Gene,
Due to either other misinterpreting your question or maybe I am and several hijackings, I don't think you are getting the correct answer.
Let's start with workgroups. Workgroups or Windows for Workgroups is Microsoft's version of a peer to peer. They are virtually the same thing. All computers on the network sharing the same workgroup name and using the same subnet each connect to each other and share common resources. They do not have a central computer nor do they have single sign-on or the ability to authenticate against a server. In the truest sense of the word, they would all connect via crossover cables, but now they use hubs or switches. The term "main computer" made popular by AC users on a peer to peer as the computer with the main database is just that, a computer in a workgroup with the database.
There are then client/servers. A client/server is a group of computers which connect through a switch but obtain all their resources from a central server. It is named such because there is an obvious computer which is better than the rest and contains all of the data whether databases or files for the network.
When using this type of configuration, you are essentially still in a workgroup environment. You have not elevated the server to a domain. Client computers do not have to authenticate against the server. Active Directory does not exist and therefore user accounts are not made. There is no AD to house security settings. Group policy is not able to be used. DHCP, however, can be used and should be used in any setting where you can, e.g. on client computers which can accept DHCP, which all of them do.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323416When most people mention client/server they are basically saying and assuming the setup above, but with the server running a domain. All clients are on the domain and function the way the domain is set up. Servers with a domain (SBS has only one) others can have many will, by definition, have certain names in the network that must be used in order for the network to run properly. You will have the domain name, e.g. riverview, the domain address, e.g. riverviewpediatrics.org, client names such as Triage, fully-qualified-domain-names or FQDNs which takes the client name and the private domain and puts them together for triage.riverview.local. It will also provide DNS, which will be the all import system for Domain Name Server. DNS is your best friend and your worst enemy and the main reason why DHCP works best. If you use DHCP from the server (which you should if you use it) it should NOT be on at your router. The things you can do with a server and a domain are ten to thirty times more than with a non-domain server. (the server hardware has nothing to do with whether it's a domain or not) it is just if you have elevated the OS to domain status. Usually, during the setup, it will set up the domain, but you do not have to run a domain.
A server on a domain is much more secure than a workgroup and allows you to control who gets to do what at the most granular level. Active Directory allows you to control any user. You can put users into different groupings so that Group policy may only act on them. You may not want your nurse or receptionist to use crazy desktops so you set that up while others are free to do so.
Now back to your question. How to set up a workgroup with a server. Basically, you simply set up a workgroup with one of the machines being a server-grade computer. They would all run through the swtich, but you would put all data including AC's on the server. You would have all of the advantages of a server computer as far as much faster hardware and the ability to set up better RAID with hardware controllers.
For the OS, you would use Server OS such as Windows 2003 or 2008 or, my preference, SBS 2008. Not only will you have more control, when you do decide to move to a domain, you already have the server OS.
What is missed in all of these questions is those of us who use Client/Server domain setups don't necessarily do so because AC has to run on them. It's just that they allow you to do MUCH more with your network for other things. Servers allow you to centralize many things such as Antivirus and Windows updates. It gives you day to day reports on the server and the LAN as well as allows easier backups.
Addendum: These are concepts that took me months to understand, because no one sat down and explained them to me. The two big terms are Active Directory
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/ad-main.aspx and DNS. Active Directory was patented back in early 2000 and was a major breakthrough for IT Administrators. Think of a civil engineer required to manage 20 cities. Every time a new city was established she would have to build a new road to that city, do a census and make an entirely new directory. (domain) This, of course, would take lots of work and time. Now give her Active Engineering. She types in the name of the city "New City." DHCP gives her an IP address and the all important DNS, which points it to the central city in seconds. So, now all the info and census and small streets and where the schools are can be seen and managed in the one central location. DNS is the most important thing in networking and the least understood and most screwed up. My network guru always answers my questions with DNS, DNS, DNS... just like the five year old with abdominal pain is constipation, constipation, constipation... DNS allows you to get to websites, for email to work AND for computers on a network to contact the server. In a peer-to-peer, all computers would have DNS point to the ISP. In a domain, the domain name server would point to the server and the server has the DNS of the ISP and forwards the computers to the ISP. With five computers, setting up static IPs is easy, with 100 you want the server to set those up.
Because of active directory and DNS, you can use group policy to virtually set up hundreds of settings. Want to make passwords five letters, fine; eight letters with mixed case, fine. Don't want your users to be able to restart or shut down their computers, done. It's like a kid in a candy store.
Friday a really cool feature came up. My MA got a new cell phone. There should be a point where you can tell Exchange to not require security settings (on the phone). If you can't, then the phone has to have ridiculous passwords to access email. Tried to fix the phone for an hour. Went into Exchange (connected to AD) and found the setting for allowing Exchange to allow her in without security settings). Just her.
Anyway, the key here, no one is wrong, BECAUSE, the questions and discussions are based on three different things:
1. Can you run AC successfully on a peer-to-peer with normal workstation hardway and do it successfully and safely? Good discussion, but my answer is a resounding yes.
2. Can you use a server in a client/server environment, thereby giving you a better server with more options, increased security and a MILD increase in speed? Yes. (This is the scenario most overlook)
3. Is a domain better than peer-to-peer in an overall network environment and, therefore, any app or database will function better and more securely? Yes. Is it necessary? Definitely not.
So, all of these questions deserve their own thread.
