The term `server' can mean several different things in connection with this project. At the broadest level, it can refer to the computer system to which clients2.1 connect via the network. It can also be used to mean the part of the Smart Ticket package that runs on the server system. This piece of software includes the route-finding engine written by my partner, and so the term will generally be used in this report to mean the sections of the program that deal with the network and supporting the route engine.
The server has to be able to accept many connections from both end-users2.2 and administrators who configure the system. Requests from these clients must be processed with a minimum of delay, and with great reliability, so these requirements will determine the algorithms used.
Late on in the development of the project, it was decided that a flexible logging system was required and so the log-server was constructed. This is detailed in section 2.5.