Whether you’re new to digital tools or just looking to refresh your understanding, this page provides clear, accessible definitions of key terms used throughout the Digital Research Toolkit (or that you may find in one of the resources the Toolkit references).
What is a Server?
A server is a powerful computer that stores, processes, and delivers data, often for many people at once. In academic research, a server is useful when your computer doesn’t have enough storage, power, or downtime to do what you need.
You can think of a server like a shared workspace: instead of running a program on your personal laptop, you can log in to a much more powerful machine that can handle large or complex tasks (like running code, training AI models, rendering models, or processing large data sets).
Some servers are physical machines stored in large data centers (like UBC’s ARC Sockeye), while others are cloud-based, meaning you access them through the internet.
What is a Database?
A database is a structured way to store, organize, and retrieve information. An analogy for this is that a database is a digital filing system that helps you keep track of your research data efficiently.
Some databases are built for structured data, like spreadsheets (e.g., survey results, bibliographic entries), while others manage unstructured data, such as large image files, audio recordings, PDFs, or raw research data.
Similarly, some databases are physical machines, such as UBC’s ARC Chinook, while others are cloud-based, such as the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (DRAC).
Other Useful Terms
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
|
High-Performance Computing (HPC)
|
A system designed to perform large-scale or complex calculations very quickly. |
| Cluster | A group of computers working together (such as Sockeye) that acts as one powerful system. |
|
Command Line Interface (CLI) |
A text-based way of interacting with software; this is efficient but not beginner-friendly. |
|
Compute Node |
A computer inside Sockeye that handles your task behind the scenes. |
|
Job Scheduler |
A system that manages which jobs (tasks) run when, based on priority and resources. |