Understanding clients and servers

Since computer networks have been designed to share resources then it is very important to look at the way these resources are shared. Let us try to understand precisely, the computer network components that share resources and computer network components that request resources. For example, when accessing social networking portals on the internet, we know that our device is the network component that requests resources, while the devices where social networking applications are located are network components that provide resources. However, there are situations when these computer network components exchange roles, from requesting a resource to providing a resource and vice-versa, and that is going to be explained in the next section, Understanding network architectures.

Now, going back to the concepts of requesting a resource and providing a resource, actually, that is what is shaping the definition of clients and servers in the computer network. Clients, in most cases, are computers that request the resources in a computer network. Because they are components, the clients have an active role in the computer network. Furthermore, servers are a network component that provides resources to clients. Servers too have an active role. The following figure, Figure 1.2, presents the server with a shared printer in the role of resource provider, and the PC, laptop in the role of resource requesters.

If you did not know, the origin of the word servers originates from the word serve. If you search for the word serve in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, among the results you will find one that says: To provide services that benefit or help. Thus, a server in a computer network means the computer that provides services to the clients. In this case, the server serves the clients.