The cloud sounds great in theory: keep things off your computer to save space and you'll be able to access it anywhere you have internet access. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that.

Maybe. Just because you can store something in the cloud doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take up space somewhere. When you send an email, upload a file, or Skype your friends across the ocean, that data has to exist somewhere and…it does. Through a server.

Servers make all your web browsing and storage possible. They work more or less like regular computers—minus the spiffy keyboard and screen. These things never really see people, meaning that they can devote all their time to processing information instead of rendering graphics or printing documents. They also have a bit more power under the hood, like

• a series of linked hard drives to store information.
• multiple-core CPUs to help process that information quickly.

A server’s job revolves around handling tasks for clients (which is a general name for other computers or individual users, by the way). These tasks might involve sending a webpage to a web browser, matching a domain name to an IP address, or beaming a message to your inbox. Servers are designed to handle lots of these tasks for an extended period. They don't have anything else to do, so why not?

Next time you read the news on your phone at a restaurant, remember to apologize to whoever you're ignoring at the table, tip your server, and tip your non-human server.

The Cost of Servers

Consider this: more than a billion people use Facebook and Gmail. Big companies need far more than just one server to manage all of their information. That's where data centers, sprawling facilities filled with rows and rows of linked computer servers, come in.

Data centers back up and transmit huge amounts of data and the tech giants all operate several of these guys. You might not necessarily picture carbon emissions when talking about the internet, but it takes huge amounts of power to give access to billions of users and make sure nothing gets lost. Power grids, backup batteries, and diesel generators keep everything running, and giant cooling systems prevent the entire internet from melting down.

Literally. Computers get hot.

The vast number of servers on a global network allow for reliable and adaptable service at a large scale, but not without a cost. We've made some steps to reduce the internet’s environmental impact, but it’s important to remember that the invisible magical force of the internet actually requires a giant physical system to hold your favorite cat videos.

(Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4, Source 5, Source 6, Source 7, Source 8, Source 9)