Exhibit 28.4 Dell PowerEdge T440 web server.
A web server is a computer that hosts and serves webpages
to users. It is identified by an IP (Internet Protocol) address, such as 115.66.101.8. Most web
servers use domain names that are easy to remember, such as prop-gpt.com, to map IP addresses.
When a user types a URL, such as https://www.prop-gpt.com, into their browser’s
address bar, a request is sent to the web server associated with that domain name to serve the
default page, such as index.html or index.php, to the browser.
While an ordinary computer, such as a laptop, can be turned into a web server by
installing server software and connecting it to the internet, a commercial server, such as the
one shown in Exhibit 28.4, is recommended for business use. Commercial servers are
powerful, heavy-duty computers capable of storing a large number of files and transferring them
quickly over the internet.
The most popular server operating system is Linux, a Unix-like OS with hundreds
of versions or distributions, including
Ubuntu, a freeware that is easy to use,
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and its free version
CentOS),
Fedora (sponsored by RHEL),
and Debian, also a free, open-source software.
Other popular server OSs include Windows Server and Mac OS X Server.
Apache, IIS, and Nginx are the most widely used web server software. These
software programs handle requests from browsers and serve web pages, applications, and other
content to users.
