Small Network Server Options - Advice?

I have a small group of macs ranging from first-gen Powermac G4s to relatively new imac G5s that I would like to set up on a legitimate network. Currently I have them connected on a networked Lacie external-HD - Which works for the most part, but I worry that it isn't very stable. As I was looking into my options for servers it occurred to me that I have no idea what to look for, or more importantly, if a server is really what I need.
If anyone reading this happens to have a few extra minutes I would really appreciate your input.
All of our computers are running on OS x 10.4 or later. The computers are used for a Yearbook program, so we have to have a central storage location for all of our photos and spreads so that they may be accessed from any terminal. Adobe InDesign and Photoshop are the primary applications.

Each year we need storage for 300-500 InDesign spreads as well as well over 5000 hi-res .tif photos, out current shared drive holds around 340 gigs of files, so a TB drive is probably necessary (that's what we're running on right now).
The only real problem our network is having right now occurs when our computers go to sleep. They apparently lose their connection with the external drive, and then crash InDesign when the computer is woken, meaning we have to recover the files every time.
Similar problems with inactive connections seem to be pretty common with our current set up, would an xserve avoid these sorts of issues?

Similar Messages

Advice for Building Small Network Question

Hello,
I am building a small network environment which will connect to a larger office, scalability is important. We will begin having about 30 users which will all need VOIP services. The VOIP services will be hosted by a cloud provider. My question is as of now I am looking to obtain a Cisco 2921 ISR Router and then a Cisco 2960-X 48Gig POE, and my main question is I am confident the switch can handle the power and operation of the phones but just to make sure I should not run into any problems with the router as far as forwarding the data, correct? Any other comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Joe

Duplicate post.
Go HERE.

Slow network with "Small Business Server 2008"

Sinds upgrading to a "Small Business Server 2008", the copy speed of a file dropped from >18 Mb/s (SBS 2003) to <1 Mb/s (SBS 2008).
Other systems (Vista, XP) show no slowing down.
I searched the internet but found no solution.
Please help.
Fulco

I forgot: copying to SMB share is slow
Reading from SMB share is >20 Mb/s (SBS2008 and SBS2003)
Fulco

Can't connect to Small Business Server 2003 via Active Directory

I have done lots of searching, both in these forums and the wider internet, and cannot find a solution to my specific problem.
I am trying to connect my G5 (10.3.9) to a Windows network. We have a Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 with Active Directory. The PCs have no problem using this, and I can connect to shares setup on the server via AFP.
But I am having problems when I try to configure the AD plug-in in Directory Access on the Mac. When I click 'Bind', I enter the Server's Administrator username & password and when I click 'OK', it gets to Step 3 of 5 "Verifying Credentials". It ticks away at this step for about 30 seconds, then comes up with error message saying "Invalid user name and password combination."
I have tried other users with admin privileges, but they don't work either. I know the usernames and passwords aren't invalid, because I created them. I have tried fiddling around with other settings in the AD setup, but nothing gets any further.
Without any other 3rd party software (that's my final option), is there something I need to check/change, either on the Mac or the server, to make this Mac to authenticate via AD? Please help!

Hi Andbrowny, thanks for your response.
Your advice didn't really help my Active Directory problem (AD doesn't require SMB does it?), but it gave me some progress on my SMB problem. I can connect via AFP, but previously when I tried to connect via SMB, it kept coming up with the error "Could not connect to the server because the name or password is not correct".
Now, after changing the policies on the server, I get an error -43 message saying "The operation could not be completed because one or more required items cannot be found."
So now I have two problems! SMB is not finding something it needs, and Active Directory is not "verifying credentials".
Actually, I have three problems: When I am connected via AFP, filenames over 31 characters long are truncated on the server, and I can't copy long filenames onto the server without renaming them. I have read that SMB would fix this to a degree (256 characters for the complete file path), but is there anything (a protocol or software) that allows long filenames to be read/written with ease?
Side note: The server is not 100% configured, the bloke installing it still has some work to do, but Active Directory works for all the XP machines, and I can connect to each XP workstation with SMB.

