On a computer network the related objects would be components such as workstations, printers, routers, hubs, concentrators and servers. Objects such as computer workstations and printers are quite familiar to the everyday computer user. A server is a computer that provides services and resources to other computers. For example, workstations often have a limited amount of disk space on which to store files, whereas servers often have extraordinarily large disk drives. A service that a server might provide is disk space.
Users can often share and use the server's disk space for their own files.
Another example of a service provided by servers is electronic mail services. Hubs and concentrators link workstations and printers to a network via cables that look like telephone lines. The cables run from an external plug on a computer card located in the workstation to a plug in a wall. The plugs often look similar to the plugs found on a telephone cable. There is then a wire that runs from the wall plug back to a central location, often referred to as a wiring closet.