What is Server Infrastructure?
Learn about server infrastructure, server types, and the importance of monitoring and identifying server performance issues in real time.
What is Server Infrastructure?
Server Infrastructure Definition
Server infrastructure consists of physical and virtual resources, along with hardware, software, network resources, to support the management of servers in an IT environment.
Types of server infrastructure
Organizations can set up two types of infrastructure: centralized and decentralized.
- Centralized server infrastructure is organized within one data center
- Decentralized server infrastructure is distributed among multiple data centers
What is a server?
A server is a computer system built to share its resources, such as data, services, and programs, locally and over a network.
What are the different types of servers?
Several types of servers perform different functions. The most common server types organizations use are outlined below:
- File servers: File servers centrally store critical business information that can be shared with authorized clients. The centralized storage of files provides easier backup, access, fault tolerance, security, and integrity on every device.
- DNS servers: DNS servers are responsible for converting client requests into machine-readable IP addresses. They help you find the correct IP address of the site requested by the user. Browsers use those addresses to deliver website information.
- Web servers: Web servers are the most commonly used servers to host programs and data requested by users over the internet. Examples of web servers include Apache, NGINX, and more.
- Application servers: Application servers are virtualized servers that can install, operate, and host user applications and associated services critical for delivering end-user experience. These servers often run resource-intensive applications shared among a large number of users. An application server eliminates the need to install and maintain software on several machines.
- Database servers: Database servers are used to store critical data used by companies, users, and clients for various operations and services. Common database server applications include SQL, Oracle, and more.
- Print servers: Print servers are usually the devices connecting printers to multiple servers over a network. It eliminates the need to attach separate printers to each computer or workstation. A single printer can serve printing requests from numerous clients.
- Virtual servers: Virtual servers and their resources can be shared by multiple users, each having full control. In short, a single physical server can be converted into multiple virtual machines (VMs) with the ability to run individually with the help of a hypervisor.
Importance of server monitoring
With the increase in IT services and adoption of new technologies, organizations must check on the health and performance of various IT operations through regular monitoring. Server monitoring starts with gathering critical data, including CPU usage, disk utilization, memory consumption, error rates, key metrics analysis, and more. With automated server monitoring solutions, organizations can capture and analyze essential metrics to help save time and improve efficiency of IT teams.
Top server monitoring metrics to consider
Hardware Utilization: Hardware metrics—including CPU usage, memory utilization, and disk space utilization—largely contribute to overall server performance. Monitoring these metrics helps organizations track and detect performance and resource issues.
Average Response Time: It’s important to measure the average response time of a server as it determines how long a server takes to respond to a request. Average response time must be as low as possible to avoid interrupting the user's flow. Additionally, measuring the high response time for certain requests is a clear indication of downtime or performance bottlenecks.
Requests per Second: The number of requests a server handles every second determines its usage. The server will crash if it isn't able to handle huge amounts of requests or doesn't scale when required. One of the best metrics to measure and identify the potential scaling issues is its throughput.
HTTP Server Error Rate: HTTP server error rate enables organizations to measure and understand the end-user experience. This metrics allows teams to measure how often users experience HTTP errors or internal server errors.
Server Uptime: High server uptime indicates good server health. It indicates whether the server is fully available and functional. Server uptime can be determined by the availability of a website or domain.
Benefits of using a server monitoring tool
Manage server capacity and forecast resource utilization: Server monitoring tools provide key metrics and forecast charts to track and check resource utilization thresholds limits. They can also help in monitoring key metrics such as network latency, packet loss, and response time that directly impacts end-user productivity and business performance.
Monitor server hardware health: A server health monitor proactively notifies organizations about the server’s health status. It sends instant alerts to notify relevant teams about critical server components such as power supply, CPU utilization, and hard drive status.
Minimize application downtime: Server monitoring tools speed up the troubleshooting process by enabling teams to monitor application and infrastructure dependencies. They provide a built-in dashboard to view metrics in a single interface and drill down to the root cause of issues.
Troubleshoot server performance issues: A server monitoring tool allows troubleshooting remotely, so teams can identify real-time hogs and server performance issues, view Windows event logs and errors, and more.
