Dedicated Server Basic Form

Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the hardware within a computer system which carries out the instruction of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system.

Hard drives are available in several variants such as SATA, SAS and SSD where everyone is used to store data. The difference between these is a balance between performance and storage. SATA is good for storing large files. SAS or SSD however, are better for the storage of information that changes frequently.

Random Access Memory (RAM) is used to cache data before it is written down to the hard drive. It also stores information that is currently in use or for certain applications that require many small reads very frequent example a database.

To increase the reliability and performance you can connect multiple hard drives in a RAID. There are several different types of RAID levels, but the most commonly used in servers is 1, 5 or 10.
RAID1: Data is written identically to two drives, thereby producing a "mirrored set"; at least two drives are required to constitute such an array.
RAID5: Distributes parity along with the data and requires all drives but one to be present to operate; the array is not destroyed by a single drive failure. Upon drive failure, any subsequent reads can be calculated from the distributed parity such that the drive failure is masked from the end user.
RAID10: Data is written in stripes across the primary disks and then mirrored to the secondary disks. A typical RAID 10 format consists of four drives. Two for striping and two for mirroring.