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WorkGroup? Domain?

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Me again, I read a post about the differance between a Domain and a Workgroup for a small business network. I started thinking about my Network at work. SETUP:
6 User PC’s…(3)Celeron D 2.40GHz, 512MB RAM, 80GB HDD. (3)AMD 1.0GHz, 256MB RAM, 80GB HDD.
1 Server (Desktop PC, Celeron D 2.70GHz, 512MB RAM and 80GB HDD) server for 3 programs and their databases, which provide the “server” function for the (3) Celeron PC’s.
The connection is: 512kbps Cable modem–>Netgear 4-port Router(RP614v2)–>3Net 8-port Switch 10/100. Which all the PC’s and Server connect to. I have them in a workgroup, with Automatic Detection for the IP’s on all aswell. The Server is the only one with a manually set IP:192.168.0.2 The Router is the Gateway:192.168.0.1
What is the differance between keeping the Workgroup or having a Domain. Would I have to change the Config so the PC’s connect to the Web through the Server. i.e. Modem–>Router–>Server(OnboardLAN) Server(PCI LAN)–>8 port switch. PC’s connect to the switch.
I am also planning on adding another 8 port switch and connecting 3 printers to it.

NOTE:ALL PC’S AND SERVER ARE RUNNING WIN XP PRO SP1
Detailed info and/or Links will be very helpfull. THANKS AGAIN !!

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In reply to WorkGroup? Domain?

Since all the systems are running a workstation operating system, your only choice is to have a workgroup.

To have a domain, you would need to purchase a server operating system, namely Windows 2003 Server.

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THANKS

Reply To: WorkGroup? Domain?

In reply to WorkGroup? Domain?

hardware wise, all one needs is an uplink [connection] to the router. you can connect to the router’s switch ports from one of the LAN Switch ports. Security wise, it would be better if you put a firewall between the router and your network where the switch in between is the DMZ. Provided that you didn’t segment [subnet]that connection, you can still use the routers DHCP server. No need to multihome any of the computers to provide internet access as the router acts as a NAT/Proxy, again provided you did not subnet. If you subnet that DHCP has to be on the segment that the hosts are on or you would have to setup a DHCP relay agent on the segment with the hosts.[note you’ve given the server a static IP address and in DHCP you need to make a reservation for that address [if you haven’t already]. Any computers with static IP addresses that are on a subnet with a DHCP server need to have reservations in DHCP for their IP addresses.

Reply To: WorkGroup? Domain?

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A domain is central administration of resources and listing those resources in a directory for easy access by users. Further, a domain provides a central authentication point for all users. You manage users ability to access resources centrally through active directory [security]. therefore you don’t need user accounts to be on every computer users will access for resources such as printers, shared folders. The domain regulates access from active directory by the security group membership of users.

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Thanks

Reply To: WorkGroup? Domain?

In reply to WorkGroup? Domain?

To have a Domain rather than your current Work-group or peer to peer network you would first need some form of Server OS. Now if you are in an MS only shop that would have to be 2003 SBE as you have only specified 1 server feeding 6 workstations.

If you are not in an MS only shop you could setup one of the machines with Linux or one of the BSD offerings and use that as the server and then establish your domain/s as required. Of course it would involve resetting all of the existing work-group machines to a Domain/s and then running from there.

Out of the box 2003 SBE supports 5 concurrent connections so you will need to buy one extra license from MS and add the extra computer. However as the system stands now you can have up to 10 concurrent connections provided you have XP Pro.

The way XP works, is it on itself can not be a domain controller but only a member of a Domain but you could add a Linux Box with some form of emulator like Win 4 Lin and use that without too many problems provided that you are only sharing MS Office type files.

Now to answer the other part of your question when you have a server you tend to have it work for everything so the answer to the second part of your question is YES you would have to have all of the computers connect to the Internet through the Server and then the Router that you specified you had. Normally Domains are setup to control a specif number of computers/workstations and they perform all of the functions of that Domain as far as security goes so you would have to add another Network Card to the server and then connect it to the switch and then feed all of the computers. The Original LAN connection would of course be straight to the Router and leave the other ports on it free for other Servers to control other Domains, through the router it would be possible to have workstations from different domains speak to each other as required.

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THANKS

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