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Do computers have to be in a domain

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by jgibbons

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I have w2k server and clients and

Strangly the computers are seeing the server and each other without adding them to a "domain" in AD In the w2k clients they are setup with the defualt workgroup name for now I thought they would HAVE to be addedto the domain to "see" server and it's resources so they aren't logging into server but are able to see it map drives and share resources will this become a problem later

5 replies

by cactus pete

Are you connect from the clients to the server as 'local' users on the server? The only problem with this, in the long run, is password management.

by vinnyd

A computer does not have to be a member of the domain in order to access shares on a Domain server.

It is possible to connect to the shares if the user name and password match an existing domain login account or if the Everyone group has rights to the shares.

"Become a problem later" - Well that depends on the security concerns of you company. Also it means that things like "Software Policies" can not be enforced. A "Software Policy" can keep the cost of support down by having install points of required software on a Windows 2000 Server.

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