Workgroup or Domain?

To connect your computer to the rest of the network, Windows 2000 provides you with 2 different models, the workgroup model where each computer manages its own security, and a domain model where the security of the entire domain is managed by a single computer called the domain controller.

A workgroup, according to Microsoft sources, is suitable for groups of upto 10-15 computers, whereas for larger networks, Microsoft recommends the use of the domain model. Windows 2000 domains can either operating in Native mode or Mixed mode. Native mode is used when all the domain controllers in the network are Windows 2000 based and Mixed mode is used when the domain controllers consist of Windows 2000, Windows NT, Samba and other non-Windows-based domain controllers.

For more information, please read the section on the Active Directory.

In a workgroup, each computer manages its own security whereas in a domain, security is managed centrally




In a workgroup, all computers are more-or-less peers. In a domain, a designated server called the domain controller acts as a master for the security group of computers called the domain.