Understand the concept of workgroups vs. domains on a Windows local area network

Website design By BotEap.comSharing information has become a simple process with the advent of email, just attach a file and the recipient will receive the document you sent. However, in a small business, there is often a need to share more than one file; you may want to share programs or data from programs, printers, a scanner, or just your Word documents.

Website design By BotEap.comA workgroup, also known as a peer-to-peer network, allows you to share files, printers, scanners, and other resources. Typically, with a workgroup, you make each workstation a member of the same workgroup and set up shared folders on one or more workstations. You can also set your printer to be shared. If you have an additional computer, you can designate it as a dedicated shared computer. This computer then becomes a pseudo-server. It is not a “real” file server, but works as such, with limited functionality.

Website design By BotEap.comA domain provides this functionality and much more, by having one or more file servers and workstations connected to the domain to access servers that manage security and access rights. Think of a domain as a city, within which exist businesses (file servers) and residences (workstations).

Website design By BotEap.comSo… which one is right for you? If you’re a small business with very few employees and you’re not overly concerned about the security of your data or access rights to folders, a workgroup will work just fine.

Website design By BotEap.comSome things to consider with a working group:

Website design By BotEap.com1. It is best to have one computer act as a server and have the other computers share files on that “server.” This reduces traffic. If you have multiple computers sharing their drives and users are going back and forth from one machine to another to access data, there will be more traffic on your LAN, causing collisions and bogging things down.

Website design By BotEap.com2. It’s also a good idea, if possible, for one computer to be a dedicated server. This minimizes the possibility of a user “hanging” the computer he is working on, thus locking other users out of the system while it reboots. Also, if no one is using that computer while it’s running as a server, it’s likely to be less exposed to potential virus or malware attacks.

Website design By BotEap.com3. Any machine that works as a server must be protected by a good UPS; that is, a battery backup unit.

Website design By BotEap.com4. The machine acting as the server should have its power options disabled, hibernation disabled, and its NIC (Network Interface Card) set to not power off to save power. Any of these features enabled could make the server inaccessible to workstations.

Website design By BotEap.com5. The server must have a backup device with backup software programmed for unattended backups. Ideally, as part of a good disaster recovery plan, your network should also have a remote or online backup. (What good is your backup if you can’t access your data?).

Website design By BotEap.comA domain gives you many more features than a workgroup. This is an overview of things to consider and the benefits of setting up a domain:

Website design By BotEap.com1. First, your workstations MUST be running Windows XP Professional, Vista, or Windows 7 Business Edition. These versions of Windows are designed to work with domains.

Website design By BotEap.com2. Your domain will include at least 1 file server. This file server will be a domain controller. As a domain controller, the file server (if you’re running any version of Windows server) will host Active Directory. Active Directory is a database that will store the name of each user, with their access rights assigned based on the groups to which they belong. For example, a user can be a member of the Domain Users group and have access to files and folders, or they can be a member of the Domain Administrators group, which gives them rights to anything on the network. Active Directory also keeps track of computers, so you know not only which user is authorized to log in to the domain, but also which computers are allowed to connect.

Website design By BotEap.com3. The Policies of use of the Domain Controllers. These policies can simplify the management of users and computers on the network by enforcing rights and managing access when a user logs on to the Domain.

Website design By BotEap.com4. Security and permissions are very granular on a Domain. That is, you can be as general or as specific as you need to be about giving users access to folders and files. A good, thoughtful initial design of your network will help simplify data organization and management as your network grows.

Website design By BotEap.com5. Returning to the Server; a server must have redundancy for its drives. For small networks, a mirrored disk system will do. For larger networks, a RAID 5 system might work better. In a mirrored drive system, your file server will house 2 identical drives. Both drives will appear to you as one. On the server, you will see a C: drive. When you write or save a file, it is saved to both drives simultaneously. The benefit, of course, is that if one drive fails, you can continue to operate from the other drive. Many servers offer “hot swappable” drives. This allows you to remove the faulty drive and replace it with a new one, without powering down the server. The server will detect the new drive and you can rebuild the data on the new mirror.

Website design By BotEap.com6. Another great benefit of having a Domain is the central administration. For example, you can install an antivirus program on the server that will periodically update its virus definition files. Server software can be deployed to workstations, and that software can be scheduled so that all workstations have the same features enabled or disabled. In addition, the server can “push” virus definitions to workstations, thus ensuring that all workstations are on the same version. This can be done with other programs as well, it’s not strictly for virus protection.

Website design By BotEap.comThis is a panoramic view of domains and workgroups. Of course, there is much more to them. Many books have been written on the subject. The hope is that this concise information helps you make an informed decision about your domain or workgroup selection for your small business.