Network Configuration
What is a Peer Network?Maybe your office contains two (2) or more stand-alone computers and one (1) or more printers. (By stand-alone we mean a computer that is not attached to a network).
The usual setup would be a printer being attached to each system to facilitate the printing of letters and other hard copy reports. In other cases, there is only 1 printer among several computers, forcing each user to save his/her work on diskettes, walk over to that lone computer connected to the printer, retrieve the data, and then print the documents - a very tedious process you can imagine.
However, with a peer to peer network, PC’s are connected to one another via cables and a hub, and can now share files and peripheral devices such as printers. Each PC on the network is an equal ‘peer’ to the others, and there is no central repository or control of the entire network. This collaboration of computer systems increases productivity by allowing the sharing of data and resources.
Benefits of a Peer Network
A peer network presents many benefits to any business. Hardware Devices and Data files can now be shared by multiple users at any point from any work station once it is on the network and collaboration features allow contributions by multiple users to a single document before it has been printed thus saving paper.
Another feature is that users can use a peer to peer network to send documents to print from various workstations to one or any printer on the network, thus saving valuable time and diskettes.
Also, with a peer network, more than one user can log on to the internet to browse websites and access email at the same time, greatly enhancing productivity while saving money on extra phone lines.
Who needs a Peer Network?
A wide variety of business who use computers to assist them with the processing of information would benefit greatly from the implementation of a peer network.
Listed below are a few:
- Companies with two or more computer systems
- Staff that need to access documents or files on different workstations within the office
- Employees who need to communicate frequently with one another
- Companies that often run files between computers via floppy, zip disk, etc.
- Companies where the use of one computer is limited due to hard drive space, while another computer has a vast amount of storage
- Companies with invoices, data and general information that need to be printed from more than one workstation to one or more printers
- Companies that work with large documents or files, or need frequent access to accounting data, inventory information or customer information
- Businesses that require more than one employee to be on the internet at any given time
