What is the different between a computer and a server?

What is a web server? Does it function like a normal computer?

• I think a web server holds information about a website and when you click on a link to the website on the server, your computer retrieves information from the server to display the webpage. Please correct me if that's wrong. Please, give me any additional about web servers that you can. Is a web server like a normal computer, as in, I could browse the internet/play games/ et cetera on a web server? Does a web server have an operating system? No, this is NOT any kind of homework.

• Answer:

  any computer either desktop or laptop can be used as a server if you have a dedicated ip address. servers are usually stripped down desktop towers to save money. yes every server has an operating system. a server generally contains many websites with all the data required for the website. facebook for example is made up of thousands of computers to host users to the site. your connection speed is based on the slowest computer connected.....meaning your own computer and the computer your connected too on the server. thats why some people experience slower connections then others on facebook....when all the server are busy with users the whole system will slow down. everything within the website is installed on the server unless linked to a different site all together. Cheers