Question : The difference between the server types "Web Front End" and "Stand-alone?"

I'm attempting to install SharePoint on my server when the options for server type come up. A brief description is given, but I'm not at all familiar with SharePoint, so I need a through explanation.

Answer : The difference between the server types "Web Front End" and "Stand-alone?"

***Web Front End  only install components required to render content to users. Can add servers to form a SharePoint farm.

A Web server accepts HTTP requests from client computers and passes them to an application server, a database server, or some other computer for processing. When the additional processing is performed, the Web server sends the result back to the client as a Web page. A Web server cannot be used for data storage, search, or as an application server.

***Stand-alone  Install all components on a single computer (includes embedded database engine). Cannot add servers to create a SharePoint farm.

A stand-alone, or basic, installation configures a single computer with all the necessary files and settings to create a fully-functioning Windows SharePoint Services implementation, including Web server, application server, and database. An embedded database engine is installed and configured to provide data storage capability. Although the embedded database engine is based on Microsoft SQL Server architecture, it has the following limitations:

    * Lack of enterprise features support.
    * Limited to one CPU.
    * One gigabyte (GB) memory limit for the buffer pool.
    * Databases have a 4 GB maximum size

Basically you will want to use the front-end if you already have sharepoint servers up and want a server for your users to connect and see data from the other sharepoint farm servers. Standalone if you are setting up your first sharepoint server or only going to have one sharepoint server.

Hope that helps.