application server

Also called an appserver, an application server is a program that handles all application operations between users and an organization’s backend business applications or databases.

An application server is typically used for complex transaction-based applications. To support high-end needs, an application server has to have built-in redundancy, monitor for high-availability, high-performance distributed application services and support for complex database access.

See the Server Types page in the quick reference section of Webopedia for a comparison of server types.

(Many thanks go out to Paul White, Product Marketing Manager EMEA, BEA Systems, for providing this updated definition.)