Advantages of a Domain Server?!
osaddict
London, UK
As some of you may well know, I am in the process of updating a network, thats very out of date- yet works pretty much fine!...
Clearly everyone plumps for a domain server... however, I am struggling to see the advantages for out situation, based on the cost...
For:
Anti-virus updates can be centrally deployed (But they auto update with no dialogue boxes every 3hrs anyway)
Windows update patches centrall deployed (But again- these can be auto installed)
Against
20 machines which need to be converted from xp home to xp pro-
The expense of the above, both in terms of ££ and time!
The pro's mentioned on wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Server_domain also don't seem to be that beneficial to us...
I can't help but think I am totally missing something obvious that must be an advantage of the domain setup!!
Clearly everyone plumps for a domain server... however, I am struggling to see the advantages for out situation, based on the cost...
For:
Anti-virus updates can be centrally deployed (But they auto update with no dialogue boxes every 3hrs anyway)
Windows update patches centrall deployed (But again- these can be auto installed)
Against
20 machines which need to be converted from xp home to xp pro-
The expense of the above, both in terms of ££ and time!
The pro's mentioned on wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Server_domain also don't seem to be that beneficial to us...
I can't help but think I am totally missing something obvious that must be an advantage of the domain setup!!
0
Comments
people will only have to authenticate once - each time they log in. Printers can be shared, folders can be shared, etc with minimal effort, and it "just works" for everyone. You can define policies, etc.
With 20 people, you need a domain. The time savings will pay for it.
You have 20 users who use 20 different machines. Each user must have credentials created on each machine. In a domain, the users account/credentials is stored on the domain controller rather than on each PC. Any user can use any machine with the same username, password, printer mappings, shared drive mappings.. internet settings..
Domain uses DNS for machine name resolution. No more guessing with network broadcasts for machine names. Much more efficent for network traffic. This also means you can run multiple segmented networks to lower network traffic. DNS works across these segments, netbios broadcasts do not.
You can create simple or complex login & logoff scripts for users that are loaded when someone logs in. Mapping drives, printer access rights, security rights and automated backups when users logoff to the server for nightly backups. Setup home folders (traditionally H: drives) with redirection.
Lock PCs down to what the adminstrators want users to use, using group policy.. you can personalise to suit a specific user groups needs.
There is so much a domain can do for even a tiny company of just 5-10 employees. The above is just an example!
Domain/Active Directory is not just for big enterprises.
As for workstation backups- only outlook pst files need to be backed up really- anything on an individual users pc will not be (or at least should not be!) work related!
If this post seems a little odd- I am trying to persuade someone else that we should go for a domain server!, atm my arguements don't stack up too well compared to the cost!
Ubuntu's Samba implementation is working just fine for our 10 workstation call center.