Think of it like this, the server is your destination, the network is the road and the router is the traffic lights or or cops directing the traffic.
Simply put, a router is a networking device that can 'route' traffic across subnets. The traffic cop analogy fits well. A server is something whose purpose is to 'serve' some type of information on demand.
Thanks guys, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer. Am I right in thinking then, that (for example) my work has 3 servers, I'm guessing then that the servers are bringing in the main information then its routed to the individual drives that we're connected to?
Obviously we don't know how your work environment is setup. And there are many different configurations that a network can have. But that sounds pretty reasonable. Typically routers are near the 'edge' of the network. So technically, the network 'switches' are probably what's delivering the information from the servers to your individual computers. In simple terms, switches can route traffic within a subnet (say, your office), whereas routers can route traffic within and across subnets (your office, the internet). Here's a simple look top-to-bottom look at the layers of a typical office network (again, just a simple example). Internet Router ///Switch\\\ Server | PC's Usually the server and PC's are connected to the switch. The switch is connected to the router. And the router to the edge device (cable/DSL modem, T1, etc.). When you want to open a file on one of your work servers, the request goes to the switch. Since the switch knows that the server is also connected to it (i.e. on the same subnet) and remembers 'where' it's located on the subnet (its IP address), it passes the request on to the server. The server then says "OK" and sends the requested file back to the switch, which passes the file back to you. Since both computers reside on the same subnet, the router never has to get involved. The switch can handle the job by itself. Now when you open up a web browser and type in www.thephins.com, which is on another subnet (out on the internet), that's when the router gets involved. If you'd like to know what 'that' process looks like, I'd be glad to break it down for you.
