Should All of Your Computers Be on Your Network?

There are good reasons why you might not want to network a particular computer. Some information is so sensitive that you may want to keep it on a separate, non-networked computer. If you're required by law to keep certain human resources files private, for example, then storing that data on a stand-alone computer is a good idea.

You may also have a problem configuring older computers for your network. A computer might not have a slot available for a network interface card, it may lack the memory or processor speed to run a modern operating system, or you simply may not want to spend any more money on a computer that's ready for the junk heap. And some exotic computers may not mix well with standard Macs and PCs on a network.

Still, you'll probably want to network most of your machines.