What QA Server stand for?

Question

For my understanding a QA Server is a testing server ... I would like to know what QA stand for and what is the difference with an Staging/Pre-Production server.

Thanks for your time!

Answer 1

I know this is an old post, but I found this while searching so I thought I'd add in some of my own knowledge in case other people come here wanting more information.

Michel got most of it right, but I'd like to correct a few things, if I may. Firstly, a QA Server usually refers to a machine that handles the QA process, and runs software that helps create environments that can test different code branches, as part of the QA process. This can range from switching environments and checking out a branch, to rebuilding entire machines that match production environments and deploying code to them. The basic principle of a QA Server is to help create QA environments for testing.

Staging/Pre-Production environments usually refer to one or multiple environments that match, as closely as possible, the production environment that the code will be deployed to. Again, this could be as simple as a machine with software installations that match the production machine's versions, to a mini web server farm where multiple machines and databases are connected together in a way that matches the production environment. The goal, again, is to have a place that matches production, but is not production, and again, for the purposes of testing and Quality Assurance.

I hope that helps anyone that is still unsure of the original questions answered.