A computer software application that carries out some task (i.e. provides a service) on behalf of yet another piece of software called a client. The term is now also used to mean the physical computer on which the software runs. In a general sense, server machines have high-capacity and sometimes redundant power supplies, a motherboard built for durability in 24x7 operations, large quantities of ECC RAM, and fast I/O subsystem employing technologies such as SCSI, RAID, and PCI-X or PCI Express. To enhance the processing power of a server, dual-CPU technology is sometime employed. Many large enterprises employ numerous servers to support their needs. A collection of servers in one location is often referred to as a server farm.
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