serverendpoint

Serverendpoint is a term used to describe a specific network address at which a server offers a service or resource. It is the point of contact a client uses to interact with a server. In practice, an endpoint is identified by a URI or URL, including scheme (http, https, ws, wss, grpc), host, port, and a path that identifies the resource or action.

Common types include REST API endpoints, which map HTTP methods and paths to operations on resources; GraphQL endpoints, which receive queries at a single endpoint; gRPC endpoints, which expose services via HTTP/2; and WebSocket endpoints, which maintain a persistent connection for real-time communication. Static content endpoints deliver files directly from a server or content delivery network.

Endpoints are typically designed to be stateless, meaning each request should contain all information needed to process it. They are often versioned to evolve APIs without breaking existing clients. Authentication and authorization are commonly enforced at the endpoint level using tokens, API keys, or other schemes.

Operational considerations include security (TLS, validation, input sanitization), reliability and performance (load balancing, retries, caching, rate limiting), monitoring (logging, metrics), and availability health checks. In microservices architectures, a server may expose multiple endpoints grouped into services; gateways or routers can route traffic to the appropriate endpoint.

Examples: https://api.example.com/v1/users for user resources; https://example.com/assets/logo.png for static content; wss://chat.example.org/socket for real-time messaging; grpc://payments.example.net:443/PaymentService.Charge for gRPC service calls.