One of the great strengths of Linux is its multi-faceted network server capabilities, reaching back to its rich UNIX history and the development of TCP/IP on that platform. If you’re a software developer, it’s dead simple to network-enable your own apps too, making them act consistently with other server processes. Here’s how to do it, in two parts.
Firstly, a real world story: I was called to do some work for a local ISP. They used a database system for administration and billing purposes, and a Linux server for user accounts and subscriber Web publishing.
http://www.linuxlinks.com/portal/news/article.php?story=20070820143845106