11 Jun
2009
11 Jun
'09
1:37 p.m.
On Jun 11, 2009, at 4:17 PM, Kirn Gill wrote:
In my experience, the difference between
"workstation" and "server" is
how you use it. A "server" is a computer running various daemons that
make the "server" machine the central point for activity of network
clients. Web server, FTP server, mail server, NIS server, NFS server,
Samba server, etc. A "workstation" is everything else. Web browsing
(MySpace), Solitaire, and Minesweeper.
For me, "server" hardware (that meant to be used as a server and not a
workstation) is just specialized workstation hardware designed to
maximize processor and data throughput.
It's more a matter of "computer" hardware being specialized to be
an effective workstation or an effective server. There are big
differences, despite many people very commonly using workstations as
servers.
Geneally, these machines are
also undesirable to be used as workstations (nonstandard disk options
[RAID arrays and lack of CD-ROM],
RAID array is quite a common "standard" disk configuration on
servers. I don't think I've seen a server in the past ten years that
didn't have an optical drive, though.
lack of a local console, graphics
that go no further than 2D hardware accel, or even standard VGA), but
can seriously outperform most workstations and some gaming rigs.
Graphics hardware has *no* place on a server. The fact that many
servers have graphics hardware doesn't change this. Though
admittedly it is somewhat of a matter of opinion, I have damn good
reasons for my opinion.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL