Why is a server necessary? When a network starts to grow, either in number of users or in the amount of data that's kept on it, a server can help a business stay organized and efficient. But there are a wide variety of servers available, all of them highly configurable. First, you need to understand what servers are good at. Servers can be used to house files and manage printers. Better yet, they can manage which users on a network can access which resources. They can serve as machines handling a company's website, email, databases, remote access and other tasks. Servers can range from simple, inexpensive tower PCs to sophisticated rack mounts designed to handle heavy workloads and provide disaster recovery with backup, data redundancy and fault tolerance. Sifting through the vast options in the server market need not be a headache, if you have a good understanding of what your business needs are, how scalable you need a server to be and how critical it is to have that server stay operational in the event of a disaster.