Question

discuss whether a small business environment should use a workgroup network or a domain network setup. You should describe the advantages and disadvantages of either option. Don't forget to list why you chose the network type you did.

Answer 1

A small business environment should use a workgroup network setup.

The advantages of workgroup network are:

(i) All the computers work as peers to each other.

(ii) For a small business where the requirement can be fulfilled by using 15-20 computers, workgroup network is very effective as the implementation is simple.

(iii) It is cost effective.

The disadvantages of workgroup network are:

(i) Security is less as there is no password protection.

(ii) No centralized server.

(iii) The user can't log on to the computer if the account is not registered.

The advantages of domain network are:

(i) If the user has a domain account, then he/she can log on to any computer on that domain.

(ii) There is centralized server.

(iii) The computers can reside in different local networks.

(iv) Security is more.

The disadvantages of domain network are:

(i) More costly.

(ii) Implementation is complex.

Hope this helps.