Setting up a small office network - advice needed

We are to move our small office (3 people) from a shared office environment to our own office space. That has the huge advantage that we´ll finally be Mac-only, but the agreeable disadvantage that there is no longer a networking professional around. And this is where I enter. I now have to find a solution on how to set up the network, and I do not have experience in that field (though I am fairly experienced with OSX).
As of today we have a G5 iMac, a G4 powermac and a G4 iBook. In the not too far future we will be getting a proper G5 powermac as well.
The G4 is used for low key office applications, Word and Mail mostly. The iMac is the workhorse that runs all graphic/video applications. It also is used for presentations once in a while, so that this machine is not always available. The iBook is used for writing and e-mail plus some light-weight field editing.
I would like to find a solution that we could store all important files on one computer, so that it would be easier to make regular back-ups. And everyone could easily access those files.
It would be great if data from iCal and Adress Book could also be stored centrally, such as that addresses are available for everyone, and updated calenders are available for all employees.
As the budget should be as small as possible, I was wondering if we could use the G4 powerbook (867mhz, 1gig memory) to run a sharing service in the background. Then I could also install a second harddisk and use both hdd as a backing-up-raid. Once in a while I would make a backup on a external firewire disk.
Is this a possible solution, or should we rather have one machine dedicated as a server. Would it be sufficient then to use the G4 as that server and buy a MacMini or iMac as the office machine?
Since it is a small network, would I still need an OSX server license, or is the standard OSX enough for this?
iMac G5 20, G4 QS 867mhz, iBook G4, PB 190, and a Pentium that I haven't switched on in months... Mac OS X (10.4.3) Experienced with technology, just not with networking...

There are two ways to set up a network:
1 peer-to-peer
2 client-server
Peer-to-peer is cheaper, but not reliable. Apple supports peer-to-peer in OS X. (In fact, in all versions of the Mac OS since System 7.) You can have up to 10 users connected to any one machine using peer-to-peer. (Warning... if you have more than five users, that machine is going to get slow.) The various peers are used as normal workstations while sharing. You have three peers, and may get one or two more, so you can use peer-to-peer. Just don't overdo it. Your planed usage of a few Word docs and a few graphics files sounds about right.
Under OS X the peers are limited to sharing specific folders only, unless they use 3rd-party software such as SharePoint, which allows the sharing of any and all folders.
It seems that you plan to use the G4 as a 'server' using peer-to-peer. You also seem to be planing to add additional drives, and RAID. I'd get a high end IDE PCI card, or a FireWire card, or a SCSI card, for the G4. Depending on which G4 you have, you can stick up to four hard drives in the case if you go IDE or internal FireWire or SCSI. External SCSI or FireWire drive configuratins are limited only by the drive slots available (7 for low-end SCSI, 15 for high-end SCSI, 63 for FireWIre) and the space available. (And, of course, the budget availanle...) You can get dedicated RAID controllers.
For backup I'd get DVD or tape. Tape holds more and is easier to use, but is expensive (you have no idea how expensive, but I suspect you'll find out) and can be finicky. DVD is a lot cheaper, but it's slow, and someone will have to sit and feed discs into the machine. This will get old really fast. If your backup requirements are modest, DVDs might do, but probably you'll need something else. You could just buy an external hard disk and back up to that...
Apple charges US$500 for OS X Server 10 seat version. (They charge $1000 for the 255-seat version.) OS X Server should run on the G4, and will turn it into a full-fledged server.
Any of the O'Reilly books on OS X Server and/or on Samba should help you get started. O'Reilly's _Using Samba_ has a section devoted specifically to SMB on OS X Server which should be quite helpful.

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Best practices for setting up users on a small office network?

