Do I Need a Server?

In word? Yes! Everybody needs a server. The better question is, where do I need a server?

What is a Server?

A server is a person at a restaurant that asks you what you want to eat and gives you your food. In a similar way a computer server asks other computers what kind of data they want and gives it to them. In a sense, the word “server” came to mean the whole restaurant of a given computer-based service. A computer server holds data and programs, manipulates the data, and servers the data in a way that other computers can understand it. Similarly, a restaurant houses the food and people, the people prepare the food and cook it, and serve it to patrons in a way that gratifies them.

What is a server service?

A server service is specific task that a server does for other computers. File and folder storage, email, web, application, messaging, voice communications, video meetings, automation, are types of services that we have come to rely on daily to do our business work.

Where is my server?

Most of the servers that we rely on these days are in the cloud, meaning physically somewhere in a datacenter connected to the internet. However, not too long ago, many businesses had servers on-premise, meaning physically in their office, that did all of those tasks in the previous section. On-premise servers are great if you only need to interact with people within your own physical space, however more and more we find ourselves working away from the office and collaborating digitally with people outside of own business, and therefore physical space. Servers in the cloud have literally won the day for micro-businesses trying to cope with the challenges of bigger players and the biggest challenge of the digital age, COVID-19.

Do you need a server? In a word. Yes. At your office? Probably not.