A web server could be connected to the internet for public access, or it could be connect to the company’s LAN to form an intranet. A web server can be described b y the formula:
Web server = Platform + software + Information
A web server must be a computer with a connection to the internet, with system software to run the computer and to connect to other systems on the internet. It is the critical part of the infrastructure that powers the public internet, as well as the private intranets of institutions and corporations.
The computer hardware, its operating system and network software are the computing ‘platform’.
The second webs server component is the web server software itself. The third one is the information.
At the basic level the web server software listens to the TCP/IP port for Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) request and serves the requested resource.
Web servers are capable of performing three basic functions:
*Serve web pages to a web browser
*Monitor the device within which they are embedded
*Control the device within which they are embedded
Web servers
