Remote servers

Computers have been connected to each other to exchange data since the 1950s and now we take internet access for granted on our mobile devices. Behind the screen, there are countless pieces of software and protocols that make everything work, but we won’t go into the details.

It is important however to understand the concept of a remote server. This is a computer sitting somewhere, possibly in the ETH basement, possibly in an enormous data centre in Iceland, which is only supposed to be connected to over the internet. To be able to connect to a server you need to have appropriate access - a username and password - and perhaps you will have to be connecting from an allowed location.

Exercise 0.1

Exercise 0.1

• How is a remote server different from your computer?

Many computers are located in a physically accessible environment and users directly interact with them (your mobile phone, your computer and public computers).

Remote servers are computers that are typically managed by organizations or data centres and are located in an environment with restricted access. Remote servers are only supposed to be connected to over the internet and users need to have allowance to connect (through an allowed network, username and password).