database server

A stand-alone computer in a local area network that holds and

manages the database. It implies that database management

functions, such as locating the actual record being requested,

is performed in the server computer. Contrast with file

server, which acts as a remote disk drive and requires that

large parts of the database, for example, entire indexes, be

transmitted to the user's computer where the real database

management tasks are performed.

First-generation personal computer database software was not

designed for a network; thus, modified versions of the

software released by the vendors employed the file server

concept. Second-generation products, designed for local area

networks, perform the management tasks in the server where

they should be done, and consequently are turning the file

server into a database server.