Superserver

What Does Superserver Mean?

In UNIX environments, a superserver, also sometimes called a service dispatcher, is a daemon that is used for managing other servers. A daemon is a program that runs in the background; it is similar to a Windows service.

Techopedia Explains Superserver

Typically, a superserver is programmed to start other servers as necessary. Using protocols like TCP and UDP, the superserver spawns processes and delegates sockets to set up operations for servers that are rarely used. This type of administration is commonly documented in developer handbooks as part of network administration for handling server loads.

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Margaret Rouse

Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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