Types of Computer Systems 2

1. Servers

A server is a computer that manages access to different resources and services over a network.

Other devices, like personal computers, connect to the server via a range of means such as Ethernet cables & WiFi. These computers can then access the resources and services it is providing.

Some common examples of servers and the services they provide include:

• Web servers – host web pages and associated files, providing access to them over a network.
• Mail servers – sends and receives emails over a network.
• File servers – stores and manages access to files and folders over a network.
• Print servers – provides and manages access to printers over a network.

Internal Components

The internal components of a server are very similar to that of a PC. There is a motherboard, CPU, memory & storage. There are, however, certain differences between these components.

Server CPU’s will generally have more cache memory available. It’s also possible for server CPU’s to have many more cores than desktop CPU’s (and generally servers make much more efficient use of multiple core CPU’s).

The main memory used in servers will still be DDR RAM, much like a desktop, however, it will be more likely to also be ECC (error-correcting code) RAM. This is designed to correct errors that might appear in volatile memory which is usually much more important in servers (which often handle a lot of very important data) than in PCs.

For storage, hard disk drives are still more common than solid-state drives due to the need for large amounts of storage (though an SSD may be used for things for like boot drives). The HDD you will use with a server will usually be different to that of a desktop though.

HDD’s have moving parts which makes them vibrate. Servers may have stacks of hard disk drives as they often have huge storage requirements. This can lead to a huge amount of vibration that will cause the moving parts inside the HDDs to damage. So server HDDs have additional protection from this vibration.

Servers will also rarely have graphics cards or even an integrated GPU in the motherboard as servers are not usually used for graphically intensive tasks.

Generally speaking, server internal components will be more expensive for similar speeds or capacity but have greater quality checks, better error prevention & greater energy efficiency.

2. Mobile Devices

A mobile device is a computing device that is designed to be portable by being compact, light-weight and capable of running for extended periods on battery power. They’re also almost always capable of connecting to the internet wirelessly, either through mobile broadband or WiFi.

Examples of mobile devices include tablets, smartphones & smartwatches. These devices can also be classified as personal computers and multi-functional devices too.

Internal Components

With mobile devices, all of the main internal components (CPU, GPU, memory, storage, etc.) are built into a single integrated circuit. This is known as “System-on-a-Chip”. As these components are built directly into the chip they are not replaceable, so upgrading individual components is not possible.

However, this saves a lot of space allowing for a larger battery, which is extremely important in modern mobile devices. It is also more efficient allowing for far greater performance than PC components that have equivalent power. It can also lower power requirements, saving on battery & reducing the heat produced (which is important as we don’t have space in a mobile device for a fan).

A lot of the internal components of a mobile device are specifically designed for saving space & reducing power consumption. The main memory uses LPDDR RAM, which uses less power than traditional DDR RAM. They also use Flash Memory for storage for similar reasons (we’ll learn more about this type of storage in a later lesson).

Another key feature of mobile device internal components is that mobile CPU’s have a different architecture to those used in desktops, laptops & servers. They instead use the ARM architecture. We’ll also learn more about this in a future lesson.