Mac Pro small business server; RAID problems

Our company runs on a small network consisting of 8 workstations (iMac's) and 1 dedicated server: a 1,5 year old Mac Pro running OS X Snow Leopard Server. This machine has 2 hard drives of 1TB each, running in a mirrored RAID configuration. This configuration holds the OS X system and the data. Because the hardware RAID was so expensive, I chose the software RAID controller OS X offers instead.
All this ran fine for the first 1,5 years, until yesterday... I ran an OS X update and the Mac Pro needed to restart after that. After the machine rebooted, I got a gray screen with the blinking folder-with-questionmark icon telling me no bootable drive could be found. I tried booting from the install DVD and that worked, but after I started DiskUtility to check the hard drive for errors the computer did not find any hard drives, only the DVD. Luckily I made a backup (clone) to an external Firewire drive just before the update and at this moment the server is running from this backup, so no harm done.
How can I solve this problem? Why can't my Mac Pro find it's drives? Is it possible to circumvent the RAID software and boot from one of the two disks or are they formatted in a special way?
My second question is on how to prevent this in the future. I still think the Mac Pro RAID controller is way too expensive, but I read that it's not that smart to use (software) RAID as a bootable drive (of a server). Because of this, I am looking at external options, like the SmartStor NSx600 Series through Firewire. Could this be a better way to go then the software RAID OS X offers or does this external solution have other disadvantages? (speed? reliability?)
Thanks in advance for your input!
Mario van Ginneken

Who is your ISP...?
What is the ip address of the modem..?
What is the ip address of the router..?
Where is the switch and server connected...?
What is the ip address of the server...?
How you are able to see the Wireless network if you have disabled the SSID broadcast on the router..?Re-check the settings on the router.

Redesigning a small network

I've been tasked with redesigning a small network (15-20) including wireless. Cisco recommends the RV220 as the entry point Firewall/Router/Wireless and researching there are apparently some good and bad sides of having everything all in one unit depending on who you ask. The other option would be to get a dedicated Firewall/Router and then run the wireless on a seperate device(vlan). I'm fine with either solution but my main concern is performance on the physical connections as well as reliability with the wireless having good range and not dropping or having to reboot the router continuously. Behind the router/firewall I will purchase one of the Cisco 24-port gig switches for physical connections through the office. Anyone have advice or suggestions on models to get for the router/firewall/wireless setup? Budget is not a problem although I don't want to pay for something that is overkill for 10-15 wired workstations and 5-10 wireless including a guest wireless. Thanks in advance.

I am going to sound like a broken record. I am no big fan of getting a wireless router. The reason is because of the location. It would be ideal to place your wireless access point (WAP) in the middle of your wireless clients. A router is normally installed in some far corner somewhere. I mean this is OK if you are bio-medical lab and you are testing wifi with rats.
Ok, next what model of the router. To answer that question, one has to ask you this: What is your WAN bandwidth now and are you expected to grow any larger (size of the office and WAN bandwidth)?
The argument as to get a dedicated firewall or get a router with firewall functionality all depends on the question.

Can I connect a Mac running Snow Leopard to Windows Small Business Server

I'm running the OSX 10.6.8 and want to connect to applications running on Windows Small Business Server 2008. Is this easy or difficult or impossible?

Most Applications intended to run in that fashion would provide a Mac client, a Windows client and a Server component, designed to interact and keep a Master database on the Server up-to-date. Custom database software could also be written for that environment. Perehaps there are options for your package to be used in that fashion, but it would have to be designed-in from the beginning.
A web Application could also run in that fashion, with only a Web Browser on each computer interfacing to the Server software, which would keep the Master database and allow multiple access over your local Network.

Finder's " Go Menu" is not showing connect to server option.....

I have a series of iMac computers (running 10.5.8) that finder's go menu is missing the "connect to server" option. Neither does "Apple + K" work on these machines.
I tried adding the "Connect" button to the tool bar from the customize toolbar option. Once added the icon is grayed out. The computers are connecting out to the internet, but I need them to specifically pick up servers from our school for server run applications. I am not sure why this option is no longer available on my machines. I try reinstalling the op system on the machines, and it still comes back the same way.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks,
Victoria

Thanks for the reply V.K. (Those are my initials too
I do manage the machines on a server. I checked workgroup manager and the settings are the same as the rest of my iMacs for these particular machines. The connect to servers command is checkmarked in the finder preferences of work group manager.
I was logged into the admin account for each machine while trying to find this finder preference. I did delete the plist as directed, and when relaunching finder the connect to server did not come back.
You'll have to forgive my ignorance as I am a teacher managing machines for my building, as I am teaching myself these basics. This is only happening on a handful of machines. All running up to date 10.5.8. They suddenly stopped working after our school did a network change (separate vlans). All the other machines accepted the change, but these machines suddenly lost this finder preference. Very odd...
Thank you for all your help.
Do you have any advice on what else I should try?