Hello,
I am setting up a small office and am wondering what the best practices/steps are to setup/manage the admin, user logins and sharing privileges for the below setup:
Users: 5 users on new iMacs (x3) and upgraded G4s (x2)
Video Editing Suite: Want to connect a new iMac and a Mac Pro, on an open login (multiple users)
All machines are to be able to connect to the network, peripherals and external hard drive. Also, I would like to setup drop boxes as well to easily share files between the computers (I was thinking of using the external harddrive for this).
Thank you,

Hi,
Thanks for your posting.
When you install AD DS in the hub or staging site, disconnect the installed domain controller, and then ship the computer to the remote site, you are disconnecting a viable domain controller from the replication topology.
For more and detail information, please refer to:
Best Practices for Adding Domain Controllers in Remote Sites
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc794962(v=ws.10).aspx
Regards.
Vivian Wang

How to setup a small office network

Hello,
I am looking to setup a small office network comprising 6 G4 macs (existing computers) that have been upgraded to the newest OS version. What is the best way to go about networking these computers together in terms of being able to share files, internet connection, access to peripherals and also implementing a firewall.
Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

1, Get a cable internet ISP account; depending on your service you should be able to secure a 5Mbps down and 2Mbps up on the cable e.g. Cox or Comcast.
2. Get a good router. The mass market Linksys and Netgear routers aren't very good in terms of reliability. I use a ZyXEL P-330W router is the best I've ever seen. Its reliable and very efficient in terms of throughout. The Apple Airport Extreme is good.
3. Set up the router to support UPnP. This way all computers will be able to share iChatAV video conferencing. If you enabled "port forwarding" only one Mac would be able to use iChatAV video conferencing.
4. Set up your router for DHCP to dynamically issue Internet address to all your computers.
5. Setup the wireless router for encryption such as WPA. This will encrypt wireless communication.
6. Setup the wireless router for only your computers. You'll have to get the MAC/AirPort ID network addresses as expressed in terms of an xx:xx:xx:xx address. You can get this thru your Systems Preferences -> Network window -> AirPort (in the sidebar) -> Advanced button.
7. If you have Ethernet in your office then skip steps 5 and 6 above.
8. On each computer open up the System Preferences -> Sharing and check-off the File Sharing. Set your user access preferences appropriately.
9. Get a Network enabled All-in-one printer and setup Printer Sharing options. Hook-it up to your network and add your printer by clicking on the "+" sign in your "Print and Fax" Preferences.
10. Don't enable Apple Firewall on each Mac. The router will be the Firewall.
Ok. That's the short-hand.. plug it all in and go!

Randomly monitor small office network

Looking for a user-friendly, dummy-proof article on creating a small office network from a total of four Mac's (3 iMacs, one Air), allowing the administrator to randomly monitor without detection the real-time activities taking place on the other two machines. Triple points for iOS monitoring capabilities, as well

Hello, rjbm_exact.
You definitely need a managed switch and a Cisco Small Business (200 or 300 series) can meet your requirements. You can setup separate VLAN to segregate user access level. Are you also looking at expanding your wireless (guest access)?
Let me know if you need more assistance or e-mail ([email protected]) me directly. Kind regards.

Setting up a small business network using mac and windows pcs

Setting up a small business network using mac and windows??

Ok that sounds great. What is your actual question as it relates to AirPort networking? Is it: Can I set up a wired/wireless network with an AirPort base station that support multiple Mac & PC clients? If so the answer is yes.
If, instead, it is how to I configure an AirPort network to support a small business you will have to provide more details on both your networking & computing equipment in order for any of us to help you.

Problem using File sharing in a small office network

I have a problem using File sharing on an Imac and Macbook Pro.
My office has a small network running Windows Small office file server 2003. I have one Windows 2000 PC connected to it and 3 Macs, an 2.4 gHz Intel iMac running Leopard 10.5.6 , a MBP running the same and a Mac Mini running 10.5.
From the Finder Shared window of the Mac Mini, I can see all the computers on the network. It also used to be the case for the iMac, but the MBP could never see the Windows PC’s, not the server or the Win2000. This wasn’t a big problem as I was communicating between the Macs and using the shared printer on the iMac.
On Monday Jan 19 the iMac was suddenly unavailable to the other 2 Macs. It was working normally on the Friday. The iMac can access the Mac Mini and copy files to it. The Mac Mini can see the iMac but cannot access it. Even trying to connect as, ends in a failed connection. I have tried rebooting, turning File sharing off and then on again to no avail.
The iMac now also cannot see the Windows PC’s which it previously could.
To get files from the MBP for printing, I now copy it to the Mac Mini and acces the folder from the iMac, a very tedious procedure. I don’t know why this happened and am scared that the Mac Mini is going to do the same thing.
All three computers are also running VMware 2.0 with Windows XP pro, and from VMware the server is visible on all the computers.
Any help will be much appreciated, I live in a small town in South Africa and the local computer suppliers have no knowledge of the Macs.
I think that the problem with the iMac may have started after a software upgrade to 10.5.6 but I am not entirely sure.
Thank you
ajdk

