1.4 Compare a client/server network with a peer-to-peer network.

Client/Server is an architecture in which the client performs the request and the server processes the request and return the result to the client. The server in the Client/Server architecture is also called application server. Compared to peer-to-peer network, Client/Server deploys a dedicated server in the network to fulfill the clients' requests. Therefore, Client/Server means more than having a dedicated server such as a file server.

Some people think Client/Server means a client machine such as Windows 95 connecting to a server machine such as Windows NT Server. However, it is totally wrong. The term Client/Server means far beyond connecting a client and a server machine. Client/Server computing requires an application server in the network. Sometimes you can even implement Windows 95 as the application server while Windows NT Server as a client although it is not recommended. For example, you can install an Oracle database in Windows 95 system and let Windows NT server to send the request and retrieve the data from the Oracle database on Windows 95.

Peer-to-peer network is an architecture in which all the clients in the network can also act as a server. A dedicated file or database server might be used in a peer-to-peer network but it is necessarily required as in a client/server network. Sometimes, A peer-to-peer network is also referred to as a workgroup network. This configuration is suitable for networks which consist of less than 10 computers, and when security is not an issue. Peer-to-peer network is a special case of client/server network. So if people ask you, ‘Is peer-to-peer network a kind of client/server networking’, and the answer should be YES. Peer-to-peer network just doesn’t specify a dedicated server, but you can also install the backend application such as SQL server on it. After that, when other machine run the query, it is a typical client/server computing.

Collaborative computing basically is a messaging system to help a team and workgroup number s to work more efficiently and effectively. Collaborative computing has following advantages:

· Make it easy to share information.
· Provide tools for automating group processes.
· Help users keep track of schedules for people and resources.
· Help organize and track tasks.

Because Microsoft has won the game of Word processor, by my anticipation the next game should be collaborative computing systems. Therefore, you might see more and more collaborative computing related questions on the MCSE exam.

Lotus Notes/Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise are three main collaborative computing tools in the market. Such as a database server is required in a database system, you must have a collaborative computing server in a collaborated computing system. Therefore, if you cannot find the Lotus Notes/Domino, Microsoft Exchange, Novell GroupWise or other collaborative computing server in your system, you cannot call your system a collaborative computing system.

A database server processes the data queries for the client computers. While a collaborative computing server distributes the messages as well as collects the information from the client computers to build a collaborative working environment. If you have hundreds of people working on a Visual C++ project, it is better to build a collaborative computing environment. You can store the schedule on the collaborative computing server end and inform the corresponding user by E-mail when necessary. If you have several departments want to maintain the records of some products, you can implement a database system for the query. For a client/server database system, when a client sends a request, the server just does the back-end processing for this request and sends the results to the client. However for a collaborative computing system, the server can distribute the information to the client computers.

Tip: If didn't see Lotus Notes/Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise in the question, it is not a collaborative computing solution.