How to Install Coldfusion 8 64-bit on Small Business Server 2008 64-bit

How to Install Coldfusion 8 64-bit on Small Business Server 2008 64-bit
I ran Coldfusion 8 on SBS 2003 Premium for 6 months with no problems. When we finally decided to cut over to SBS 2008, that’s when everything went to hell. I tried for weeks to get Coldfusion 8 to install properly on the new SBS 2008 64-bit box. During the course which, I found bits and pieces of information for Vista 64-bit and Windows Server 2008 64-bit installations. There are some distinct differences, however, with SBS 2008 since it runs core Web applications like OWA, RWW and Companyweb. After countless unsuccessful attempts, one of which completed corrupted the box, I found the solution.
I have attempted in this white paper to detail the steps to assist others who may be in a similar situation. I don’t make any warranty for the information, but so long as you follow the steps carefully you should be fine. BTW, for those of you who say Adobe offers free technical support for licensed users, that’s not entirely true. Like I said, I purchased CF8 and originally installed it on an SBS 2003 Premium box. After we cut over to SBS 2008 and encountered problems, Adobe wouldn’t provide any technical support without charging. Moreover, based on my initial conversations with Adobe’s technical team, no one seemed to know much about running 64-bit on SBS.
From my understanding, only two versions of Coldfusion 8 can be installed in 64-bit: Enterprise and Developer. The “normal” install (which I paid a grand for) can only be deployed in 32-bit mode – gee, THANKS Adobe! By the way, in Developer mode only two distinct IPs can access the site in addition to the localhost. Any additional IPs will result in a CFML error message stating that the maximum number of IPs have been exceeded. At any rate, take your time and follow the steps to achieve a successful installation.
PRE-INSTALLATION TASKS
Back Up SBS
It’s always a good practice to backup your server before deploying any kind of major system changes. Although this step is optional, I recommend it in case you need to restore your server for any reason. Bear in mind, if your system ever gets totally corrupted, you cannot restore back from the twice daily incremental backup images alone. You will need a full backup with system recovery information to restore. Here are the basic steps:
Click: Start > Programs > Administrative Tools. Right-click “Windows Server Backup” and choose “Run as administrator”.
Click “Backup Once” under Actions in the right-hand pane.
Choose the “Different Options” radio button under Backup Options.
Choose the “Custom” radio button. What we’re primarily interested in here is backing up the OS – not your data partitions or attached drives.
Select the “SYSTEM (C)” checkbox, uncheck any others. Also, ensure that the “Enable system recovery” checkbox is selected before continuing on.
Under ‘Specify Destination Type’, I usually select the “Local drives” radio button and point it to a Terrabyte USB drive I use for backups. You can point this to a tape drive, or select the “Remote shared folder” radio button if you map to a UNC path to store your backup images. Just remember, make sure that whatever path you select can readily be accessed in the event of an emergency. Also, make sure the “Verify after writing (recommended)” checkbox is selected.
Under ‘Specified Advanced Option’, I usually select the “VSS full backup” radio button instead of the default since I don’t use a 3rd party backup product. If like me you rely solely on SBS for your backups, choose the full backup option.
Confirm everything and click “Backup”. This process may take several hours depending on the size of your system.
Verify ISAPI Filters:
In IIS Manager, double-click the server instance in the left-hand pane.
In the center pane under IIS, double click the “Modules” icon to verify that the ISAPI native modules are already installed for IIS. If it’s set up correctly you should see two entries:
IsapiFilterModule %windir%\System32\inetsrv\filter.dll
IsapiModule %windir%\System32\inetsrv\isapi.dll
If either of these modules are missing, you will need to re-install these (google for a solution).
Set Up Development Environment
Create a directory for your CFML files outside of the default Windows location (e.g., default is usually C:\inetpub\wwwroot\). For the purpose of our install, I created a directory on a separate disk called: D:\DEV.
Copy and paste your CFML files and directories into the new DEV root Web directory. This will eventually be the directory where the Coldfusion installer places the CFIDE and CFDOCS folders.
Open IIS Manager and double-click the server instance in the left hand pane. Expand the “Sites” folder. Right-click the Sites folder and select “Add Web Site”.
Enter a name in the “Site Name” box (e.g., “test-site”). You will notice that the system will automatically create a corresponding Application Pool with the same name. NOTE: this is important to prevent conflicts between the DefaultAppPool (needed for SBS Web apps like OWA, RWW, etc.) and the application pool needed for Coldfusion to function properly in SBS 2008.
Point the “Physical Path” to the directory you created in step #1 above (e.g., “D:\DEV”).
Don’t worry about testing the connection. If you click “Test Settings” you may receive a warning that IIS cannot verify access to path (D:\DEV). Don’t worry about this for the time being.
Under “Host name”, enter a DNS path to your site (e.g., “dev.test-site.com”). Click “OK”.
Configure Application Pools for Installation
In IIS Manager, double-click the server instance in the left-hand pane. Click on “Application Pools” to display the list of server application pools in the center pane.
In the “Actions” pane on the right-hand side, click “Set Application Pool Defaults”.
Change “Enable 32-Bit Applications” - the second item from the top – from “False” to “True”, and then click “OK”. NOTE: if you skip this step, Coldfusion will not properly create the required mappings during the install. We will change this setting back after the installation completes – more on this later.
Modify the application.host.config File for 64-Bitness
Click: Start > Programs > Accessories. Right-click “Notepad” and choose “Run as administrator”.
