For very small businesses it is not uncommon to find a machine running Windows XP pressed into service as the company server. This imposes a number of limitations. I'll list just a few examples:-

1. The network only operates as a peer-to-peer workgroup, not as a server-based domain. This means that responsibility for access control is spread around all machines in the network, rather than being concentrated in the server.
2. You can't support roaming profiles, so every user is pretty much tied to their own machine.
3. You cannot run software which is exclusively available on server operating systems. Top of the list here would probably be Exchange 2003. Without this then you are forced into using third-party solutions if you want to, for example, share mailboxes in Outlook.
4. A maximum of ten machines can simultaneously connect to the server.
5. There is no support for dynamic disks for data mirroring (for data resilience) or striping (for performance). However this can be overcome by using a hardware RAID controller.
6. Windows XP only supports a single VPN client, though this can be overcome by using a VPN-enable router. (VPN is the technology for connecting to your network from a remote location, e.g. connecting to your office server from home).

Despite these and other limitations, use of Windows XP can offer a cost-effective solution for small businesses who just want a dedicated file server machine. However if the company's I.T. use is expected to grow then installing a "proper" server may well be a better long-term investment.

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