3. The servers

3.1 Server functions

The function of server organizations is to provide external users with access to the contents of various databases. This function is applied to a range of services provided in full or in part by the server, depending on the producer-server contract:

• database loading and storage: the ever-increasing volume of data and the integration of images require a rapid increase in computer processing capacity;

• system maintenance and update integration: the integration of new updates into a very large existing volume of data, and the frequency and timing of updates, require a quality of service that users and producers wish to standardize;

• homogenization of the...