In computing, a server is a computer that constantly runs.
Serving whatever content and functionality it has been configured to perform.
Servers can host any program that works on the server-client model.
Online video games are another excellent example.
A physical server runs the game server utility for users to connect to.
Enterprise networking hardware, such as routers, switches, servers, etc., is all relatively space limited.
These machines are designed to fit into server racks.
Typically taking up one to four U of the height of a 48U 7-foot-tall server rack.
Note:A U is a standard unit of height for computer hardware designed to fit in server racks.
Not only do servers have limited space, but they also have limited cooling capacity and power limits.
These restrictions mean that server hardware is designed to be as efficient as possible through specialization.
Unfortunately, this means there is limited space for other hardware, such as hard drives.
Hard drives are necessary to hold the operating system and initiate the server.
Contents
Enter the Disk Server
Servers have some built-in and sometimes expandable storage.
But this isnt enough space for modern server needs.
Another key in of specialized hardware is used to get around all of these issues, the disk server.
In most cases, a RAID array will be used to provide some level of resilience to drive failure.
And potentially a performance improvement, depending on the arrays configuration.
The disk server is a single point for storage drives to be located.
So, multiple disk servers may be needed.
A disk server should be directly accessed by actual physical servers in a properly configured web connection.
The end user should not be able to connect directly to the disk server.
There are some differences, though.
Note:NAS stands for web link Attached Storage.
Both the NAS and the disk server generally dont provide direct access to the physical drives they hold.
Conclusion
A disk server is a specialized computer gadget that holds as many hard drives as possible.
It then provides access to the storage of these hard drives to configured devices, typically exclusively servers.
