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Indeed there are several ways to record stuff. But as soon as you want to record different stuff at the same time, you need something with multiple inputs (soundcard, hard disk recorder, etc...). And preferably multiple outputs to, for foldback purposes.
Now let's be clear, most modern music (pop, rock, etc) is recorded in layers, like cheggy said. Drums are recorded, then bass is recorded in overdub, then guitars, etc...
The reasons for that are multiple. The main reason is that you need to do less effort to minimize spill from the other instruments (ideally, you don't want drums to be picked up in the guitar mic for example. So if there's a possibility, you'll place the different instruments in different rooms. No need to say that's only possible in the best studio's). The second reason is, sadly enough, that most bands just can't play right together anymore. If you compare that to the pure jazz world, there everything is based upon interaction between musicians, so recording separately is usually not the best choice.
If you decide to record in layers, you don't necessarily need lots and lots of inputs. With an 8 input device, you can already do some great stuff (with less, you'll have to premix some stuff like parts of the drums, before entering the recording device. If you're doing a complex setup, 8 inputs might not be enough either (for example a big drum setup)). Keep in mind, that if you need to premix something prior to recording, you're bound to that balance you made in the premix. If you find there's something wrong with that balance, usually you'll need to rerecord it.
Problem is, most multi input soundcards/recorders have line inputs. So you'll pretty much need a mixer too (at least something that provides preamps for the mics to be brought up to the right level). If you wanna record each mic on a separate track, you need to look for a mixer with direct outs (each channel has it's output, that is sent to tape). For premixes (or simple routing) groups with independent group outputs are a must.
What is very important, for the musicians, is their monitoring, especially if you're recording several instruments at once. Try to avoid monitor speakers at all cost, prefer headphones (closed ones). The musicians want to hear themselves (and if you ever went in a studio, while a band is playing, you'll understand why they need that monitoring). In a perfect world, they wouldn't need monitoring. In a somewhat less perfect world, they'll need monitoring, but the same balance for all musicians. You guessed that we're not in a perfect world. Usually different musicians need different foldbacks (the singer wants more voice in his phones, the drummer wants a click track, etc...).
What I wanna say with this is, you need stuff to provide those cues to the musicians. If you work completely in a DAW, you'll need a soundcard with multi outs (as much outs as you want cues (in mono, double this if you want to send them stereo cues) + your own monitoring). Here, zero latency monitoring functions are a MUST. Ever tried singing, and you heard what you just sung 100 ms later? Keeping a steady performance in that case is pretty hard. Latency is also a problem if you do overdubs. Imagine the guitar trying to lay down a riff on a prerecorded drum. He hears the drum in his phones, plays, but it gets recorded later. And in the worst case, he hears that latency too, sending his playing totally off.
With a mixer, you just need auxes that can be switched in prefader(some mixers have dedicated foldbacks).
Wether you're using the pure DAW, or you use a mixer, the method stays the same. Each aux stands for a cue send. They need to be prefader (the level you send needs to be independent from the changes you make in your monitoring mix, the musicians won't like it when you pull down a fader and he hears his instrument disappear). The instruments you wanna send to that particular cue, you just open the correspondent aux send on the channels.
The aux sends go to headphone amps. Try to see if several musicians will settle with the same balance, it makes your job a lot easier.
The whole monitoring question is basic stuff to do in a decent recording (most recordings are done this way). I guess if it stays purely home studio, you don't really need it to be that complicated.
Just be aware that if you use speakers as a cue, they WILL spill into the microphone, with the possibility to create a nasty feedback (some musicians don't like headphones. If you need to work with speakers, a trick is to set one at each side, send them the same signal, but one speaker is phase reversed, so they will negate each other as much as possible in the end).
Either way, you need to understand you can't record anywhere. The accoustics of the room are as important as the choice of mics, and their placement. One simple rule : try to get it as good sounding as you can just by placing/choosing the mic. Don't "fix it in the mix", that's asking for trouble. Unless you want to do some weird FX, the general rule is to get the same kind of sound on the recording, as you would hear the instrument live (this in the case it sounds good in real too  ).
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