A multiple client server is a network architecture where clients request information from a server. They can be LANs or WANs, and servers can handle multiple requests simultaneously. Cloud computing and web servers are examples of this architecture. FTP and DNS are fundamental communication projects.
A multiple client server is a type of computer network software architecture in which clients, which may be basic workstations or fully functional personal computers, request information from a server computer. There are also often software interfaces between clients and servers, known as middleware, and network routing and protocol software, as well as security software such as firewalls. Depending on the size of a network, servers and clients can interact either directly or through a three-tier architecture that provides additional processing between the two types of machines.
The most common type of multi-client server system for small businesses and homes is the single multi-client server. A server can handle dozens of information requests from client computers simultaneously. Contrary to popular belief, the server computer itself doesn’t have to be the fastest and most powerful machine on the network to perform this role efficiently.
A major distinction in multiple client server networks is that they can be local area networks (LANs) that are self-contained within a building and not necessarily connected to the Internet, or wide area networks (WANs). Wide area networks are multi-client server systems distributed across multiple geographic locations and connected almost exclusively to the Internet. Some large companies, however, have WAN systems that are independent of the Internet. The growth in size of the Internet, its development of the world wide web, and the growing diversity of networking hardware and software choices have led to the term WAN taking on a broader meaning.
In the past, a WAN consisted of one or more physical servers that provided networking support to a multitude of clients. The term is now more loosely defined, and a WAN can be built largely on the software itself, such as in cloud computing or using web browsers and web servers. More traditional WANs use file transfer protocol (FTP) and Domain Name System (DNS) architectures. File transfer and processing speeds across WANs have also been improved through the use of the multi-threaded client server, a network built on central processing units (CPUs) that can apparently execute many different program instructions simultaneously.
Web servers are a type of virtual hosting multiple client server. These networks are built entirely on software and require no specific physical locations for client or server computers. The web server acts as a physical server and can run on multiple machines or on a section of a server machine running multiple web servers simultaneously. The client computer in this case is a web browser accessing the server and can also be loaded from a variety of computers not tied to a specific location.
Cloud computing has similarities to the previous years’ workstation concept for multiple client servers. Both cloud computing and workstations are client machines with few local resources to draw on. Almost all cloud computing network software is installed on the server itself, such as word processors, games, music and video applications, and more. The client gets access to this software on the server to run it. The workstation is a monitor and network location with minimal resources, such as very little memory or processing power, and without access to the server, it wouldn’t be a functioning computer.
Simplified web server architectures, cloud computing, and workstation designs are all attempts to reduce the cost of a network of multiple client servers. By not distributing physical hardware or software resources to dozens or hundreds of client machines, the idea is that they can be accessed more cheaply on a central, powerful server. Their vulnerability is that there are no local copies of most files, and if the network goes down, many people could lose access to their work.
Both FTP and DNS systems are fundamental multi-client communication projects. FTP is a fast and reliable method of transmitting text and some other files, usually in binary mode, across a network. It was an original transfer protocol when the Internet was largely text-based, before the graphics-heavy subset of the world wide web arose. Most Internet traffic today is still text-based FTP transfers that happen largely invisible to web users. DNS systems also arose early, especially with the growth of the World Wide Web, as a way to replace actual network addresses in the form of strings of Internet Protocol (IP) numbers, with familiar English names for the servers clients would access.
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