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Nerdikarp Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

"...on the server." or "...in the server."

1- The records are located on the server.

2- The records are located in the server.

Which is correct? And why?

Thanks!
  

Top answer

Both are technically okay grammatically. The difference might be based on who is saying it. An administrator of student academic records- that is, someone with a liberal arts degree, who does not work directly with computers -would tend to use "on," since it is more literary-sounding.

— Anonymous

  • Both are technically okay grammatically.
  • The difference might be based on who is saying it.
  • An administrator of student academic records- that is, someone with a liberal arts degree, who does not work directly with computers -would tend to use "on," since it is more literary-sounding.
  • A systems person, a programmer who directly works with computers, would tend to use "in," since it is more technical-sounding (he was the one who actually put those records in the computer).
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7 Answers
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Both are technically okay grammatically. The difference might be based on who is saying it. An administrator of student academic records-that is, someone with a liberal arts degree, who does not work directly with computers-would tend to use "on," since it is more literary-sounding. A systems person, a programmer who directly works with computers, would tend to use "in," since it is
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Hi,

I usually hear both technical and non-technical people say (or write) 'on the server'.

Clive
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.......but don't they also say : stored in memory?

if so, the reason is :just because?
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Hi,

Indeed, a lot of computer talk is idiomatic.

Other common uses of 'on' include -


eg I did my homework on my computer.

eg The data is on my hard drive.

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there is a difference. Use Microsoft SQL server as example, if something is in SQL server, it is inside the SQL (database) client. And if something is on SQL server, it is normally on the Microsoft server that has SQL server but not in SQL client.

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I usually hear "in the server" for more technical and formal use. "On the server" is usually used when you don't need to sound as formal. Therefore, if you are going for a more formal way of using this phrase, use "in" instead of "on." Great question, though.

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