As noted in Chapter 13, Windows 2000 is all about networking; most of the world's Windows 2000 Pro computers are connected to a network in some way. Big corporate networks require the purchase of Windows 2000 Server, a computer or two that do nothing but run the network, and the services of a professional network guru.
If you're running a small business—or even a household—on Windows 2000, however, you're still invited to the network party. Without having to buy extra computers, operating systems, or staff, you can create a smaller, less complex kind of network called a peer-to-peer network. It's ideal for setting up several PCs to perform the convenience tricks that make networks so attractive:
Opening drives and folders on one computer while seated at another.
Sharing a single printer among all of your computers.
Installing programs from shared CD-ROMs.
Communicating with other users on the network using email, chat, and even (with the proper hardware) audio and video. (NetMeeting, described on Section 9.2.3, makes many of these features possible.)
Sharing a single Internet connection.
Running your own personal intranet Web server (that is, create a "Web site" that only the other machines on your network can visit).
Backing up your files to a single network tape or disk drive.
Venting your aggressions on your family and co-workers with multiplayer games.
Once you get used to having a network in your home or office, you'll wonder how you ever lived without one. Gone will be the days when you had to use the "sneakernet" to print out a file by copying it to a floppy disk and carrying it to another machine.
In a peer-to-peer network, the computers function as equals. Unlike a Windows 2000 Server network, where a central computer maintains the list of passwords for everyone on the network, each peer-to-peer network PC maintains its own security settings, list of authorized users, and so on.
When only a handful of computers are involved, the maintenance tasks aren't overwhelming. But when the network grows larger than about ten computers, peer-to-peer networking becomes unwieldy, because each user must have an account on each computer that he wants to access over the network. At that point, it's a good idea to start thinking about adding a Windows 2000 Server system.
On a peer-to-peer network, each person decides which files and folders to share, and who should be able to use them. This method of networking is simpler but less secure than a Windows 2000 Server network, where all of the security data (such as who can access what) is stored in a central location.
In other words, you won't find peer-to peer networks at the Pentagon, but they're fine for your home or a small office.