Workgroup to Domain - Worth The Trouble?

Hello all. Current setup - 9 PC's all running XP (some Home, some Pro)
connected to Netgear router (if that matters) and networked as a Workgroup. I
just bought a nice shiny new server running Windows Server 2003. I will
probably have to pay someone to fully utilize the benefits of the server but
I am doing my best to learn as much as possible first. It seems the main
benefits of going to a domain system is security and control. What are the
disadvantages? for example - I switched my PC from workgroup to domain and
when i logged in to the domain (not my local computer) my outlook was not
configured, my desktop background changed, etc. I assume there is a way to
migrate this stuff from my local XP user account to the domain account (or
whatever I am logging into) but does that mean if the server crashes, my
settings, etc goes with it? If I am not connected to the internet, what will
I logon to when I boot my computer? Am I opening up a can of worms? Any
advice/discussion of the workgroup vs domain is appreciated. Also, is there a
networking/server "bible" that I can buy (that will be updated for server
2003) or is this more like a go back to college type subject? Thanks. Ron
.

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