If a server has server configuration files, in most situations, these server configuration files are created for you automatically and contained in a server project.
A server project contains servers and server configuration files. When a server project is created automatically by the workbench, the name given to the project is Servers and is available in the Project Explorer view under the Other Projects folder.
A server identifies where you want to test or publish your application. A server points to a specific runtime environment such as a local test environment, a full installation of a server, or a server on another machine. A server contains the logic of how to publish to the server; and what application projects and configurations to run.
On the workbench, when the metadata of the server is automatically created, it is stored in a serverName.server file, where serverName is the name assigned to the server. For details on the metadata of the server, refer to the Displaying or hiding the metadata of the server link at the bottom of this topic.
The server tools support the following types of servers:
Server configurations are files that contains information that is required to set up and publish to a server. For example, these files may include information about what port to run the server, security preferences and other vendor-specific server settings.
For WebSphere Application Server v5.1, the server configuration files may include information about which port to run on, which data sources or MIME types are supported.
For each server, you can specify the server configuration and installed server runtime environment that should be used for that server. A server can only point to one or no server configuration. However, a server configuration can be pointed from one or more servers.
A relationship between a server configuration and an application project, for example an EAR project, is created when a project is added to the server configuration. A server can point to one or more projects. A project can be pointed from one or more server configurations.