Well, you're current method sounds pretty good. But if you want to user a file server, hey go ahead.
What you want to do when you centralize project files is to keep track of which one is the newest and becareful not to overwrite files with the same name. So you either have to set up individual spaces on the server (separate AFP/FTP folders maybe), or you'll need to run a file checkout service.
The individual space is cheaper, but it's not much of a difference from backing up to the network drive. Since you have Gigabit connections, you might even opt to save ALL the user files on the server instead of just the project files.
If you want to run a file checkout service, there's two approaches. You can run a service that can host any kind of file, or you can run a version control system for each kind of application (Photoshop, Word, etc.). Please notice, that as you read further and further along, the methods become more and more expensive and complicated. Once you get to this point, it will be necessary to purchase or build software in addition to the Mac OS X Server package.

Small office network questions

I have a small office with 4-5 mac computers. I have a Mac mini set up as a file server and I use a standard cable connection for my internet service. I use a wired router (ethernet cables) all going to a netgear switch.
Just bought a mac mini and a drobo storage device. I have successfully set up the drobo on the mac mini and I can "see" the files and read & write to the external drive. I also have a few other people in the office -- which will need access to the drobo via the network, but have a few questions there:
1. I don't see the name of the other computers that can connect to the unit. When I get on one of the other machines and look for the drobo I can find it & edit files but from the mac-mini side, I can't see the proper name of the other computer. How do I do this?
2. Can I limit which folders are accessible within the drobo that attached to the mac mini
3. Am I missing anything from a safety standpoint? Can Anyone come into my office and access the files that are on the mac/mini drobo? Worse off, is the mac mini vulnerable to the outside world with this setup?
Thanks for the help, new to all this networking stuff.

It's been a week, so i don't know if you have already worked this out, but...
while I am not familiar with your router, when I have used linksys before, i find it better to use static IP addresses for everything. Try setting static IP addresses and make sure everyone's mask is 255.255.255.0. Some routers also have a flag to allow computers to see each other.
Best of luck.

Computers on small office network - names getting confused on iChat

We are using bonjour and iChat on the computers on a small airport network in our office as an instant messaging solution in our office - however, 2 of the computers (which are named differently) keep getting confused and both being called the same name.
I have done the fix where you go to System Prefs, Users & Groups and then set the address book card to that particular computer owner, restart the computer and then open iChat (using bonjour) - it saves the name but then my colleague becomes the same name as me on iChat - so we do the same thing to her computer (set address book card etc) and it changes her iChat name, but then also seems to override what I had set for mine previously.
Help!! What can I do to stop these 2 computers seemingly overriding each other? It doesn't happen with the other 4 computers sharing our network...

Hi,
In System Preferences > Sharing is the Name the Computer has.
This does play a part in any Bonjour Connection.
It is this name that appears in Shares in the Finders's Side bar.
Separate for that iChat and Messages that have the Bonjour Account Enabled broadcast the details from the My Card in the Address Book.
Issues can arise with some Server based Logins that create a Global Address book that changes the My Card.
You get similar difficulties on some DiskImage roll outs of updates and the like if the details of the Address Book are copied as well.
I am not sure what you mean by the "fix" in System Preferences > Users and Groups to change the My Card or the Computer's Name.
Yes you can click the Contact Card for that account and it will show you it in the Address Book and it should be th My Card.
Changing the My Card then does not alter which Card is associated with the Mac User Account.
There is no access to the Computer's Name
7:53 PM Wednesday; August 1, 2012
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Lion 10.7.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Small Office Network Setup Help

