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We are a small business 5-10 employees, and would like to know what are the major benefits of moving from a simple network/WORKGROUP to a windows-domain.

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In a small network like yours, you may not notice the importance of using domain controllers.

However, you will find it really essential to have centralised management/control of your computers when the network becomes larger.

Windows domain controllers provide very powerful control over your network computers as opposed to workgroup. In the latter, you need to control each computer by its own.

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Is Microsoft Exchange directly connected with windows-domain? – John Dec 21 '11 at 12:18
Email users can be authenticated against active directory. So, they are related. – Khaled Dec 21 '11 at 12:22
What is considered a large network? – John Dec 21 '11 at 12:57
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SBS 2011 is a good investment and is targeted to companies like yours: 5 users, 10, users, etc. up to 75 users. If you don't need Exchange Server or Sharepoint then SBS 2011 Essentials may be a good fit, for up to 25 users. – joeqwerty Dec 21 '11 at 13:25
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+1 It's really more than just the number of people. It's manageability, security, integration, deployment, and a number of other factors. Larger organizations need these things to stay sane and efficient. Smaller businesses can get away with less than ideal situations. The line is usually somewhere in the 10 to 25 employee range, but each situation is going to be different. – Chris S♦ Dec 21 '11 at 14:06
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