Servers

Proxy Servers
What are they?
Proxy server is a server that is usually used on a private network that will allow access to external network resources. In typical network configurations, the computers on a company network care separated from the internet by a firewall (for security reasons). The computers on the network are not able to access the internet directly to browse for web pages, so therefore the browser must be configured to use a proxy server. The proxy server is allowed to access the internet to service requests for web pages from the internet. All common browsers can support this configuration, usually titled, “Use a Proxy Server”.
How they do they Work?
Proxies are store-and-forward caches. You can configure your web browser to use a proxy; this will make it so that it never connects to the URL. It is cool because instead it will always connect to the proxy server, and asks to get the URL for you. Proxies can and sometimes used for some sort of firewall, because it isolates you from connecting to the Internet.
A Proxy server receives a request for an Internet Service from a user. Then if it passes filtering requirements, the proxy server, assuming it is also a cache server, looks in its local cache of previously downloaded Web pages. If it finds the page, it returns it to the user without needing to forward the request to the Internet. But if the page is not in the cache, then the proxy server, acting as a client on behalf of the user, uses one of its own IP addresses to request the page from the server out on the Internet. When the page is returned, it then relates it to the original request and forwards in on to the user. The proxy is invisible to the user; any of the Internet requests and returned responses appears to be directly with the addresses Internet server.
What are their advantages?
A proxy server’s cache can serve all users. Also to improve user response time, if one or more internet sites are frequently requested then they are likely to be in the proxy’s cache. There are also different types of proxy servers with different features, some are anonymous proxies so that it can hide your real IP address and some are used to filter sites, for example sites that have things that may be unsuitable for people to view. With a proxy server you are not completely anonymous because when you connect to a web site, your true IP address will not be shown, but the proxy servers IP will and therefore the proxy server will have logs of IP’s that used the proxy server and the times.
What are some possible uses?
Some possible uses can be if you have a child and you want to restrict sites that they are viewing, you can do that with the right type of proxy because not all of them filter sites. It is also used for protection, so if a hacker hacks you, your IP address will be hidden and they can’t get info about you when using it. They will only be able to get the servers IP. Also they are not hard to set up, there is no hardware or software needed, all you have to do is configure your browser to connect through it. ______________________________________________________________________________

File Server
What are they?
A file server is a computer attached to a network that has the primary purpose of providing a location for a shared disk access. The file server is a shared storage of computer files. It contains documents, sound files, photographs, movies, images, databases and more. These certain files can be accessed be the workstations that are attached to the computer network. The file server does not usually perform any calculations, and does not run any programs on behalf of the clients. It is basically designed to enable the rapid storage and retrieval of data where the heavy computation is provided by the workstations.
How they do they Work?
File servers can either be dedicated or non-dedicated. Dedicated servers are basically designed specifically used for a file server, with workstations attached for reading and writing files and databases. File servers can also be categorizes by the method of access. For example Internet file servers are frequently accessed by File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or by HTTP.
What are their advantages?
File servers are good to use because they will save space on each individual client computer. They help with storage space, access speed, recoverability, ease of administration, security, and budget. File servers basically offer some form of system security to limit access to files to specific users or groups.
What are some possible uses?
File servers are sometimes used in offices, schools, businesses, and sometimes even houses.
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Print Server
What are they?
A print server is basically a device that allows computer workstations to interact with one or more printers that are shared on the network. They are mainly used in offices but can also be used for personal use. In an office, a printer service would be used to connect all the office computers to one printer. The print server can either be in the form of a small server that acts with the main office servers to allow printing capability. In many situations, one of the computers in the network group is designated as the print server. The software needed to allow for this function is loaded onto the hard drive of the computer that will be used as the print server.
Once the hardware is loaded and installed, the software can be configured to recognize all the printers in the office, as well as all the workstations that are allowed access to server functions. Once the credentials are established on the print server, each work station can be configured to connect with the server for printing capabilities. These printing capabilities include granting or restricting rights to any one of the printers that are recognized by the print server.
What this arrangement does is ensures that there is always a printer available to any member of the office. If one printer is temporarily out of service, it is a simple task to send the print job to a different printer on the network. Having a print server that allows access to multiple printers saves a lot of time and money.