What is an Internet Server?

What exactly is an Internet Server? People write books to explain this topic. It is a technical and complex area that brings internet connectivity into our homes and offices. I am only going to briefly explain the types of Internet servers available. Internet servers consist of

1. Domain Name System/Server (DNS)
2. Mail server
3. Web server

Essentially we need these three Internet servers to function to connect to Internet services. When I say internet services, I am referring to email, displaying web pages, online chat, etc. DNS, Mail server and Web server operates 24 hours, 7 days a week to allow access to and from the Internet at any time.

Before I continue I want to say that all network connections are made by using IP addresses and the internet uses a system of IP addresses and protocols to communicate with each other. The Internet servers are there to facilitate and provides us with the internet on a daily basis.

DNS Server
Has a database of information about each machine or host that exists within its own segment of the worldwide DNS database. A DNS server makes the information available to other name servers throughout the entire Internet. A DNS server must be used for emails and web browsing. The main task of a DNS server is to use the database information to translate domain names into IP addresses.

Mail Server
Carries out the operations of email exchange. A mail server is responsible for delivering emails to the email address you specified. A mail server would have a mail transfer agent and a mail delivery agent.

Web Server
Serves up web pages. When you specify a URL in your browser to view a web page, the HTTP protocol will fetch the details from a web server and render the page on your browser.

Types of Web Servers (depending on operating systems)
Apache
Internet Information Server

How does and ISP fit into the picture?

An ISP is a company or business that provides an individual with access to the internet either through dial-up, cable or high speed DSL circuit. An ISP would have a DNS server, a web server and also a mail server in their internet infrastructure.