Hi folks,
We are renting a small office in a floor which consists of many offices. The way internet is distributed here is, they have a verizon fios router and a couple of unmanaged switch, from which cables are run to offices for internet. One of the port on a switch is dedicated to our office.
In our office we have 6 computers and a network printer. The computers need to share files with each other and be able to print.
We want to isolate our office network from others. When we use an unmanaged switch, the version router dhcp assigns ip addresses to computers and we are able to access the internet. The verizon local ip is: 192.168.1.xxx. But we can also see computers that are of other offices, which means they can see us.
How do we create a separate network? Say we want to use IP 192.168.10.XXX or 10.0.0.xxx. We just bought a 24 port managed (L2) switch.
Thanks

Hello, rjbm_exact.
You definitely need a managed switch and a Cisco Small Business (200 or 300 series) can meet your requirements. You can setup separate VLAN to segregate user access level. Are you also looking at expanding your wireless (guest access)?
Let me know if you need more assistance or e-mail ([email protected]) me directly. Kind regards.

Total green to setting up a small office server

I run a small insurance agency and need to set up a server that my employee's (5 altogether) can access client information etc. Right now, we simply access client information via paper files. However, I have purchased a contact management system to keep all of my clients information in one spot. We each need to update client information etc all in one location.
I am entertaining the Mac Mini Server and need ideas on the best way of doing this. Is there an easier answer to accomplishing this then buying a server? Any inputs you have is greatly appreciated!
Bob

Do I need a server in order to use Daylite?
You need a computer that will act as a server, running Daylite Server. A server grade computer like an Xserve is not required, but you're welcome to use one. Most of our customers use Mac minis as their dedicated Daylite server.
That was taken from the Daylite faq. But honestly, like the previous user said you could probably get away with just running it on a dedicated computer running Mac OS X Client that has file sharing enabled. I would contact their tech support to make sure.

Setting up of a new server in a small office network

Please forgive me for my lack of knowledge on this subject and it's perhaps something that I should get installed by a professional but hey, I like doing things myself and saving some money at the same time.
We have a network, running gigabit cabling, with 15 macs and 4 pc's connected and we have been working off individual machines and backing up via a drive connected to one of the machines on the network. Then when a job is complete we simply tell people it's finished, they copy it and then I burn it... not ideal and a bit clunky.
What I would like to do is get everyones work onto one machine and then backup and archive regularly from that machine.
Does anyone have any suggestions/advice as to what would be the best way of going about this. I'm getting slightly confused by xServe, Servers and all that stuff!?!?!
Any help would be much appreciated.

Well, you're current method sounds pretty good. But if you want to user a file server, hey go ahead.
What you want to do when you centralize project files is to keep track of which one is the newest and becareful not to overwrite files with the same name. So you either have to set up individual spaces on the server (separate AFP/FTP folders maybe), or you'll need to run a file checkout service.
The individual space is cheaper, but it's not much of a difference from backing up to the network drive. Since you have Gigabit connections, you might even opt to save ALL the user files on the server instead of just the project files.
If you want to run a file checkout service, there's two approaches. You can run a service that can host any kind of file, or you can run a version control system for each kind of application (Photoshop, Word, etc.). Please notice, that as you read further and further along, the methods become more and more expensive and complicated. Once you get to this point, it will be necessary to purchase or build software in addition to the Mac OS X Server package.

Newb needs help w small office network setup

Just started a new job at small start-up company that needs their 6-7 macs and a couple of printers networked. I'm just a designer and I'm trying to help but I'm not familiar with osX networking and I hope someone could point me in the right direction. Currently the owner has DSL on all the computers so there is an ethernet cable in each one to a router or hub i believe.
Currently when I try to connect via Go menu to Connect to server, there is no list. If I type in the name of one of the other computers and try to connect I get:
"Connection failed. The server may not exist of it is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and try again."
I don't really know where to start or what questions to ask but I hope having an ethernet cable system already in place is a good thing.
Your help appreciated

I'm starting out with 2 computers near me, G4 HOMER
and G4 MINI. Both are connecting to the net via
ethernet. Personal File Sharing is ON on both.
On G4 MINI, I can see G4 HOMER, but when trying to
connect (Go>Connect to server>G4 HOMER) get
"ConnectionFailed -Server may not exist or is not
operational"
when connecting ot the server try using G4-HOMER.local as the server address.

