-: When we talk about network resources, 2 2
we have to think about how data is being moved 3 3
around the network. 4 4
We break this down into two main models, 5 5
the client/server model and the peer-to-peer model. 6 6
Let's start out talking about the client/server model. 7 7
The client/server model is going to use a dedicated server 8 8
to provide access to files, scanners, printers, 9 9
and other resources on the network. 10 10
Now, administration and backup is pretty easy here 11 11
because we have one central machine, the server, 12 12
that all of the resources are sitting on. 13 13
And so we can go ahead and back up that server 14 14
and we've backed up all the files. 15 15
We can configure that server 16 16
and we've configured all the accesses, right? 17 17
This makes the client/server model one of the main choices 18 18
we use in business networks. 19 19
Now, when we look at the benefits of a client/server model, 20 20
it gives us that centralized administration. 21 21
There is one or a few key servers 22 22
where we can focus all of our effort there. 23 23
That gives us easier management, 24 24
again, because it's all in one or two places 25 25
because we have those few key servers that we can manage. 26 26
And it gives us better scalability 27 27
because I can have all of my stuff in one place. 28 28
And if I need to expand, 29 29
I can actually expand outward using that 30 30
through a cloud architecture 31 31
or some other additional servers, 32 32
depending on how I need to do that. 33 33
And this will allow me to put things in tandem 34 34
using load balancing, and it'll give me a lot more benefits 35 35
than trying to run things under the peer-to-peer model. 36 36
Now, some of those drawbacks to a client/server 37 37
is that it costs more money 38 38
because it requires dedicated hardware 39 39
and dedicated operating system software. 40 40
So you might have to have something 41 41
like Windows 2016 on there, 42 42
or a Unix or Linux build or something like that. 43 43
And this takes a highly specialized skillset 44 44
to run all of these things. 45 45
And so it requires these dedicated resources, 46 46
whether they're machines or software 47 47
or that operating system, 48 48
as well as personnel who know how to use it. 49 49
So that's kind of the bad things 50 50
when we talk about a client/server model. 51 51
With all that said, client/server is still the leading model 52 52
that we use in business networks. 53 53
Now let's look at the other side, the peer-to-peer model. 54 54
This is where peers or other machines, 55 55
like laptops and desktops, 56 56
can share resources together directly. 57 57
The administration and backup is very difficult 58 58
because all the files are located on different machines 59 59
in different places. 60 60
For example, if I wanted to share some PowerPoints with you 61 61
and you're sharing some Excel files with me, 62 62
these files are on both of our machines. 63 63
And now we're going to have to back up both machines 64 64
and manage both of them, 65 65
and this is going to give us two sets of permissions on them 66 66
and all of the other management. 67 67
You see how this redundancy in that work. 68 68
Where you have to do multiple things in multiple places. 69 69
Now, if I took that and I scaled that up to 50 machines, 70 70
that gets kind of being a nightmare, right? 71 71
Because we're going to have a lot of work there. 72 72
That's the big drawback to peer-to-peer. 73 73
Now, where is peer-to-peer useful? 74 74
Well, if you think back a decade ago, 75 75
there was a software out there called Napster, 76 76
and this was a peer to peer file sharing program. 77 77
Now, it happened to be used for a lot of illegal activity, 78 78
like downloading music without copyright 79 79
and those types of things. 80 80
But the concept behind it is what we want to focus on here. 81 81
Each person who is part of the network 82 82
gave and received files. 83 83
It was a peer-to-peer sharing network. 84 84
Now the benefits of peer-to-peer was it was low cost. 85 85
There was no infrastructure, no specialized hardware, 86 86
no dedicated hardware, none of that stuff, 87 87
because there's just software 88 88
and it allowed everyone to talk to each other 89 89
as they wanted to and share files. 90 90
You could pick a folder on your hard drive 91 91
and share that out with the world. 92 92
This allow you to create resources and networks 93 93
wherever we wanted to. 94 94
So this was kind of the thing here 95 95
is that there was no specialized operating system, 96 96
no dedicated resources, and it was very low to start up. 97 97
Now, if I wanted to create a network 98 98
and we had five computers, 99 99
I might just turn one of them into a file sharing 100 100
off my local laptop and you could all access it. 101 101
It would be no problem. 102 102
That's the idea of a peer-to-peer. 103 103
But there's also some drawbacks 104 104
because if my machine is off, 105 105
now, you can't access anything. 106 106
Whereas if I had a centralized server, 107 107
you still could because that server would be on 108 108
24 hours a day, seven days a week. 109 109
Now, what are some of the drawbacks? 110 110
Well, the biggest one is decentralized management. 111 111
Everyone can own and control their own machine 112 112
and decide what they're sharing 113 113
and what they're not sharing. 114 114
This becomes extremely inefficient 115 115
when you deal with large networks or business networks. 116 116
And it has horrible scalability. 117 117
So if I wanted to run a peer-to-peer network 118 118
for an organization the size of Facebook, 119 119
it just wouldn't work. 120 120
It would be horrible. 121 121
You'd have to have centralized management for stuff. 122 122
Otherwise, when things get large, they get lost. 123 123
And so in business networks, 124 124
we are really going to focus 125 125
on this client/server model over peer-to-peer. 126 126
For the exam, you do want to understand 127 127
what a client/server model is and a peer-to-peer model, 128 128
and really, what the benefits and drawbacks are 129 129
for each of them. 130 130
All the benefits on the client/server model, 131 131
are drawbacks on peer-to-peer 132 132
and all the drawbacks on client/server model 133 133
are actually benefits on peer-to-peer. 134 134
They're basically opposites of each other. 135 135
If you remember that, you'll do great on the exam.