Setting Up a Peer-to-Peer Configuration
As explained in Peer-to-Peer Configuration, you should use this set up when you have workstations sharing local data as well as data located on many different machines, and each machine has the Workgroup engine installed.
This configuration is similar to the small client/server configuration discussed above, except that now every Workgroup engine is sharing data as a server.
If you have data located on only one computers, or if you do not or cannot install a database engine on the computer where the data is located, you should use one of the other configurations.
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To Set Up a Peer-to-Peer Configuration
1
You must have the Workgroup engine installed on each computer where data is located, and installed on all computers expected to access the data.
Ensure that the Workgroup engine on each computer where the data is located is operational each time the computer is started, before any other database engines attempt to access the data. A Workgroup Engine starts by default if installed as a server. By default, Workgroup Engine is installed to run as a service for a fresh install. If the Workgroup Engine was installed as an application, ensure that the application starts if the computer is restarted. See Running the Workgroup Engine as a Service.
*Note: You may inadvertently fall into a Gateway configuration if the database engine on a machine where data is located is not started when the computer is started. If another Workgroup engine attempts to access the data and the local database engine is not running, the other database engine may establish itself as the Gateway for those data files.

You can resolve this situation by shutting down the computer where the data is located, and starting it up again, while ensuring that no other computers request data before the local Workgroup engine is restarted. You may need to remove the file ~PVSW~.LOC from the data directory to ensure the Gateway is not re-established.

The best way to ensure that only the Gateway services the file is to set a static gateway locator file using the Gateway Locator Utility.
2
On each computer where data is located, share the directory where the data is located so that other computers can map a drive to the data directory.
3
Ensure that each workstation expected to access the data can access the named database to which the data belongs. See Named Database in Advanced Operations Guide.
Also, ensure that each Workgroup engine can access any local data from its own physical drive.
4
Set up is complete. The Workgroup engine on each machine where data is located now acts as a mini-server, to fulfill all requests for data on that machine.
Each Workgroup engine also handles any local data access, that is, database requests from applications on that machine for data that resides on the same machine.