Newbie Setting up a Wireless Network - Advice Needed

Before I run out and drop $$$ on stuff that won't work for me, I thought I'd better get some advice.
Here goes:
I have an older 1.25 GHz G4 iMac running OS X 10.5.1, no airport card installed yet, a Lacie 500 GB external HD, an Epson R200 printer and a cable modem. I want to create a wireless network that I can hook my XBox into as well. The computer and peripherals all in the same room except the XBox which is two floors below (about 30 to 40 feet away).
My question is: Should I get the previous generation Airport Extreme Base Station 802.11g or the latest Extreme 802.11n. WHich would work best for me? Which Airport card should I get, and which will my iMac support? How do I hook everything up to produce the fastest possible speed? The XBox wireless adapter is not compatible so far with 802.11n.
Thanks!

FG. Kelly, Welcome to the discussion area!
The computer and peripherals all in the same room except the XBox which is two floors below (about 30 to 40 feet away).
Going through 2 floors may be tough depending on the building material used.
Should I get the previous generation Airport Extreme Base Station 802.11g or the latest Extreme 802.11n.
Apple now only sells the square 802.11b/g/n AirPort Extreme base station (AEBS).
Which Airport card should I get, and which will my iMac support?
The 1.25 GHz iMac G4 is only compatible with the 802.11b/g AirPort Extreme card.
How do I hook everything up to produce the fastest possible speed?
Use Ethernet for the fastest speed.

I just purchased my Mac and trying to set it up with my office network. Need to know how to find the airport address

How do I find the Airport address on my MAC

The first time you set up the iPad you must do it by connecting the iPad to a computer, which needs to be running the latest version of iTunes, using the provided USB cable that came with it. It cannot be done wirelessly initially.

Creating a small office network with Leopard

Here is the set up. I apologize for the length but I want to explain as much as possible.
I work in a small ad agency that has 6 macs: 1 G4 mini (Tiger), 2 PowerMac G4 Mirrored (Tiger), 1 Cube G4 (Tiger), 1 MacBook (Leopard, 1 iMac CoreDuo (Leopard).
The user names of our home directories are all over the place, some machines have the same user name (two different machines have the same user name "FRED" for example).
Some of us connect to our network wirelessly and some through the ethernet plugs in the walls.
We work off files on an External Hard Drive connected to a MacMini G4 running Leopard.
We have had so much BAD LUCK with this.
Some users can't save files that others worked on because of "insufficient privleges".
SOOOO... we switched the MacMini's OS to Tiger because it worked before we upgraded to Leopard. Now we can't back up the External Hard Drive either by copying the files to a Firewire External Hard Drive or by using something like Carbon Copy cloner.
I have clicked IGNORE PERMISSIONS of the External Hard Drive and the backup Firewire External Hard Drive and still no dice.
SO.... We are starting over. We are getting an Intel MacMini as the brain and two USB externals to set up as a RAID for the file storage. We are then using a third external USB to run time machine.
My questions:
1) Should we create new user accounts on our existing machines to "start over", using unique names? A server guy from another ad agency suggested this.
2) Is there a way to reset all file permissions on the existing external file storage hard drive so that EVERYONE can read and write? I would like to do this before trying to copy all these files to our new RAID External Hard Drives.
Sorry this is so **** long and confusing, but I can't find any straight answers.

jocko homo wrote:
Thanks for the reply. I wish we could get Lepard server but the budget didn't include money to get it unfortunately.
Any chance of looking at the budget again? It seems like an awful lot of work for something that only costs $500.
Does that mean I set the UID for every user to the same Number? I'm not up on what a UID is unfortunately.
It would definitely be a good idea. It probably won't do much to address your problem. It would just remove another layer of complexity. The UID is the user ID. Root is user ID 0. The first user is usually 501, second 502, etc. If you had each machine setup the same way, then user 505 on machine A would have full access to user 505's files on machine B. The actual names are irrelevant. It is the UID that is important.
But again, this does not address your issue at all. You actually need user 505 to access user 501's files. That is something else. Ignoring permissions will work for local file systems, but not for networked file systems. Unfortunately, I'm not really that familiar with network security in an application environment like MacOS X. There are certainly ways to do it and MacOS X server is certainly one way. I don't know the others.

Setting up a small office network - advice needed

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