ok cool. so what is the difference between windows xp, windows server 2008, windows server 2003, windows vista, and windows nt, and windows 2000? are they all just operating systems? can you have a windows server 2008 operating system on your hard drive?
What you need to learn first is that there are 2 type of networks. Peer-To-Peer and Client-Server
I suggest you read the following
Peer-to-peer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In a nutshell, Peer to Peer Networking is 2 or more computer directly sharing files and resourses. THere is very little control or security on these networks.
Client-server - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In a nutshell, Client Server Network is when 1 computer connect to a 1 server computer. The server computer can control access to files and resourses.
NT Server, Server 2000, Server 2003, Server 2008 are server operating systems.
Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Xp Pro, Windows Vista Business, Windows Ultimate are workstation operating systems that can connect and take full advantage of Windows Server environments.
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows Xp Home, Windows Vista Home Basic/Premium are desktop operating system which are not ment to connect to servers. Not saying that it's impossible, however i have come accross some situation where i might not be able to take full advantage of the server. Pretty much windows Me onwards on that list do not long in a client server network.
Server Operating Systems are designed to take multiple requests from workstations.
Server operating systems helps centralised all your data in one location. I have seen too many Peer To Peer works where the data is all over the place.
Server Operating systems can roll out different tasks depending on the user you logs in. Where windows is just limited to Standard User and Administrator.
Eg. On a server, you can set it up so the boss as access to every one files. However the employees only has controll on their own files depending on which what department they work in.
Server Operating Systems be configured for a varity of needs.
Eg. File Server - Centralised location for you company data.
Mail Server - Eg, Microsoft Exchange. You can set up and manage an internal mailing system for your company.
Internet Gateway Server - Eg. Microsoft ISA Server. Monitor and control your companies internet access and well as providing a firewall.
Smaller company might only need one computer to do 1 of these all these taskes where larger servers might have a dedicated computer just to look after 1 task.
It is not recommended to use a Server OS for a desktop install unless you KNOW what you are doing. Server OS's are setup completely different and require a lot of customization to get them working.
Very true. Server operating systems are very unforgiving and should only be used if you 100% know what you are doing. One wrong move, and you are going to be reinstalling from scratch. And servers are much more complicated to set up properly.
However with that being said, if you have a spare computer lying around, give a server operating system a go. Like i am currently playing around with Server 2003
It is not recommended to use a Server OS for a desktop install unless you KNOW what you are doing. Server OS's are setup completely different and require a lot of customization to get them working.
And some times your standard desktop applications might not want to work under server environments. But then again, server should never be used a desktop. Servers should just be left in a corner of your office and only touched with there is some thing that needs to be changed on the server. Every thing else should be done on your work station.