Client or Server? — TechKnowSurge

About this interactive

The module's scenario is TechKnowDJ, a DJ business that wants fans to stream its music. It needs two programs. One is an app the fan installs on their own computer: the client. The other runs on an old desktop the business turns into its server, and sends the music to the app. That second program is a network service. A service is a program the machine starts on its own: at boot, after a delay, or when something triggers it. It runs under an account of its own (a system account, not yours) and it keeps running whether or not anyone is logged in. On Windows you can see them in the Services console; Linux and Unix call them daemons. A network service is a service whose job is to answer requests that arrive from other machines. Two examples from the lesson. When a laptop joins a network, its DHCP Client service asks "Can I get an IP address?", and a DHCP server service on another machine answers with one. The DHCP Client is a service, but it is the client: it makes the request. And when you open Chrome and go to a website, Chrome is the client, and on the other machine a web server such as Apache or Microsoft's IIS, running as a service, answers with the pages. The test is simple: who makes the request, and who answers it?

What you'll learn

Decide whether a program is a client, which makes a request, or a network service on a server, which answers it
Explain what makes a program a network service: it runs as a service, with no one logged in and under its own account, and it answers requests that come in from the network

Aligned to

CompTIA A+ Core 1

2.4 Summarize services provided by networked hosts.

Cisco CCST Networking

1.5 Describe common network applications and protocols

CompTIA Tech+

2.7 Explain basic networking concepts.

CompTIA Server+

2.5 Explain server roles, features, and services.

Key terms

Client: A device or application that requests services or resources from a server over a network.
Server: A computer or program that provides services or resources to other devices, known as clients, over a network.
Network Service: A program running as a background service on a machine that provides functionality to other devices on a network, operating independently of user login sessions.
Client-Server Relationship: A model in which a client device requests services or resources from a server, which processes and delivers the response.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol: A network protocol that automatically assigns IP addresses and other configuration parameters to devices on a network.
Apache: An open-source web server software that runs as a network service to deliver web pages to clients over HTTP.
Internet Information Services: Microsoft's web server software that runs as a network service on Windows systems to host and deliver websites to clients.

Topics

Client Server Network Service Interactive Streak Sort

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