What makes a Server?

[Rastar]

Trying to figure out if I have a server or do I have a desktop computer working as a Server.

Here is what I have.
Athalon 900 with 396megs of ram
40 gig HD
DSL
RH7.2

What I do, I host 3 Multi User Dungeon Games
Surf the net, answer emails play Linux games,

Okay so do I or don't I have a server or something that could be a server?

Rastar

[noblestknight]

I don't think there is a hardware description of what makes a server. I think as long as you use the server to "serve something to another computer" than its a server. Whether it be internet connections, DNS, web, email or games. Just serve up something and you have a server.

[kenshi]

The differences between a server and workstation are becoming obscure. Like evilestknight said, a server is a computer that offers services to other computers. A client is a computer that receives those services. Many, perhaps most computers nowadays are both. So usually people just call it a server or workstation/desktop depending on the context.

[Feztaa]

Here is what I have.
Athalon 900 with 396megs of ram
40 gig HD
DSL
RH7.2

If that somehow doesn't qualify as a server, then my PII-300 MHz, 128 MBs RAM, 14 GB HD must be something along the lines of a "paperweight".

Seriously though. 486s make good servers, too!

[tolstoy]

Trying to figure out if I have a server or do I have a desktop computer working as a Server.

Here is what I have.
Athalon 900 with 396megs of ram
40 gig HD
DSL
RH7.2

What I do, I host 3 Multi User Dungeon Games
Surf the net, answer emails play Linux games,

Okay so do I or don't I have a server or something that could be a server?

Rastar

Anything can technically be a server if it is serving something to a client machine. Those specs are more than adaquate, however what you really need to do is determine what kind of resources you will really need to serve your apps (your multi user dungeon game). I've seen file servers tha run fine with less specs than those as well as terminal servers with 4GB of RAM that just barely meet their task. If I were you, I would set up your server, run one user on it, then two, monitor the memory usage, processor usage, disk I/O, then, when you get a good base line, multiply that by the max number of clients you are willing to support. The question is not, can this box be a server. It's: can this box support the services I wish to provide.