Domain Vs. Workgroup

In a workgroup, permissions need to be set at every workstation. Once you have more than 10 workstations or PCs it becomes quite unwieldy to maintain since one change requires you make that change on every PC in the workgroup. A domain keeps all the permission information in one location so you only have to change it once. A domain also is more secure because there is less likelihood of a change or update being missed.

Domains

Domains can have numerous servers in addition to the domain controller. Access permissions for all of the servers are stored in the domain controller. Workgroups may not have a server at all, with print sharing just being done from a PC member. Each PC that has to perform additional server functions will be slowed down.

Benefits

The domain controller maintains a list of who can access the network in an active directory and determines which files users can access and what they can do with these files. In addition to security and convenience, domain controllers provide speed by freeing up individual PC resources from performing server functions.