Put it on a desk and it's desktop...

No really, what is a server depends on what its function is, not what hardware it is made of. Of course, a server is often used for mission critical tasks so you want the hardware to be of good quality or even to perform a function in some niche.

Not sure what your question is...

That system in that particular picture is an industrial machine. Designed to be super reliable and infinitely configurable. It is designed to run 24/7/365 in potentially harsh conditions.

It will be a system that you can play games on. It wont be fast, it will be reliable.

I'd jump on it like a fat guy after a ham. But its Finland, shipping would be out of the question.

Is an "industrial computer" same as HP's Workstations: Z400, Z600, Z800, G4: Z4,Z6,Z8 ?
Asking price for it is very high +100 euros.

no.

An industrial computer usually has special cards in it that monitor and control equipment. That isa card in the pic is an example. In general, an industrial computer's whole purpose in life is to control and monitor a machine(s).

That said, remove those special cards, it becomes a bog standard computer. It will run practically forever (in theory).

Why would you want to avoid them, all 3 (Servers/Workstations/Industrial PC's) are so much more interesting then a standard PC!

Generally speaking Servers are designed for 24/7 up time so have things like hot plug PSU's and HDD's that you can swap out without turning it off.
They typically support more then 1 CPU and loads of RAM, Probably not the best for a gaming rig as graphics is bottom of the priority list.

Workstations are somewhere in between a server and a standard PC. They can support 2 CPU's, load of Ram, but don't require the 24/7 uptime so you'll need to turn the thing off for hardware changes.
These can make great gaming rigs as graphics are very high on the priority list, usually they will come with the "professional" cards like Nvidia's Quadro range but you can swap them out for a gaming card.

Industrial PC as luckybob said is just a standard PC designed to live somewhere unloved and harsh like dirty factories. They often don't resemble a standard PC like your pic where the CPU sits on its own card and plugs into a backbone board, but ultimately it just a standard CPU, Chipset, etc in a different form factor.
These can be very desirable as they have more legacy connections then a standard motherboard, for instance ISA slots on a socket 775 based system for a crazy fast dos machine.

Servers usually sell for cheap (excluding shipping) as they aren't good for much else
Workstations can be had for a good price once they are obsolete
Industrial PC's are always expensive as they are specialized and somewhat purpose built and only thrown out when the big expensive industrial device its controlling is replaced which will often be 10+ years

what you need to avoid are trash boxes like gateways, emachines, and other sorts of junkboxes, be careful about hp,dell,compaq as well they are not always good. how to avoid buying a dumpster change the name to that.

Those things are called SBCs single board computers, they fit into backplanes. Thats not junk.

Ok and if I'm now in a factory where should I go if I want to see more of these industrial computers in operation ? ( I really thought this computer would be useless. It looked so odd. 😊 )
- Server room ?
- "Machines operated by an external computer..." what kind of machines exactly to look for ?
* CNC mills and lathes have an integrated computer and probably sheet metal laser cutters have too... Programmable logics use Siemens S7, Omron and such PLC...

Thanks

well, it would need to be an older one, naturally. Something that hasn't been upgraded since the 90's. Even old science labs!

Its kind of a loaded question, because these systems were so very flexable, they could be anywhere. an example would be a factory that makes food. You need to monitor temperatures at dozens of points, monitor tank levels, turn valves on and off, control fans and pumps, have a place where a human can adjust things as necessary. So logically the computer could be literally anywhere, but likely near a control room.

In a science lab, it would do the same stuff. but it would be a easy life in a controlled environment.

several years ago you could still find socket 370 sbcs new from industrial websites that sell SBCs, although it may sound odd ISA is still a thing and you can find socket 775 SBCs that work in ISA backplanes and such. SBCs are still a thing, been ahwile since I looked at any of those websites. Back in teh day early 2000s I used to build industial PCs for a company I worked for that sold them to another company that used them in trains. To monitor the train, the tracks and such.

Example
http://kontron.industrialpartner.com/slot-cpu … ci-p3s440bx.htm

This is my one I picked up recently from work.
Scored an industrial PC with ISA

You wont find them in server rooms, your example's of CNC mills etc would be correct.
and dont be surprised if the integrated computer is a computer hidden away as even an industrial PC means a company can use off the shelf parts and only have to design an interface card.
I know that the London Transport ticket machines just have a dell PC inside them, even though the ticket machines can be outside in the weather the stock standard PC is somewhat protected against the elements and standard PC's are far cheaper then industrial PC's or designing something from scratch.

I love industrial computers, too bad they usually are on offer for very unreasonable prices nowadays, especially backplanes.
I still got a nice S370 ISA sbc for a reasonable price a few years ago from ebay, now they're too expensive.

if you use half length ISA/PISA sbcs and a small backplane you can build a really compact retro PC ^^