However, the issue seemed to lose heat when it was found by investigating agencies that previous top US diplomats, Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell had both had sensitive government information sent to non-governmental email addresses.
The potential sensitivity of government information which are marked 'classified' reaching the wrong hands can cause catastrophes and endanger government functioning. The whole email server affair is unlikely to die down soon or at least till the US presidential elections are held in November, but let's try to understand what a private server means.
A Private Server is a 'virtual machine' that is administered privately. Private servers already pre-configured are available for purchase on the market just like computers, desktops and laptops. Most private servers have short shelf lives as they are pre-configured to standard requirements. It is not illegal to run a private server and allocate account spaces for users; these can be set up anywhere at any time and opened or closed without any prior notice to users. A private server can also remove or suspend an individual user at any time for any reason.
Private Servers are not without benefits and downsides.
Advantages:
• Absolute freedom to the owner in choosing server functions and software
• Cheaper costs as equipment rental is not there
• Server activities are regulated by local laws; the service provider cannot effect policies
• Offers more disk space, CPU time, memory and other benefits when compared to a Virtual Private Server or a Dedicated Server.
Disadvantages:
• Owner is responsible for software and security management
• Price of the server can be prohibitive if it is purchased for non-business purposes - e.g. games, hobbies etc.
• Traffic speed can become a bottleneck with very high end hardware configurations.
Servers are largely of two types - Virtual Server and Dedicated Server. A Virtual Server is akin to owning allocated space in an office building with in-built infrastructure. This type of arrangement is useful for small businesses to meet their computing needs.