What is Server Infrastructure?
Server Infrastructure Definition
Server infrastructure consists of physical and virtual resources, along with hardware, software, network resources, to support the management of servers in an IT environment.
Types of server infrastructure
Organizations can set up two types of infrastructure: centralized and decentralized.
- Centralized server infrastructure is organized within one data center
- Decentralized server infrastructure is distributed among multiple data centers
What is a server?
A server is a computer system built to share its resources, such as data, services, and programs, locally and over a network.
What are the different types of servers?
Several types of servers perform different functions. The most common server types organizations use are outlined below:
- File servers: File servers centrally store critical business information that can be shared with authorized clients. The centralized storage of files provides easier backup, access, fault tolerance, security, and integrity on every device.
- DNS servers: DNS servers are responsible for converting client requests into machine-readable IP addresses. They help you find the correct IP address of the site requested by the user. Browsers use those addresses to deliver website information.
- Web servers: Web servers are the most commonly used servers to host programs and data requested by users over the internet. Examples of web servers include Apache, NGINX, and more.
- Application servers: Application servers are virtualized servers that can install, operate, and host user applications and associated services critical for delivering end-user experience. These servers often run resource-intensive applications shared among a large number of users. An application server eliminates the need to install and maintain software on several machines.
- Database servers: Database servers are used to store critical data used by companies, users, and clients for various operations and services. Common database server applications include SQL, Oracle, and more.
- Print servers: Print servers are usually the devices connecting printers to multiple servers over a network. It eliminates the need to attach separate printers to each computer or workstation. A single printer can serve printing requests from numerous clients.
- Virtual servers: Virtual servers and their resources can be shared by multiple users, each having full control. In short, a single physical server can be converted into multiple virtual machines (VMs) with the ability to run individually with the help of a hypervisor.
Importance of server monitoring
With the increase in IT services and adoption of new technologies, organizations must check on the health and performance of various IT operations through regular monitoring. Server monitoring starts with gathering critical data, including CPU usage, disk utilization, memory consumption, error rates, key metrics analysis, and more. With automated server monitoring solutions, organizations can capture and analyze essential metrics to help save time and improve efficiency of IT teams.
Top server monitoring metrics to consider
Hardware Utilization: Hardware metrics—including CPU usage, memory utilization, and disk space utilization—largely contribute to overall server performance. Monitoring these metrics helps organizations track and detect performance and resource issues.
Average Response Time: It’s important to measure the average response time of a server as it determines how long a server takes to respond to a request. Average response time must be as low as possible to avoid interrupting the user's flow. Additionally, measuring the high response time for certain requests is a clear indication of downtime or performance bottlenecks.
Requests per Second: The number of requests a server handles every second determines its usage. The server will crash if it isn't able to handle huge amounts of requests or doesn't scale when required. One of the best metrics to measure and identify the potential scaling issues is its throughput.
HTTP Server Error Rate: HTTP server error rate enables organizations to measure and understand the end-user experience. This metrics allows teams to measure how often users experience HTTP errors or internal server errors.
Server Uptime: High server uptime indicates good server health. It indicates whether the server is fully available and functional. Server uptime can be determined by the availability of a website or domain.
Benefits of using a server monitoring tool
Manage server capacity and forecast resource utilization: Server monitoring tools provide key metrics and forecast charts to track and check resource utilization thresholds limits. They can also help in monitoring key metrics such as network latency, packet loss, and response time that directly impacts end-user productivity and business performance.
Monitor server hardware health: A server health monitor proactively notifies organizations about the server’s health status. It sends instant alerts to notify relevant teams about critical server components such as power supply, CPU utilization, and hard drive status.
Minimize application downtime: Server monitoring tools speed up the troubleshooting process by enabling teams to monitor application and infrastructure dependencies. They provide a built-in dashboard to view metrics in a single interface and drill down to the root cause of issues.
Troubleshoot server performance issues: A server monitoring tool allows troubleshooting remotely, so teams can identify real-time hogs and server performance issues, view Windows event logs and errors, and more.
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