best used to run it. Through techniques like P2P and RIA thick/fat-client variations from typical WebApps, most if not all of the computing can reside on the local machine or be spread across the network. Even then, one could argue that local or distributed machines are filling in the role of the "Server" and "Client" both. The common hype around "serverless computing" has ironically enough, thus far, centered around Cloud Computing solutions provided by AWS, Google, Microsoft and IBM and the ability to run "Lambda expressions" on those stacks in order to accomplish most if not all of the functionality of a traditional server-side/back-end application.
- Your Server as a Function: http://monkey.org/~marius/funsrv.pdf (the original whitepaper proposing "Serverless" architecture)
- Serverless Architectures: http://martinfowler.com/articles/serverless.html
- The Life of a Serverless Microservice on AWS: http://dzone.com/articles/the-life-of-a-serverless-microservice-on-aws
- AWS Lambda Best Practices: https://dzone.com/articles/aws-lambda-best-practices
Resources
- Barracuda -- Secure Device Control: http://barracudaserver.com/
- ConfigServer Security & Firewall settings - csf v5.40: http://configserver.com/cp/csfdemo/config.html
- Micro Servers - the IBM computers that will help scientists step closer to the Big Bang: http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-computers-that-will-help-scientists-step-closer-to-the-big-bang/
Tutorials
- What is a network server?: https://computer.howstuffworks.com/what-is-network-server.htm
- How Does a Server Work?: https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-does-a-server-work
- What is a Proxy Server and how does it work? https://www.gohacking.com/what-is-proxy-server-and-how-it-works/
External Links
- wikipedia: Server
- wikipedia: Jump server (aka. "Jumpbox")
- wikipedia: White box (computer hardware)
- [[wikipe[9]dia: Comparison of web server software]]
- wikipedia: Comparison of application servers
- wikipedia: Colocation centre
- wikipedia: Traversal Using Relays around NAT (aka. TURN server, for getting around networking issues where streaming/broadcasting or P2P connections are blocked, especially useful for bridging gaps in WebRTC)
- What is a Server?: https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/server.htm
- Understanding Horizontal and Vertical Scalability in Messaging Server: http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/819-4439/acrih?a=view
- Difference between proxy server and reverse proxy server: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/224664/difference-between-proxy-server-and-reverse-proxy-server
- Server sales surge -- IBM share jumps; HP top dog; Oracle's Sun perks up: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/server-sales-surge-ibm-share-jumps-hp-top-dog-oracles-sun-perks-up/49284
- The Perfect Server - Fedora 15 x86_64 [ISPConfig 3] : http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-fedora-15-x86_64-ispconfig-3
- Web hosting deciding to pay for hosting or host your own?: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/197194/web-hosting-deciding-to-pay-for-hosting-or-host-your-own
- Lenovo after IBM server (division/business-line) deal - We will fight back vs. HP FUD: http://www.zdnet.com/lenovo-after-ibm-server-deal-we-will-fight-back-vs-hp-fud-7000034149/
- Jump Boxes .vs. Firewalls: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/data-center/jump-boxes-vs-firewalls/
- Microservers - What you need to know: http://www.zdnet.com/microservers-what-you-need-to-know-7000027388/
- Energy Efficiency and the Data Center: https://devops.com/energy-efficiency-and-the-data-center/ (sample calculations of energy saved by upgrading servers)
References
- ↑ FSF Europe - "There is no cloud, only other people's computers" campaign: https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword.en.html#nocloud
- ↑ Why it’s time to retire the ‘other people’s computers’ criticism of the cloud: https://verneglobal.com/blog/why-its-time-to-retire-the-other-peoples-computers-criticism-of-the-cloud
- ↑ Serverless Backend using AWS Lambda -- Hands-on Guide: https://blog.bitsrc.io/serverless-backend-using-aws-lambda-hands-on-guide-31806ceb735e
- ↑ Comparing "AWS Lambda" performance of Node.js, Python, Java, C# & Go: https://read.acloud.guru/comparing-aws-lambda-performance-of-node-js-python-java-c-and-go-29c1163c2581
- ↑ Google Flutter (Dart SDK) with AWS Lambda to build a serverless mobile app for movie listings: https://read.acloud.guru/serverless-application-with-flutter-lambda-aa0d264fbefd (Dart is a lambda expression language that works very similar to Java's chained lambda syntax)
- ↑ Using Chrome as a Local Web Server: https://medium.com/@jmatix/using-chrome-as-a-local-web-server-af04baffd581 (aka the "other kind" of Serverless architecture)
- ↑ What serverless computing really means, and everything else you need to know: https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-serverless-computing-really-means-and-everything-else-you-need-to-know/
- ↑ On-prem serverless – missing the point?: https://www.cio.com/article/3273571/on-prem-serverless-missing-the-point.html (Serverless in your datacenter isn’t really “serverless,” is it?)
- ↑ Using Chrome as a Local Web Server: https://medium.com/@jmatix/using-chrome-as-a-local-web-server-af04baffd581 (aka the "other kind" of Serverless architecture)
See Also
Client | Client/Server | Web Server | Media Streaming Server | Database Server | OS | PC
