questions, set up, connecting client computers to server
I am a novice.
I have a small business (dental office) with 11 macs (and 4 at home). Up until recently my network has consisted of stand alone macs and I use file sharing, screen sharing, etc. to do basic network stuff.
As our database grows, I need a more sophisticated network.
I have recently employed some network people to set up Snow Leopard Server. However, they are experts with *_windows server_* networks and have never set up a mac network. There isn't anyone local that I can find who has ever set up a mac network.
So, we began the "easy" set up today and our heads are spinning.
The server seemed to set up correctly, but when it comes to connecting the exisiting client computers to the server, we haven't had much luck and there doesn't seem to be any clear guidance on this.
My assumption is that I should be able to set up users on the server that could then log in on any of the client computers and their preferences, desktop, etc. would appear before them, no matter what computer they were on in the office.
Am I correct in that assumption?
If so, where can we go to find the help we need to get this set up correctly?
Obviously it would be better for them to be asking these questions, since they know the vocabulary and the technical stuff.
What I envision is setting up 3 work groups and several users. My front office staff members could move between three computers, logging in with their log in, and get their preferences, folders, and desktop. All documents would be stored on the server. I would have remote VPN access to the network from my home, having the ability to access our practice management software, patient records, x rays etc. from anywhere in the world, perhaps even my iPhone?
Are these things possible with Leopard Server? If so, where's the missing manual?
Again, our main challenge seems to be figuring out the login of a client computer into the server, or a login that is "hosted" by the server. At this moment, all user accounts remain to be only local accounts.
We have gone into accounts and clicked the "join" button. Some of the computers have even received an "invitation" from the server, and we have attempted to "login" with the user names and passwords we set up on the server, but we don't get what we envision. The computer seems to be "connected" some how, but having a custom account that shows up across computers (like a windows server network) doesn't seem to be happening yet.
We are missing a piece of the puzzle. I realize this post is not very neat, if there is any information I can provide to clear things up, let me know.
Thanks.
I have a small business (dental office) with 11 macs (and 4 at home). Up until recently my network has consisted of stand alone macs and I use file sharing, screen sharing, etc. to do basic network stuff.
As our database grows, I need a more sophisticated network.
I have recently employed some network people to set up Snow Leopard Server. However, they are experts with *_windows server_* networks and have never set up a mac network. There isn't anyone local that I can find who has ever set up a mac network.
So, we began the "easy" set up today and our heads are spinning.
The server seemed to set up correctly, but when it comes to connecting the exisiting client computers to the server, we haven't had much luck and there doesn't seem to be any clear guidance on this.
My assumption is that I should be able to set up users on the server that could then log in on any of the client computers and their preferences, desktop, etc. would appear before them, no matter what computer they were on in the office.
Am I correct in that assumption?
If so, where can we go to find the help we need to get this set up correctly?
Obviously it would be better for them to be asking these questions, since they know the vocabulary and the technical stuff.
What I envision is setting up 3 work groups and several users. My front office staff members could move between three computers, logging in with their log in, and get their preferences, folders, and desktop. All documents would be stored on the server. I would have remote VPN access to the network from my home, having the ability to access our practice management software, patient records, x rays etc. from anywhere in the world, perhaps even my iPhone?
Are these things possible with Leopard Server? If so, where's the missing manual?
Again, our main challenge seems to be figuring out the login of a client computer into the server, or a login that is "hosted" by the server. At this moment, all user accounts remain to be only local accounts.
We have gone into accounts and clicked the "join" button. Some of the computers have even received an "invitation" from the server, and we have attempted to "login" with the user names and passwords we set up on the server, but we don't get what we envision. The computer seems to be "connected" some how, but having a custom account that shows up across computers (like a windows server network) doesn't seem to be happening yet.
We are missing a piece of the puzzle. I realize this post is not very neat, if there is any information I can provide to clear things up, let me know.
Thanks.
iMac intel, Mac Pro, mac mini, macbook pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)
