ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the brains of data infrastructures, the server storage input/output (I/O) building blocks, which are compute processors also known as computers or servers. Servers, also known as computers, run applications or programs to deliver information services. These programs are also responsible for generating as well as managing I/O data and networking activity for data infrastructures. Hardware- and software-based servers get defined to perform different tasks supporting various applications. Servers are targeted for various markets, including small office/home office, small/ medium business, small/medium enterprise and ultra-large-scale or extreme scaling, including high-performance supercomputing. Historically, there has been many different proprietary hardware as well as server software architectures, along with associated I/O networking and storage technologies. Servers have different names, from physical to virtual, cloud to logical. For example, a logical server includes the software that performs some function such as email, database, web, content, video, file and network, security, backup, or archiving, among others.
