The word also refers to the software on that machine that handles the requests. Either way, the job is the same: receive a request, respond with the page. For a dynamic site, the server also runs your backend code and talks to the database before responding.
You don't have to own or manage a physical server. Most sites run on shared hosting or cloud platforms where the provider handles the hardware, and modern serverless platforms run your code on demand without you managing a server at all.
Updated July 2026
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