HyperTeamsServers, clients, the cloud
What you will learn What a server is (and is not), the difference between cloud and on-premises, and why HyperTeams runs on your machine while Connect lives on the web.
"Server" is a role, not a machine
Nothing special about the hardware. The side that receives a request and answers is the server; the side that asks is the client.
graph TD
A["client<br/>browser · app · agent"] -->|"request"| B["server<br/>the program that answers"]
B -->|"response"| AStart one program on the laptop in front of you and that laptop is a server. Which is exactly what happens when HyperTeams starts — your machine serves you, and your browser is the client.
That is why First run asks you to open
localhost:27777in a browser. You are connecting to your own computer.
The cloud is someone else's computer
It circulates as a joke, but it is an accurate definition. Renting machines someone else operates is the cloud.
| On-premises | Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Machines | you buy them | you rent |
| Operations | your team | the provider |
| Cost | large up front | monthly |
| Data | inside your walls | in the provider's facility |
| Growing | buy and install | a few settings |
Regulated industries insist on on-premises because of the fourth row. It is not about performance but about where the data physically sits — continued in Regulation and compliance.
SaaS — the most common form of renting
The layer you rent has a name. In practice you mostly meet the bottom one.
| Layer | What you rent | Example |
|---|---|---|
| IaaS | a bare machine | AWS EC2 |
| PaaS | a place to run programs | Vercel |
| SaaS | a finished service | Slack · Notion · HyperTeams Connect |
SaaS has no installation. You create an account and you are in. In exchange, the data sits with the provider.
Which is why the two products differ
The character of the two products in this manual comes straight from this.
| HyperTeams | Connect | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | your machine | the web (SaaS) |
| Installation | required | none |
| Access | localhost:27777 | a browser address |
| Your files | touched directly | only what you upload |
| Machine turned off | stops | irrelevant |
"Directing your own computer" versus "handing work to something on the web". Organisations using both join them with Connecting a system — Connect becomes the client and your machine the server.
On-premises Connect
Connect itself can also be installed on your own servers, trading the convenience of SaaS for keeping data inside. That is the road organisations take when the security review asks for it (One page for security review).
Common misconceptions
"Isn't a server the big machine in the server room?"
It is a role. Big machines often play it; a laptop running a program is one too.
"If it is in the cloud, is operating it someone else's problem?"
The machines are. Configuration and permissions are still yours. Most incidents come from something left open — see Accounts, passwords, API keys, permissions.
Check yourself
1. Can your laptop be a server?
Answer
Yes. A server is the role of answering requests, not a class of hardware. Running HyperTeams makes that laptop one.
2. What is the main reason to choose on-premises?
Answer
Where the data sits. Regulation or policy may require it to stay inside the organisation.
3. What is the structural difference between HyperTeams and Connect?
Answer
Where they run. HyperTeams runs on your machine and stops when it is off; Connect runs on the web and does not care.
Next, what clients and servers actually say to each other → Requests and responses — HTTP