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All web servers are servers. Not all servers are web servers.
Web servers specifically serve HTTP and/or HTTPS, but there’s a myriad of other things. FTP, Minecraft, databases, mail, just to name a few
Need to look up this entire list.
I think you’d be better off learning more about computer hardware. Once you realize how different kinds of machines work you quickly realize they’re all basically the same thing, tailored for specific uses. Software-wise, it’s just a matter of what’s running on the hardware.
You mean a laptop, which can be turned into a server, is the same as a smart phone ??
It can be, if software is written to be compatible with both. A ‘server’ is just a computer of some sort running a piece of software at the end of the day.
There’s not a finite list…? The word “web” or “Minecraft” is describing the purpose of the server. It’s an adjective.
If you tried to make a list, you’d have to include all video games with online matchmaking. “Call of Duty servers”, “Fortnite servers”, etc. Its an impossible task.
Curious. Why do I need to list video games in order to understand the different categories of servers ?
There is no unified list and there are hundreds of specific types and it is constantly changing
I’d argue that web server generally refers to HTTP(S) servers more broadly regardless of whether they’re accessible on the web, a local network or even just the local interface.
What’s local interface in this particular context ?
Server is a general term. Webservers are a subset. We have video camera surveillance servers, telephone servers, internal document servers, web servers. They’re all servers. And webservers are one variant of it.
Even what we watch on the TV are servers.
A server is a fantastic concept per se.
Yeah, I skipped the more ambiguous ones. Netflix, Amazon, Youtube etc will distribute their content via the web. So they’re kinda webservers. Though the infrastructure which feeds in cable TV aren’t. It’s complicated.
Do you realise that the market has also become one huge server ?
What do you mean by that? Centralization of the internet? And an uptake in capitalism, to a degree that it’s now a handful of companies and providers who do the lion’s share of everything? Sure, that’s been happening since 2010 or so, plus minus a few years.
It’s not one huge server, though. They’ll have datacenters all across the globe.Centralisation of the internet is another topic altogether, and a very interesting one.
Here’s what l mean : https://cafe.coffee-break.cc/c/nostupidquestions/p/41334/the-market-is-turning-into-a-giant-server
In some ways it’s like saying that an automobile and a car are different things.
I don’t realise the difference between these two either.
Trucks aren’t cars, but they are automobiles
Does this fit within the broad category if we stretch the idea ?
Yup, no stretching required, that is also an automobile but not a car.
All cars are automobiles, but not all automobiles are cars.
Another analog to the original is to say “a bank account and a checking account are different things”. While a checking account is a kind of bank account, not all bank accounts are checking accounts.
Your (Windows) PC is also a server, as Microsoft included SMB (Server Message Block) and Share Services in the Windows workstation product.
Mapping/connecting to a share on another computer is using that machine as a server.
Linux machines can do this too, it’s just not a default thing like with Windows.
That automatically connects us to something, of which we don’t want to become a part ?
Just to muddy the water even further…
A web server frequently runs on a server, but could also run on a workstation, a phone, and many other devices. Said devices could be either physical or virtual.
