What is the difference between Local Server and a Web Server?

Question

Hi i am new to Web Services. Here is my doubt

1) If i am hosting my website then their should be a web server which should keep my website into that this also we are calling server..

2) If i want to run PHP Program in my local system i should use Local Server lie XAMPP this also we are calling server.

My doubt is for example in local system i have downloaded Xampp and i am running my server side program.. but after uploading into server how its working

also AWS, Proxy is which server???

All the servers are confusing a lot

Solution

Both web servers and local servers are just computers with software installed on them. Not much more.

That said a web server is a computer that is connected to the internet and has some kind of a web server software installed on it.

The most common one is an HTTP server software that can serve web pages. For example, Apache, Nginx are both HTTP servers that can serve both static and dynamic web pages to browser across the world. Another web server can be FTP, IRC, NTP, SMTP/IMAP/POP3 (mail servers) are all web servers that just have different software installed on them and so they serve other purposes.

A local server is again a computer that serves a client within the local network or LAN. That means that in most cases it will not be connected to the internet or if it does it will be protected with a password so not everybody can access its services. It can act as a file server or LDAP server that are roles of a typical local server but it can also be a local web server that holds web-based application only for the local organization.

For example, a company will have a local web server with Salesforce installed on it to serve it's CRM needs.

To make a long story short both servers are just computers connected to a network. Local servers are connected to the LAN and Web Servers are connected to the WAN. Other than that it really depends on the software you install on them and the use you want to make of them. If you need more clarification, leave a comment and I'll try to help.

Comments

[Ramya MiiM]

Thank u...a clear answer... So for local server we can user Apche, Ngginx right like that for in internet which server is there...Also both are doing the same job right the first guy doing in local another is in global thats it right

[Itamar Kerbel]

Exactly. The term web server just evolved over the years. Sometimes people just say "Web Server" and mean HTTP server because that is the most common use. But semantically a web server is any server that is connected to to the web (internet) and gives it services. So an FTP server is also a kind of web server and likewise POP3 server. I think you got the point.

[Ramya MiiM]

Yes...Thanks:-)