Home Network and Servers

[STIGMATA]

Ok people I know this is a really newbie question but hey I'm a newbie.

What is the difference between a network at home and a server at home?

Which is better?

Pro's
Con's

any info would help
thanks

[ktkendall]

Hello Stigmata:
Your probably not going to see many server based networks at a home, unless someone is running a business from home especially something like web hosting or another computer based service that one could provide from home. There are 2 types of networks:
1. Peer-To-Peer
2. Server Based
Your little home network will ususlly be the first which basically means everyone is equal and can do pretty much the same as everyother PC on the network.

Server Based is usually what U see in the coorporate environment, where U actually log on to the server to be able to do anything from your desk. Your account info, logon, password, and permissions are all kept in the server, so the network administrator has a much tighter reign and can control things quite a bit easier.

There are also the task specific based servers such as an email server which is what U are logging into everytime U get your email, so in that respect everything you login to get email you are part of a server based network for that purpose of emailing.

The other consideration of course is also cost. Servers, and especially the software to run a server based network is quite costly, much more that it would be worth it to put one in your home just to say U have a server based network...HTH