It represents the central information retrieval system or database which is searched. The Internet, on the other hand, has often been referred to as a network of these and other types of networks. Instead, it is composed of many interconnected server computers, each equal to one another in status and function. These servers and their clients are located across the globe. The client computers can be found in offices, homes, school and increasingly, in libraries.
Information passes from the database, through server computers on the Internet to the client.
When the Internet or the World Wide Web is itself said to be searched or is used as a database, a different relationship between server and client is implied. The information searched and stored in this case is not located in a single location, but instead is resident on servers scattered across the Internet and across the globe.