Open the config file from within Notepad – default location: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config
Do a search and change this one line from:
<add name="PasswordExpiryModule" image="C:\Windows\system32\RpcProxy\RpcProxy.dll" />
To this:
<add name="PasswordExpiryModule" image="C:\Windows\system32\RpcProxy\RpcProxy.dll" preCondition="bitness64" />
Restart the IIS Admin service.
Set HTTP Compression
According to some threads I read, the http compression module can cause errors if you don’t disable it globally. To remedy this, perform the following:
Click: Start > Programs > Accessories. Right-click “Command Prompt” and choose “Run as administrator”.
At the command prompt, change directory to intetsrv by typing: cd inetsrv
Run the following command:
C:\Windows\system32\inetsrv>appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/httpCompression /-[name='xpress']
This will turn off HTTP compression for all sites in IIS.
In IIS Manager, double-click the server instance in the left-hand pane. Double-click the “Compression” icon in the IIS section of the center pane.
Uncheck all of the boxes, then click the “Apply” button under Actions in the right-hand pane.
Recheck all of the boxes, then click the “Apply” button under Actions in the right-hand pane.
Restart the IIS Admin service. This should enable compression and coldfusion to work at the same time.
NOTE: if for some reason you need to reverse this, run the following command from the command prompt:
C:\Windows\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/httpCompression /+[name='xpress',doStaticCompression='false',dll='%windir%\system32\inetsrv\suscomp.dll']
INSTALLATION TASKS
Download the 64-bit installation package from Adobe – filename: coldfusion-801-wind64.exe.
Right-click the file and select “Run as administrator”.
Accept the terms of the License Agreement.
If you have an Enterprise license, enter it. For our purposes, just click the “Developer Edition” checkbox.
Select “Server configuration” – the default radio button.
I deselected all subcomponents and can’t guarantee that you’ll arrive at the same results if you select additional items like “.NET Integrated Services”. It should be fine, particularly if you install documentation. My preference was to keep the install as plain vanilla as possible.
Select the directory path for Coldfusion to install into – default is :C\Coldfusion
THE NEXT TWO STEPS ARE CRITICAL TO YOUR SUCCESS. Unselect “All IIS Websites” and select the “Configure specific IIS Website or another web server” radio button. Click “Add”, and then select your test Web site (e.g., “test-site”) under “IIS Web Site”. Hit “OK”.
Do NOT use the default directory path for the CF Administrator location (e.g., default path: “C:\inetpub\wwwroot”). Instead, point the installer to your new DEV root Web directory (e.g., “D:\DEV”). The bottom line, you want the installer to place the CFIDE directory and files within this folder, alongside your other CFML files and folders.
Enter an Administrator password.
Choose to Enable RDS, or not. I enable this by preference but it is not required. This allows you to make updates to files using a CFML editor directly vs. having to move/FTP the files over if you’re working remotely. Opponents to this argue that it’s potentially less secure, but for a lower environment I don’t see this as a major concern.
Confirm everything to kick off the install.
If all goes well you should see a message at the end stating that the install was successful. I recommend you uncheck the box that asks you to open the CF Administrator in the default Web browser after the install. NOTE: we will open it a different way during the post-installation tasks. The worst thing that will happen if you forget to uncheck the box is that you might receive an error that the command prompt hung – not a big deal – just close it and move on to the next (final) steps.
POST-INSTALLATION TASKS
Verify CF Installation:
The installation will create a new folder in your program group: Start > Programs > Adobe > Coldfusion 8. The default “Administrator” link will not work because it points to the wrong path: http://127.0.0.1/CFIDE/administrator/index.cfm. The “127.0.0.1” or “localhost” path as you may recall in IIS, points by default to the “C:\inetpub\wwwroot” directory. Our CFIDE files, however, are located within: D:\DEV.
To bring up the CF Administrator logon page, open up a Web browser and replace the “http://127.0.0.1” part of the path with the DNS path name to your CF environment (e.g., http://dev.test-site.com/CFIDE/administrator/index.cfm).
This should bring up the Coldfusion Administrator Login screen. Enter in the Administrator password you created during the install to log in and configure your application server.
Verify that your test-site renders correctly by typing in your test URL into a Web browser (e.g., http://dev.test-site.com).
Fix Application Pool Defaults to Re-enable SBS Web Applications:
At this point, Coldfusion Administrator and your test CMFL Web site should be working properly. The problem is, default SBS Web applications like OWA, RWW and Companyweb will throw errors and fail to start. Fortunately, this is easily remedied by performing the following steps:
In IIS Manager, double-click the server instance in the left-hand pane. Click on “Application Pools” to display the list of server application pools in the center pane.
In the “Actions” pane on the right-hand side, click “Set Application Pool Defaults”.
Change “Enable 32-Bit Applications” - the second item from the top – from “True” to “False” this time. This should re-enable the SBS applications, which would otherwise result in 500 errors (e.g., OWA, RWW, Companyweb, etc.). There is no need to restart IIS.
Open a Web browser and test that you can once again connect to OWA, RWW and Companyweb successfully.
In IIS click to highlight the application pool for your new site (e.g., “test-site”). In the right-hand pane, click “Advanced Settings”. Ensure that “Enable 32-Bit Applications” – second item from the top – is set to “True” for this application pool specifically.
Lastly, jump up and down for joy! Hopefully now, everything is working. Best of luck!! ..Paul D (MCP).

