Understanding Servers

I think you have to separate the OS from the application when you are looking for reading material. For example W2K3 can run MS SQL or MySQL. MySQL will also run on NIX but MS SQL will not.

I have not yet had to deal with any servers and I need to get a better understanding of the types of servers how they are used, how they communicate with each other, different components, etc.

Well, for one, servers generally do not communicate with each other…servers serve data to clients, and clients request data from servers. There are different kinds of servers - web servers, file servers, FTP servers, etc. Generally speaking, clients communicate to servers via IP…either TCP or UDP.

How they are used depends on the purpose. Servers are generally application layer…a web browser client can be used to request web pages/content from a web server.

Do not confuse servers with ports. Many servers - web, FTP, etc. - are available on "well-known" ports, those which are generally agreed upon by the community. However, people can (and have) run web servers on port 21603. So, just because you see a request going to a server on port 80, do not assume it's a web server.

If you are not working in the field yet then you should learn Microsoft Networking and some about Linux also since Novell is now using Linux to run their servers. You can expect to work in 1. the private sector for a corporation 2. in the private sector for a law office doing ediscovery 3. in the private sector for a forensic investigating company 4. for yourself in the private sector as a forensic hired gun 5. for the federal government i.e. Homeland Security, Secret Service, FBI, NSA, Air Force, etc.. The arena you work in will determine the amount of network exposure you will have. Working for a corporation will put you in close contact with the network because you will be part of the security group and will be doing incident response when you are not busy with an investigation. If you work for a law office or private forensic investigation company there are two arenas of involvement which are criminal cases and civil cases. Criminal cases are where you would be aiding law enforcement or the prosecution or defense and won't have much network exposure. Civil cases on the other hand will have plenty of exposure to servers because they tend to be intellectual property cases where secrets have been stolen and the offense is usually arranged by email on company computers. Very often someone leaves and goes to work for the competition and takes secrets with them. You will be imaging email servers like crazy. If I was under 35 years old I would join the Air Force and ask to work at the new Cyber Warefare Center they are building. You will come out with two years of training, four years of on the job experience and a top secret security clearance. You then move to Washington DC and immediately get a good job working for Uncle Sam. If you want a fast track and you don't have a wife and kids to hold you back then get a job with ManTech and sign a one year contract to do computer forensics in Iraq or Afganistan on terrorist computers and cell phones that have been siezed. I heard they pay a hundred thousand dollars for a one year tour. That is a nice grubstake and will buy a lot of school when you get back. I am sure I have left something out since I am typing this on my lunch hour and am a little rushed. The point I am making is one of context. How much exposure to networks you will have depends on where you work. Some have a lot and some have little. Good luck.