# Servers, 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.

```mermaid
graph TD
  A["client<br/>browser · app · agent"] -->|"request"| B["server<br/>the program that answers"]
  B -->|"response"| A
```

Start 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](/guide/ht-first-run) asks you to open
> `localhost:27777` in 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](/guide/ax-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](/guide/ht-what-is-it) | [Connect](/guide/cn-what-is-it) |
|---|---|---|
| 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](/guide/cn-systems) — 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](/guide/cn-security)).

## 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](/guide/it-accounts).

---

## Check yourself

**1. Can your laptop be a server?**

<details>
<summary>Answer</summary>

**Yes.** A server is the role of answering requests, not a class of hardware.
Running HyperTeams makes that laptop one.
</details>

**2. What is the main reason to choose on-premises?**

<details>
<summary>Answer</summary>

**Where the data sits.** Regulation or policy may require it to stay inside the
organisation.
</details>

**3. What is the structural difference between HyperTeams and Connect?**

<details>
<summary>Answer</summary>

**Where they run.** HyperTeams runs on your machine and stops when it is off;
Connect runs on the web and does not care.
</details>

---

Next, what clients and servers actually say to each other →
[Requests and responses — HTTP](/guide/it-http)