First, it would be a good idea for you to specify what distro of Linux you're using, as not all are supported by Adobe.
Second, this is probably your problem right here:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/40416/why-is-lib-libc-so-6-missing
In a nutshell, CF expects the 32-bit version of libc.so.6 to be in /lib, but it's probably not. You might be able to modify the installer to point to the correct location for that file, or you might be able to create a symlink to the file - but as the above link describes, creating a symlink might have negative consequences.
As for installing CF 8 64-bit, that's only available with Enterprise, not Standard. If you want CF Standard 64-bit, you need to upgrade to CF 9.
Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software

How to install Small Business Server 2008 in an existing Active Directory domain

It is shown on this page:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884453, "How to install Small Business Server 2003 in an existing Active Directory domain".
Is it possible to do this with SBS2008 ?
If "YES", are there any published information about the procedure ?

Yes, it is. Thank you very much.
But there is something that confuses me - I want to migrate from Win2003Std to SBS2008. And also, I want to keep the existing Win2003Std as a second DC for a long time.
But it is written in the shown article:
... After the migration is finished, you must remove the Source Server from the network within 21 days. ...
Is this rule mandatory for the scenarios where the Source Server is Std, not SBS ? As I know, I can have more than one DC(Win2003Std/Win2008Std) together with SBS2003. But what about SBS2008 ?

