What are dedicated servers?

[predxeno]

I'm somewhat new to gaming online via PC so what are dedicated servers?  Can AVP Gold (classic) on Steam do multiplayer?  What are the differences in multiplayer capability between the AVP Gold and new AVP games?

[Brother]

Yes AvP Classic has Multiplayer but only with matchmaking - players connect to players.
The newer games allow dedicated servers - ran by a third party, faster and more stable.

Google for more dedicated servers info.