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Hardware Servers can vary widely from personal computers to specially built rack mounted computers and depends on the amount of work that needs to be done and the number of clients that need to be supported. For example, quite often database servers are software that can run on a person computer to service the needs of an individual using the machine as a personal computer or can be on many rack mounted servers supporting thousands to millions of clients. As a general rule, Servers are more powerful and expensive than the clients hardware that connect to them.

Many servers, whether running locally on a personal computer or remotely on large clusters of servers, are accessed over a network. They are intended to run unattended without Human-machine interface (HMI) or Graphical User Interface (GUI). These servers are configured and managed remotely using software specifically designed for that purpose. Often the management is done using web based interfaces accessible using browsers and secure connections.

Some common Software Servers are:

• Blade Servers are chassis housing multiple thin, modular electronic circuit boards, known as server blades. Each blade is a server in its own right, often dedicated to a single application.
• File Servers are responsible for the central storage and management of data files
• Policy Servers are security components of a policy-based network that provides authorization services and facilitates tracking and control of files
• Print Server provides users with access to one or more network-attached printers

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