Win2k Server

[Jarhed7276]

Mornin' All,

Is there any advantage to being a part of a domain as opposed to being in a workgroup?
I built a server and 7 workstations for a small insurance company.
At the time the workstations were running Win98. Now most are running Win2k. The Win2k machines show up in workgroup. Would there be any benefit for the company if I reconfigured everything so that the machines show up as part of the domain instead of showing up in the workgroup?
Can everything (permissions, restrictions,etc.) be done in a workgroup like they are if they were part of the domain?
I am asking this because I built the workstations for them about 5 years ago. They had to upgrade their server last year to be compatible with new software they were getting. They were happy with the workstations so they gave me a shot at building their server, first one I have built. I bulit it, it worked, they were happy.
A couple of months ago I decided to get serious about networking, maybe go for an MCSE, so I built a Win2k server network at home consisting of the server, a WinXP Pro, a Win2k Pro, and a Win98 machine. All of my machines, except the Win98, show up as part of the domain. After much work and learning I get no errors in event viewer.
I have come to realize, though, what a poor job I did for them (like I said it works so they are happy with it.)
So, would it benefit them to reconfigure their machines to be a part of the domain as opposed to just being in a workgroup?

Thanks,
Gerry

[Siliconjunkie]

Big advantage is 1 login. Meaning that you create them 1 domain account and you dont have to create an account on each box, and they have 1 password to change.

[DVNT1]

Centralized user account management. Don't have to log into each machine individually to create accounts, can have one set of accounts that can log into all machines (basically emphasizes what Siliconjunkie mentioned)

Ability to control user rights from a centralized location (which includes shares and file permissions)

Group Policies: Centralized management of users and computers, can do all kinds of things like setup limitations for certain machines or users, limit who can access admin tools, set login scripts, have MS updates installs automatically to all workstations, have software installed on new machines automatically, and much more.

Obviously most of this is more important in larger environments. With only 7 computers the time/effort savings are perhaps minimal, though after the initial setup of the domain you would see time/effort savings grow the longer the domain was in place.

[Jarhed7276]

Thank you for your replies Siliconjunkie and DVNT1.

Judging from your replies I should go ahead and reconfigure their system. Some of the things the office manager has been asking me about is centralized management and putting restrictions on the machines so that software cannot be installed without her knowledge.

Thanks again, you have saved me a lot of time from having to research these answers myself.

Gerry