Differences between SOHO and Enterprise network
According to the number of users, businesses can be classified based on the number of employees as below.
• SOHO (Small Office/Home Office): 1 to 10 employees.
• SMB (Small and Medium Business): 10 to 2,000 employees.
• SME (Small or Medium Enterprise): 2,000 to 5,000 employees.
• Medium: 5000 to 10,000 employees.
• Large: 10000 to 20,000 employees.
• Enterprise: 20,000+ employees.
Different network equipment vendors offer network devices with different levels of capabilities according to the size of the network.
Primary difference between SOHO network and enterprise network is that the SOHO networks have very small number of users when compared with Enterprise networks.
SOHO networks are often limited to one location.
Generally, Enterprise networks are located in multiple locations in different continents. These offices of Enterprise networks, in different geographical locations are connected together by different types of Wide Area Network (WAN) connectivity solutions. There may be travelling employees and work from home employees who need access to Enterprise networks.
Following image depicts a typical layout of SOHO network.
Following image depicts a typical layout of Enterprise network.
The capabilities of SOHO network infrastructure devices like routers, switches and Access Points (APs) are far less than that of Enterprise routers, switches and Access Points (APs). Therefore, SOHO network infrastructure devices are available at lower price than that of Enterprise network infrastructure devices.
SOHO routers have only basic capabilities like NAT or a basic firewall. They usually have less interfaces (ports) compared with Enterprise routers. SOHO routers usually have less routing features than Enterprise routers. SOHO routers and switches are usually configured with a web-based user interface.
Main advantage of SOHO network infrastructure devices is that they are easy to install and configure, when compared with Enterprise network infrastructure devices.
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