Differences between servers and PCs

Order:The server mentioned here is, of course, a hardware server, and a personal PC, that is, a laptop and a desktop. The comparison between servers and PCs mainly compares hardware resources. It mainly compares the following aspects.

Overview: Compared with PCs, servers have high concurrency, high stability requirements, strong Disaster Tolerance capabilities, strong I/O capabilities, and powerful computing capabilities. Therefore, there is a corresponding difference.

I. CPU processing capability

Most servers use multiple CPUs, that is, multiple cores, while PCs use a single CPU.

Personal computers are used for general personal operations, such as surfing the Internet, playing games, hitting articles, and other operations. Generally, no matter how you operate, how many programs are opened at the same time, and how many processes are active at the same time (what the computer is dealing with at the same time), there will be no more than two or thirty processes. When hundreds or thousands of people submit some work requests to the server at the same time, the server requires hundreds or even thousands of threads. For the website server, if your website has a traffic of at least several hundred concurrent threads, your server may generate at least a few hundred concurrent threads, basically, it is as slow as a snail (feeling dead ). Of course, we generally have a small number of online users on our website. If your website can reach an average of two hundred people online at the same time, it will be very scary. However, this is not what the average home computer can afford (with more than 50 threads ).

II. I/O performance

Stable and massive memory are the requirements of servers.

1. The server must first ensure stability! Therefore, it is best to use memory with ECC ("error check and correction") function. This memory is often slower than our regular memory, but the stability is much higher, that is, the possibility of data errors in the memory due to hardware reasons is much lower. 2. The principle of having servers inside is also faster, the better. At the same time, hundreds or thousands of people access your machine, and the memory consumed by machines to cope with them is of course indispensable!

Iii. Hard Disk

High-speed hard drive. A general server uses a SCSI hard disk, which is several or even dozens of times faster than a general hard disk. In this way, data can be read and written quickly. At present, hot backup of Hard Disk Images is also generally achieved through the SCSI bus.

Iv. scalability

With the increasing maturity of educational information applications, schools will inevitably face the problems of expanding and upgrading network equipment. The server has many expansion slots, many drive holders, large hard disks, and memory expansion capabilities, so that the server can meet new requirements during network expansion, this protects the school's equipment investment costs. As shown in figure 2, the server motherboard has up to eight memory slots and supports up to 16 GB of memory. This scalability is incomparable to PCs.

V. manageability

In terms of software and hardware design, servers have sound management capabilities. Most servers are equipped with various sensors on the main board to detect various hardware devices on the server. They can also use corresponding management software to remotely monitor the server, this allows the network administrator to manage the server system in a timely and effective manner. Some management software can remotely detect the signals recorded by sensors on the server board, and remotely monitor and allocate resources to the server. PC does not have a sound hardware management system because of its simple application scenarios. For schools that lack professional technical staff, selecting servers with high manageability can save a lot of trouble.

Vi. Security

Security is the most important capability of the server. Therefore, it is important to select a server.

Because the server is the core device in the network, it must have high reliability and security. The server adopts dedicated ECC memory, RAID technology, hot swapping technology, redundant power supply, redundant fan, and other methods to enable the server with fault tolerance and security protection capabilities.

1. Multiple power supply systems and two (or more) external power supplies are provided. That is to say, a machine has two power plugs, And you can plug them into the power of two different power supply providers. When a power supplier encounters a problem, the server can work normally. Multiple power supply systems also ensure that when one of the server's power supply components is broken, the server can also use another set of normal work. 2. There are multiple CPUs, one of which is broken. In most cases, the other can work hard. 3. Hot Backup of Hard Disk Images (this may be the most important ). For many applications, the loss of data on the server may be huge! Hot Backup of Hard Disk Images ensures that your data is not affected when a hard disk is damaged, and the server can work normally. 4. High-speed hard drive. A general server uses a SCSI hard disk, which is several or even dozens of times faster than a general hard disk. In this way, data can be read and written quickly. At present, hot backup of Hard Disk Images is also generally achieved through the SCSI bus. 5. Some models of servers or even one of the above two memories is broken and can work normally! 6. The server must be running continuously for a long time. How long does it take? Different servers have different standards. Generally, the requirement for working group-level servers is that there is no fault during working hours (8 hours a day, 5 days a week; department-level servers require no faults 24 hours a day and 5 days a week. enterprise-level servers have the highest requirements, ensure that the server is ready for use 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. PC is designed for individual users. Therefore, in terms of security and reliability, PC is much lower than server. If a PC is used as a server, it is inevitable that there will be downtime or data loss in teaching applications.

VII. Price

Servers are expensive, while PCs are relatively inexpensive.

 

After the comparison above, the students should have a more intuitive impression on the differences between servers and PCs. You may think, wow, there was such a big difference. However, the two can be converted to one another, and the server can be a personal computer with a display. When the server is not demanding, the personal computer can also act.

 

Differences between servers and PCs