What Is a Web Server, How Does It Work, and What Is It Used For?

The web hosting industry can be complex for most webmasters, especially those who aren't familiar with certain technical terms. One of the most basic concepts in web hosting is the "server."

Web servers are specialized computers that make web hosting possible; in other words, a hosting service is the rental of space on a server to store our site's files.

If you're wondering what a web server is and exactly what it's used for, I recommend reading on.

Think of web servers as "regular" computers, except that they're specially designed to stay on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The fundamental role of a web server

A web server's main function is to store a site's files and deliver them over the Internet so that users can visit the pages it hosts.

Basically, a web server is a large computer that stores and transmits data over the network system known as the Internet. When a user visits a website, their browser communicates with the server, sending and receiving data that determines what they see on their screen. So, to sum up: web servers exist to store and transmit a site's data when requested by a visitor's browser.

How do servers work?

Devices and servers communicate using IP addresses. Some are public and globally unique; others are private and can be reused across different networks. Your mobile phone has an IP address, as do your PC and tablet. An IP address can be thought of as the sender's address on a letter. When you want to view a website, your mobile phone, PC, or tablet sends a request from your IP address to the IP address of the server that hosts the site's files. The web server then responds by sending the data back to the requesting IP address. This happens all the time while we're browsing websites on the Internet.

More than 90% of websites on the Internet use a server rented through a web hosting company.

A server's capacity depends on its hardware—that is, the components that make up the hosting computer. Today, there are very fast servers with multiple CPUs and solid-state drives (you can see hosting plans with these features here).

Why are servers necessary?

Without web servers, the Internet as we know it wouldn't exist. Servers are the repository for all the content available on the Internet. The web hosting industry simply provides a service that lets you rent storage space and offers the associated management of your data.

Without this leasing system, the Internet would be a small fraction of what it is today, since most website creators wouldn't be able to buy a server for their own use. Think of it this way: web servers are the storefront that allows people to publish their websites on the worldwide network that is the Internet.

Now that you have a clear understanding of what web servers are, we invite you to learn what hosting is.