How is a network organized?

Regardless of the type of network, computers must be managed. To facilitate management, computers in a network are organized into groups. With Windows NT, peer-to-peer networks are organized into workgroups. A server-based network is organized as a domain.

Workgroup
A workgroup is a logical collection of computers identified by a unique name. Members of the workgroup can see and access resources shared by other computers within the group. Each computer in the workgroup manages its own security.

Domain
A domain is a unique characteristic of a Windows NT server-based network. Like a workgroup, a domain provides a means of organizing computers and resources. Unlike a workgroup, a central server called a ‘Primary Domain Controller’ or PDC that maintains a single user accounts database manages a domain. That database can be shared with other servers called ‘Backup Domain Controllers’ (BDCs). The domain controllers provide logon validation to ensure that domain user · accounts and security policies are enforced within the domain. Permissions and rights within the domain are typically assigned to groups and then users are assigned to the groups. Thus, a user’s ability to access resources on the network depends primarily on his or her group memberships. There can be more than one domain on a network. Users from one domain can access the resources of another domain if the appropriate trust relationships have been established.