Now here's a map for what's down the network road. At the hub of enterprise networks, servers direct the flow of data to computers, peripherals and other servers. They receive data from all those sources and others such as digital cameras, remote-access servers and mainframes.
Application servers do more.
They make a shared environment for applications such as Microsoft Exchange e-mail, Lotus Domino programs or Oracle Corp. databases. Under the Microsoft Windows NT Server network operating system, that line of separation has blurred. NT runs application services, but sometimes it also does file service. Adding to the confusion is the growth of intranet and Internet Web sites, which also have servers. Most often, Web servers are file servers, but occasionally they act as application servers.