What is a Web server?
Web servers are computers on the internet that host websites, serving pages to viewers upon request. This service is referred to as web hosting. Every web server has a unique address so that other computers connected to the internet know where to find it on the vast network. The IP (Internet Protocol) address looks something like this: 69.93.141.146. This address maps to a more human friendly address, such as wiseGEEK. Web hosts rent out space on their web servers to people or businesses to set up their own websites. The web server allocates a unique website address to each website it hosts. When you connect to the internet, your personal computer also receives a unique IP address assigned by your ISP (internet service provider). This address identifies your computer’s location on the network. When you click on a link to visit a website, like www.wisegeek.com, your browser sends out a request to wiseGEEK’s IP address. This request includes return information and functions like a postal
Generally used in reference to the computer hardware that provides World Wide Web services on the Internet, a Web server includes the hardware, operating system, server software, TCP/IP protocols and the Web site content. Web servers process requests from Browsers for web pages and serves them up via HTTP.
