Domain and Workgroup

[Pyxis]

What is the difference between domains and workgroups?

 

[spidey07]

good one.

In microsoft terms:
a workgroup is nothing more than an adminstrative collection of machines with each having its own authentication and access control.

A domain is also an administrative collection of machines but there is centralized security and access control. So you login to the domain as a whole instead of just your local machine. that way your security clearance and access "follow" you around when you access other domain resources like files, printers, applications, mail, etc.

hope that helps...i don't do servers so i'm sure there are more technical answers out there.

 

[Poof]

i don't do servers so i'm sure there are more technical answers out there.

LOL.

That's basically it. The domain provides an extra layer of authentication and resource management. Also, in a domain (as in "legacy NT domain", since 2K pretty much dropped the concept of a domain in favor of the active directory), 2K/NT workstations/servers MUST be a "member" (as a machine) of the domain in order to participate in any shared resources. This is independent of any users that use that machine needing permissions to access the resources. 9x/ME machines don't have that "member" requirement as they technically aren't "true multiuser" machines.

 

[spidey07]

say it in a "i don't do windows" tone of voice

 

[Pyxis]

Thanks for the info

 

[Garion]

What it really boils down to is:

Workgroup: Every workstation keeps their own user list - Easy to implement and can be done with Win9x only

Domain: All users are stored on a domain controller server and it controls who gets to what - Difficult and complex and requires at least one Win2K/WinXP/NT server (Not workstation, but full server)

There's a lot more to it, but that's the biggie.

- G

 

[me19562]

Let correct u Garrion, u can make Workgroup with Win9X, WinNT Workstation, Windows NT in Stand Alone mode, and Win2K Pro.

 

[Garion]

Sorry, bad wording. You can create a domain using only Windows 9X machines - It doesn't require anything else like a domain which requires on NT/2K/XP server.

- G