Hi all,

I have been trying to find out how web hosting works....

I really want to know how a company like apple goes about storing so many mp3's on iTunes and how they are connected to the web in a way that allows so many people to access these mp3's for downloading at any one time.

Obviously this is not a case of a PC full of tunes so I guess they are using servers? How do these differ from normal computers?

They must use some super high speed connection to the web, what sort of companies provide this sort of service or is it just normal internet connection??

Sorry for being so naive but I really don't have a clue and its something I have always wondered!

Thanks.

Well first off there are different types of Windows Operating systems that you can put on a server.

Server -
-Windows Server 2003
-Windows Server 2008
-Windows NT Server
-etc.

And there are several for Home Computers

Regular PC
-Windows XP
-Windows Vista
-Windows 7

You can actually put any of these operating systems on a server or a PC that's just what they're recommended for/designed for.



Windows server operating systems aren't really designed for home use but can still be used at home.

Windows Server Operating systems are designed to have much more networking capabilities, as well as many features that are designed just to help the server run.


One thing that I have come to understand about web hosting is that you usually wouldn't host from home, most people rent servers through a company and access that computer virtually (through a window on your screen), if you're looking to have anything decent.


One major difference between servers and home PCs is the hardware. I actually got a server for home use just a while ago, it has a RAID (which home PCs don't have, it's an automatic backup system) SCSI hard drive (15,000 RPM Hard drive as opposed to SATA 7200), and a double power supply design. The hardware in Servers is usually quite dominant to that of a regular PC, it's built to last quite a bit longer and run 24/7 without ever stopping, that's what the double power supply is for, if one of them breaks then the other one turns on so the computer doesn't fail.


As far as Apple and iTunes I'm sure that they have well over 15,000 servers probably with a minimum of a T5 internet connection (probably optical though) to each one to have anywhere close to that kind of bandwidth. That's one expensive setup!



T5 is a pretty fast internet connection but look at this.

Swedish woman gets world's fastest Internet connection - USATODAY.com

She can download something like Star Wars Episode III in 2 seconds? At 40-gigabits per second!

I doubt that Apple has them that fast, cause they don't need it to be.

This is an article from 2005 that states the speeds of these types of connections just ti give you a clear picture.

If you have the cash you can get any type of internet connection you want really!

I really want to know how a company like apple goes about Huge servers. Servers are basically computers on steroids. The iTunes servers probably have a ****ton of storage space.

The iTunes program is a type of file transfer protocol (FTP) that checks licenses, takes your money, and allows you to download your songs.
See above. They aren't much different from normal computers except that one like the server for iTunes would cost an insane amount of money and have ridiculous stats. Wiki "Server" and you'll get a much more detailed explanation.

Most ISPs have a business level for the internet. I'm sure Apple has plenty of dedicated fiber optic lines throughout the world connecting all of their server farms to the internet.