File and Print Services in Early Server Architectures

In the days of mainframes, an end user might work on a local copy of a given document, using a minicomputer, and then store the actual file remotely on a dedicated server or mainframe. That way, the client did most of the heavy lifting, and the mainframe or minicomputer could focus more narrowly on delivery of resources while also acting as a central repository for files and data.

It wasn't until the proliferation of personal computersdriven by the demands of a burgeoning marketplacethat the dedicated server role came to its full fruition. Though at some college campuses, research institutions, and computer manufacturers there may have been minicomputers or mainframes identified as servers (and truly playing that role) even in the 1960s, it wasn't until microcomputers became widely available in the late 1970s and early 1980s that real server-based computing got going. This led directly to the development of purpose-built computers designed to function as "network servers." Ultimately, for there to be "real servers" to deliver services, there also had to be "real clients" to demand them.

Although multiple candidates could probably vie for the title of "first network server," our research indicates that companies such as San Antoniobased Data General and Massachusetts-based Digital Equipment Corp. (also known as DEC, then as Digital) were the first companies to label their products as servers in the mid-1970s. Their initial offerings were based on typical minicomputers available at the time, and they were intended to meet price/performance needs beneath the cost and capability thresholds for mainframe computers that companies such as IBM, Sperry-Univac, Burroughs, and other "big iron" computer manufacturers offered to that market.

Over time, both Digital and Data General began to realize the value of centralizing data storage, print services, and ultimately applications, which led to widespread use of Digital PDPs and, later, VAX machines, as well as Data General Novas, MVs, and AViiOns as network servers for all kinds of uses. But all these machines started from the same basic hardware platforms and designs and were configured to include more-or-less the same kind of components. There really weren't any specific machines built exclusively for sale and use as network servers, even though many of these computers wound up playing such roles in the workplace, at colleges and research institutions, and in government facilities of all kinds.