Session Date: Wednesday Jan 18, 2017
Basics: Clients
Bring your Laptop to today's session.
Preparations for this session
on clients
- How Operating Systems Work by Dave Coustan and Curt Franklin, How Stuff Works. Look especially at the distinction between single-user, multi-tasking and multi-user operating systems
- Introduction to Client Server Networks by Bradley Mitchell, About.com
you might also glance at
- How Laptops Work by by Tracy V. Wilson and Robert Valdes, How Stuff Works
- In Web Design in a Nutshell , 3rd Edition, read parts of chapter 4, "A Beginner's Guide to the Server" Uploading Documents (FTP) through The FTP Process.
on Open Source
- read What does open source mean? in How Stuff Works. This is part of the - next session's discussion of operating systems.
Clients and Servers
Generally speaking, within a network, clients are computers and devices that request data from a server. Clients initiate and servers wait and respond.
Theoretically, any device connected to any network can be configured to operate as a client or server. For example, here is an article from 2009, describing how an iPhone can be used as a Web server. However, that is not very practical for any serious resource needs. So, the distinction to what constitutes a client or a server is governed most of all by practicality. Servers, in general, are setup to provide services to other servers and clients. Network administrators have a tricky job setting up resources. Too few resources will result in poor or no service and too much investment translates into wasted costs. In this course the lab computers, your laptops and your handheld devices will operate as clients.
| Client Definition | Webopedia |
| How Laptops Work | How Stuff Works |
| Server Definition | Webopedia |
| How Web Servers Work | How Stuff Works |
| How PCs Work | How Stuff Works |
| Microprocessors | How Stuff Works |
| Wireless and Wifi Coverage | UNC ITS |
| Windows Maintenance | Lifehacker |
| Command Line SFTP Video | It is possible to do SFTP at the command line without a GUI. This video it is 13 minutes long, and I don't recommend that you spend any time on this now. This link is here for reference if you want to come back and look at it after you have finished the UNIX and Networking sessions. |