A
computer that delivers (
serves up)
Web pages. Every Web server has an
IP address and possibly a
domain name. For example, if you enter the
URL http://www.pcwebopedia.com/index.html in your
browser, this sends a request to the server whose domain name is
pcwebopedia.com. The server then fetches the page named
index.html and sends it to your browser.
Any computer can be turned into a Web server by installing server software and connecting the machine to the Internet. There are many Web server software applications, including public domain software from NCSA and Apache, and commercial packages from Microsoft, Netscape and others.
Also see How Web Servers Work in the Did You Know . . .? section of Webopedia.