“Server” is a really terrible word. There’s server software, which is often referred to as just “server”. And then there’s hardware, which happens to run server software, so it also gets referred to as “server”. There’s also hardware that’s specifically built for the purpose of running server software, so even if it does not currently do so,
folks would likely still refer to it as “server”.
But yeah, in principle you can run server software on your desktop PC or even your phone, and then someone might refer to that hardware as “server”.
So long as it serves something on a networking port, you can technically call it a “server”.
“Server” is a really terrible word. There’s server software, which is often referred to as just “server”. And then there’s hardware, which happens to run server software, so it also gets referred to as “server”. There’s also hardware that’s specifically built for the purpose of running server software, so even if it does not currently do so, folks would likely still refer to it as “server”.
But yeah, in principle you can run server software on your desktop PC or even your phone, and then someone might refer to that hardware as “server”.
So long as it serves something on a networking port, you can technically call it a “server”.