Different Types of Network Services?

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Introduction When accomplishing any task, there
is usually more than one way to get the job done,
sometimes even thousands of different ways. When
trying to connect more than one computer together
there are also many different ways to get the job
done. Some ways are better than others in certain
situations, and it is very beneficial to get
started in the right direction when networking
computers, not just because of usefulness, but
also because of security issues.
Just like with anything, when deciding on how to
connect computers together you should investigate
on why the job must be done. Question what
purpose needs to be accomplished, question if any
peripherals need to be shared, question if any
documents need to be accessed by more than one
person, etc. Once you have more information on
what the network actually needs to do, then it
will be much easier implementing a plan that will
accomplish all of your goals.
When setting up a network there are basically
three different types of networks - Peer-to-peer,
Client-Server, and Application-Server Networks.
Each type has certain benefits and downsides,
this article will describe each type, along with
why it could or should be implemented. Those who
are deciding to implement a network, or are
curious about their existing network should find
this article interesting and informative.
Peer-to-peer Networks Overview of Peer-to-peer
Networks Nearly all Operating Systems come with
the ability to act as some kind of a server to
share resources. You can setup different
computers to allow others to use its peripherals
such as printers or CDROM drives, and other
computers to allow others to read or write to its
hard disk allowing sharing of files, while other
computers may allow access to its Internet
connection. When you allow workstation computers
to become servers and share things in this
manner, it is called a Peer-to-peer network.
managed network service
An Example of a Peer-to-peer Network I will use a
small office as an example of a Peer-to-Peer
network.
In this small business office, the secretary uses
the best computer, and has the most drive space,
she also has a fast laser printer connected to
her computer. The accountant has a mediocre
computer that has a color ink jet printer. The
owner has a good computer with a zip drive to
take work home. All of these computers are
networked together, with no central server.
The secretary uses the zip drive through the
network to backup important documents, and also
uses the ink jet printer on the accountant's
computer to print out fliers. The accountant uses
the laser printer on the secretary's computer to
print out checks, accesses some important
documents on the secretary's computer, and backs
up the accounting data on the zip drive on the
owners computer. The owner uses both printers on
the other computers, and accesses important
documents on the secretary's computer. All of the
computers share Internet access through the
secretary's computer.
All of this gets done with no passwords or user
names since all the shared devices use no access
control, or other type of security measure. Also
in order for the accountant's computer and the
owner's computer to be able to read the companies
important documents, the secretary's computer
must be turned on first. network services
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The Benefits of a Peer-to-peer Network Peer-to-pee
r networks are very cheap to implement because
more than likely the Operating System software
you have installed on your computers should have
the ability to share items with other computers
on the network, even though the feature may be
limited. Nearly all of the most popular desktop
Operating Systems have this feature, including
Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS, as well as
Unix like OS es, such as Linux and the BSD s. So
the only cost will be the networking
hardware (cards, wiring, hubs or switches),
and the labor to configure the workstations
for this type of network sharing.
The Downsides of a Peer-to-peer Network Even
though a peer-to-peer network is very cost
effective up front, there are a number of
downsides you must consider before implementing
this type of network.
Without a central server, it is very difficult,
or nearly impossible to secure this type of
network in any way. You can implement passwords
on each different network share, but in order for
the network to usable, the exact same username
and password must be entered into each computer
acting as a server. Thus, to change a password
for a user could literally take hours of work,
especially if the network consists of computers
located in different buildings or different
floors. Because of this, what usually happens
with peer-to-peer networks is that passwords are
implemented to begin with, but after time, either
everyone starts using the exact same username and
password, or the passwords end up becoming blank,
or the network shares are configured to allow
anyone access without a username or password. In
any of these cases, security is pretty much
non-existent, which can become a huge problem,
especially if your network has access to the
Internet.
On a peer-to-peer network, it is also very
difficult to implement a good backup system
because important documents tend to be stored on
different hard disks on different computers. If
you do manage to implement a good backup policy,
chances are great that after a while some very
important documents will not get archived because
someone "accidentally" saved them to the wrong
location on the network.
Peer-to-peer networks also tend to become very
costly over time. Since each computer that shares
anything to the other computers is a psuedo
server, it must be constantly on, and configured
correctly. So instead of maintaining a small
handful of servers, you must maintain all of the
workstations as servers, and as such any downtime
with any computer on the network could cause
considerable loss of labor or information. The
following diagram illustrates all the theoretical
connections that are needed for a peer-to-peer
network to operate with just 5 computers. Note
that this illustration does not represent
physical network connections, but the theoretical
network connections the operating system needs to
operate the network properly.
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