What is the purpose of web servers

The purpose of web servers is to store, process, and deliver web content to users upon request. They are the backbone of the World Wide Web, responsible for hosting websites, web applications, and other online resources. Key functions of web servers include:

• Hosting websites: Web servers store the files that make up websites, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, videos, and other media.
• Processing requests: When a user accesses a website by entering its URL in a web browser, the browser sends a request to the web server. The web server then processes this request and retrieves the necessary files to display the webpage.
• Serving static and dynamic content: Web servers can handle both static content (unchanging files like HTML and images) and dynamic content (generated on-the-fly by applications such as databases and server-side scripts).
• Managing user sessions: Web servers can track user interactions with a website, maintaining session information such as login status, shopping cart contents, and user preferences.
• Load balancing: In high-traffic scenarios, multiple web servers can be used together with load balancers to distribute incoming requests evenly across them, ensuring optimal performance and reliability.
• Security: Web servers often include security features such as encryption (SSL/TLS) to protect data transmitted between the server and clients, as well as authentication mechanisms to control access to sensitive resources.

Overall, web servers play a crucial role in enabling the delivery of web content over the internet, facilitating the exchange of information and services between users and websites.