3. Peer-to-Peer

There are two main ways of laying out a network:

• Client-Server
• Peer-to-Peer

In a peer-to-peer network, every individual keeps their files and data on their own workstation. These workstations are connected directly to one another, via a hub or switch. Users can share as little or as much of the data on their computer as they're comfortable with, by setting passwords and user rights.

Peer-to-peer networks are easy to set up; most operating systems come with networking options already included.

If a single workstation goes down, the rest are unaffected, other than being unable to access the specific files stored on the broken workstation.

Without a central server, it can be more difficult to organise data backups and security