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I'm looking for two (if possible short) words to describe two concepts, which, unfortunately can be both described as a "server", which is confusing:

  • "hardware server" - a physical computer - a hardware
  • "software server" - a program which servers a data which may run on a physical server

I want these words for use in documentation (technical writing) where I sometimes need to refer to a physical computer (hw server) and sometimes to a software (sw server) which runs on these computers. And I need the distinction to be very clear.

Are there any such two words, which would be sufficiently distinctive and descriptive?

Edit: since I got no answer as of now, I decided to use "host" for "hw server" and "x instance" (where x is our product name) for "sw server".

Jan Spurny
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  • Given that there are mulitple types of software server, you might just be safer sticking to the two-word terms that you used in the question. – KillingTime Nov 09 '22 at 10:19
  • @KillingTime - yes, there are multiple types, but it shouldn't matter in my case (it is very clear from the context, that there could be only one type of possible sw server) - I'm looking for something like if you needed to distinguish between "pizza dough" and "pizza topping" - there definitely may be more types of toppings (and dough), but in this case, you can probably use just "dough" and 'topping" and it would be just fine. (just in my case, I definitely can't use just "hw" and "sw" (it wouldn't make sense).. ) – Jan Spurny Nov 09 '22 at 10:30
  • @KillingTime - you made me realize the question wasn't very clear so I've updated it. Thanks! – Jan Spurny Nov 09 '22 at 10:33
  • You have described a virtual server. – Yosef Baskin Nov 09 '22 at 14:23
  • @YosefBaskin not really - in this context, "software server" is a software running on a server - e.g. webserver, print server, authenication server - not a full operating system. – Jan Spurny Nov 10 '22 at 16:05
  • I might refer to them as the server hardware and the server software. If consistent, you win the day. – Yosef Baskin Nov 10 '22 at 20:28

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