Shared Drive vs. Server Computer?

For a small business, which is more practical: storing company files on a shared drive accessible to all computers, or having a server that holds all company files and programs? A little about my company: There are three computers that are used daily. It is currently set up with a shared drive that all three computers can access, but all programs (like quickbooks, office, etc.) have to be installed on each computer. The problems that we have been having are things like files from the shared drive getting moved to an individual computer, files getting deleted altogether, and programs opening files that are not on the shared drive, but are saved on individual computers. I don't know if switching to a server would alleviate these things, or if it would be worth the expense of switching. If switching to a server doesn't make sense, what other options are there? Thanks!

I agree with most of the comments so far... to a point. But a small business server would give you several advantages.
1. Volume shadow copy. Twice a day (or more), the server takes a snapshot of every file on the drive. If one is accidentally moved, edited or deleted, a couple of mouse clicks will restore the latest "good" version. A lifesaver for our clients more than once.
2. Folder redirection. Users "my documents" folders are redirected to the server automatically. Thus, documents they save are automatically routed back to the server, where they can be backed up, accessed and/or "shadow copied".
3. Host your own e-mail, web site, remote access, remote e-mail... lots of bonuses you're paying extra for right now.
4. Group policy to guarantee all the computers have current updates, current antivirus, security policies, etc. You can also limit users rights to download and/or install programs. Keep their workstations for work, not play.
5. Perhaps the most important. If you spend the $ to buy a server, you'll probably actually try to use it well. You'll get server-based software (quickbooks, for example). The changeover to the server will give you the perfect opportunity to retrain your users.
Any investment in hardware or software has to be coupled with an investment in the time and effort to use it correctly.

Having a server is not going to fix any of these problems. Its more of a usage issue. you need to dictate to your users where they should save, store and use files from (no exceptions).

Plus always ensure you have a backup of your shared drive. Storage is cheap these days, maybe look into a mirrored raid storage solution.

Personally, I'd go with a file server option and secure the server from physical access. I realize that you are probably a fairly small company but I'm sure you would like to protect your data from unauthorized access. Also consider your authentication process. I'm guessing you are running a Microsoft operating system so you should consider setting up Active Directory to manage logins and permissions. With Active Directory, you can also control "login scripts" that could be setup to map the shared server directory with the same drive letter for everyone so that your application projects can access the data in the same manner. You may also want to try using UNC file access rather than drive letter access. Not all applications allow for this but if yours does, this will also help to avoid one user mapping as F:\ and the other using R:\. A UNC path would look more like \\myserver\myshare\myproj\myfile.xyz.

Server will not fix those problems. A server is just another computer designated for a server task. Set the security on the files so that they can not be deleted by things you dont want deleting them.

RJ

Unless the loads on the current server machine are slowing it down as a workstation there is no urgent reason to use a dedicated server. You have more control over use of the network if you use a dedicated domain server, but you can not stop people moving files. This is more a question of company policy and training. It is possible to force individual My Documents folders to re-locate to a domain server, this may help, but setting up a Windows server is expensive. An alternative is to use a Linux server with Windows Primary Domain Controller as one of it's services, this would also add better facilities for email and centralised administration.