7. Comparison of Client-Server and Peer-Peer
Client-Server |
Peer-Peer |
|---|---|
| Complex to set up | Simple to set up |
| Requires technical expertise to set up and maintain | Needs basic technical skills |
| Server present | No server present, each computer is a 'peer' of the others |
| Centralised data and application management | Each computer has its own data and applications loaded |
| Uses a dedicated network operating system | Uses standard operating system with network capabilities |
| Security is managed centrally and server can be in a locked room | Only as secure are the most vulnerable computer in the network e.g. a wireless laptop is not physically secure |
| User access and authentication is managed centrally | Fairly basic login authentication for each user |
| Peripherals are managed centrally and available to client computers | Peripherals can be shared but the computer it is attached to must be powered on as well |
| Users can roam from machine to machine and still have access to their applications, data and desktop setup | User data is one one of the networked machines which must be on for access. User data must be in a 'share' folder if it is to be visible on the other machines |
challenge see if you can find out one extra fact on this topic that we haven't already told you
Click on this link: Virtual networks