The process of creating virtual machines involves installing a lightweight software component called a hypervisor onto a physical server. These are kept separate from any other virtual servers that might be running on the physical server.

Like a physical server, a virtual server includes its own operating system and applications. The differences between a server and a desktop computer will be discussed in detail in the next section.Ī virtual server is a virtual representation of a physical server. The way that a server works varies considerably depending on how the word server is being used.Ī physical server is simply a computer that is used to run server software. The term server can refer to a physical machine, a virtual machine or to software that is performing server services. A given application in a computer might function as a client with requests for services from other programs and as a server of requests from other programs. In the client/server programming model, a server program awaits and fulfills requests from client programs, which might be running in the same, or other computers. That machine might be a dedicated server or it might be used for other purposes. In a data center, the physical computer that a server program runs on is also frequently referred to as a server. A server is a computer program or device that provides a service to another computer program and its user, also known as the client.

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