A personal web server (PWS) is system of hardware and software that is designed to create and manage a web server on a desktop computer. It can be used to learn how to set up and administer a website, and it can also serve as a site for testing

dynamic web page A server-side dynamic web page is a web page whose construction is controlled by an application server processing server-side scripts. In server-side scripting, parameters determine how the assembly of every new web page proceeds, and includi ...

s. One of the main functions of PWS is to provide an environment where web programmers can test their programs and web pages. Therefore, a PWS supports the more common server-side programming approaches that can be used with production web servers. A personal web server, or personal server in short, allows users to store, selectively share, or publish information on

the web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web s ...

or on a home network. Unlike other types of web servers, a personal web server is owned or controlled by an individual, and operated for the individual's needs, instead of by a company. It can be implemented in different ways: * as a

computer appliance A computer appliance is a home appliance with software or firmware that is specifically designed to provide a specific computing resource. Such devices became known as ''appliances'' because of the similarity in role or management to a home ap ...

* as a general-purpose server, such as a Linux server, which may be located at the owner's home or in a data center * in a shared hosting model, where several users share one physical server by means of virtualization, or virtual hosting. * as one feature of a computer that is otherwise also used for other purposes. A personal web server is conceptually the opposite of a web server, or website, operated by third parties, in a

software as a service Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software. SaaS is con ...

(SaaS) or

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

model.

Advantages

* Privacy: as the personal server is owned by the individual that derives the main benefit from it, they are in control of who else may access information on the server * Autonomy: the owner of the personal server decides which applications to run on the server, whom to allow access to, when to upgrade, etc. * Hackability: the owner of the personal server can configure and change any aspect of the personal server

Disadvantages

* Administration overhead: the owner of the server is responsible for system administration * Higher power consumption: the power consumed per user is higher, on average, than in a model where many users use the same server, such as in the

SaaS Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software. SaaS is con ...

model. * Poor scalability: the server may function poorly or crash if its resources are heavily accessed

References

Home servers Web server software Web 1.0 {{Compu-hardware-stub

Advantages

Disadvantages

See also

References