Re: [OT] Workgroup vs. Domain
- Posted by Larry Miller <larrymiller at sasktel.net> Feb 21, 2005
- 645 views
A domain is a fairly small number of computers (usually fewer than 10) connected together in a network. All computers are considered as equal and administration of resources is done individually on each machine. Each user must have an account on every machine they will be accessing. This assumes that the computers are Windows2000 or XP, things are a somewhat different with Win9x. A workkgroup is simple and convenient when the numbers of users and computers is small. But when numbers become larger the system becomes quite unmanageable. The domain was designed to solve this problem. A domain requires a domain controller computer, running a server operating system. This must be WindowsNT, Windows2000 server, or Windows 2003 server. All users have a single user account in the domain and can access any resources that their account permits. The key difference is that security is centrally controlled on the domain controller. A domain can support many thousands of computers and users. But there is a downside. There is the added cost of the domain controller computer, which must be server, and the greater skill level of the administrator of the system. There is also a single point of failue. If the domain controller fails no one can access the domain. Daily backups, and preferably a second domain controller, are recommended. There is much more but these are the main points. Larry Miller