This article is aimed at small business people, particularly those with less than twenty employees.

Even if you have just two people working together, you have probably noticed times when you wished you could jump on a coworker's computer for just a minute and access her files from your station.  

And, maybe you were in a wireless hotspot having a cup of coffee and thought how nice it would be to work on that proposal in the office from your portable.

Nowadays, many families have networks, because of kids and parents needing or wanting to share information.

So your first question might be, what benefit will I get from networking my computers?  

Continuing on, will the cost of installing equipment and setting up the network be offset by the gain in productivity or income?

Last but not least, what do you want the network to do for your business?

The computer world is so full of acronyms and insider tech talk that it can be pretty intimidating to a person who just wants the computer to perform tasks for them.

Before you start talking to a consultant about setting up a network for you, you should understand the difference between these two types of networks.

PEER TO PEER NETWORKS

A peer to peer network can easily be set up by YOU. These days new computers come with a network card installed. By connecting cables to these network cards, then connecting them to a central hub called a router, you can share a network connection for all your computers. The router can be configured with a firewall, which makes all the connections on your network safer. You can also share files and printers through a workgroup network.

You have two choices on how to connect your peer to peer network. You can purchase a wireless router, which will also have ports for cables should you want to connect by cabling. Wireless is great if you have portable equipment that you need to coordinate with your office computers.

The connection can be iffy however, and has a limited range. You may need to add "antennas" that can be attached by a card in your computer and will extend the computer's range for picking up a wireless signal in remote areas of your office.

Many new printers are also wireless, but be safe rather than sorry. Read the specs for any new equipment to make sure it will plug in to your wireless system.

The Windows XP control panel has a network setup wizard that will walk you through the steps to set up your peer to peer network.

SMALL BUSINESS SERVER

If you have projects that require collaboration, or remote workers who need to do daily updates on your office system, then a Windows Small Business Server may be right for you.

Windows Small Business Server is touted as being easy to set up. I have been working with computers as an end user since 1981 and I can tell you right now that I don't find that system easy to work with at all. It requires a lot of study and preparation to master. There will be lots of references to unfamiliar terms, such as "forests", "farms", and other terms used by large companies to connect multiple offices with many computers.

For that reason, there are a lot of Windows Small Business Server consultants. Most of them charge a lot of money for their services, typically about $150 per hour. Getting your new server up and running, with all your computers linked to it and operating as "clients" of your server will probably cost about $1500, over and above the price you have paid for your actual server. That would be typical for, say, four to ten computers. If you have more computer stations than that, Small Business Server may not be the right choice for you.

As in any other large business outlay, check references before you hire a consultant. You need to know how long they are going to take to set up the system, and whether their expertise includes knowledge on setting up Sharepoint Services.

In my opinion, Sharepoint is one of the biggest reasons to purchase a Small Business Server.  It is easy to use and you can make those documents that your people use frequently easily available, wherever they are.  You can also collaborate on line on projects, updating status etc., so that everyone involved is completely in the know about the project.

Another preliminary step in making the decision to go a server should be a review of the software you currently use in your business. Some software charges an extra fee for a server installation or multiple users. Some software won't work on a server. How frustrating to go to all that trouble to attain connectivity, only to find that your most used program(s) don't work on the server!  That adds an extra layer of expense you should be aware of.

Even a two person office can benefit from the Small Business Server if one person works remotely and lots of collaboration on projects takes place.