NEED HELP TO SET UP SMALL NETWORK - WIRELESS SIGNAL FROM NOVATEL U760 USB

Hello -
I need help setting up a small network in my new home in Florida, which has no wired broadband capability - not cable, not dsl. My options are satellite (which I'd like to avoid) or wireless broadband via Millenicom (or now Virgin Mobile) using their Novatel U760 USB stick.
Here are the network components - someone please tell me how to set this up:
PC #1 (has wireless card, but I've connected it by ethernet to the router)
PC #2 (no wireless card; connected via ethernet to router)
MACBOOK, 1 1/2 years old (2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 gigs RAM), running OS 10.58, connected wirelessly to router.
AIRPORT EXTREME BASE STATION, Model A1143.
I'm not thrilled about using a wireless 3G signal as my primary one, (sprint network, claims 600 - 1400 kbps speed), but it costs 1/2 to 1/3 of what a slightly faster satellite signal would.
I have not ordered this service yet. Before I do, I'd like a clear understanding that I can, in fact, set up my simple network, which I'd probably do the same as it's now configured with cable broadband - both PC's plug via
ethernet into the Airport Extreme router, the MacBook connects wirelessly - AND,
my question is this:
Can I plug the wireless card - a Novatel U760 USB-stick device - straight into that USB slot in the Airport Extreme base station and will it automatically recognize that device?
Or, do I have to plug it into the MacBook and somehow share that wireless signal between the 2 PC's (only 1 of which has a wireless card, so I'd have to get a card for PC #2)?
And help anyone can provide will be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Em

from the Airport FAQ #14:
"Question: Can I connect my Soundsticks or other USB speakers to AirPort Express?
Answer: No. The USB port is for connecting a printer, not for other devices."
Im assuming other devices include USB modems.
So, I would say your cheaper route would be to get a second wireless card and just share your internet connection from one of your PC.

OSX 10.9 compatibility with Windows Small Business Server 2011?

Hi
I'm hoping someone here may be able to help me as our external server guys have been particularly unhelpful!
I'm the only Mac on a Windows server, which has recently been upgraded (??) to Windows Small Business Server 2011. I've recenty upgraded the work iMac to 10.9, but ever since the server change, I'm having intermittent dificulties saving files. Often, I get and error saying the file cannot be saved as I don't have permission to access the folder - which then worryingly REMOVES the file I'm trying to overwrite WITHOUT WARNING.
If I'm using Photoshop save for web, I get errors when clicking 'Save' to say that it can't, but does save the file, plus a second with a gibberish file name.
Most worryingly though, is that now on two occasions caused the iMac to crash and shutdown immediately, which is not good at all. Once was moving a file to overwrite another in the Finder, the second (today) was saving from Illustrator.
I'd noticed weird things with our old 2003 server before the switch and when I was still on 10.6 - mainly that my iMac was slow when connected (Adobe apps etc opened in a flash when unconnected, but took minutes when plugged in), but now I'm on 10.9 and the new server installed, these saving issues have arisen. (I ended up wiping the Mac and completely reinstalling everything to cure that slowness issue - never did find out what it was!).
The server guys are adamant that this has nothing to do with the server, and is all linked to my iMac - personally I'm not so sure, but I'm asking here to see if anyone else has had issues? It seems like some kind of permission problem? Do I need any special network settings for it to play nicely with the Windows server? My internet, email all goes through it, and I use it to store my work, but I'm not linked to any other server software in any way.
If anyone may have any clues to help I'd be really grateful!
Many thanks!
Ben

Thanks for the response - this is why I'm asking though- I can't see anything on the iMac which would be causing this, and saving files to a folder on a server is a pretty basic fuction, and I can't risk the crashes. I don't see how the iMac connection would be causing this, or for the files to 'vanish' but if it is the iMac settings I'll need to find a fix. Every one else is okay, but I'm the only one using this software and filetypes. Surely the Windows software would have some kind of instructions for connecting Macs?
I was hoping someone may have experience and if any additional network settings might be needed. I will check with Apple support also to see if they have any info, but thought I may get a good response here.
What I meant by the "server guys" is that's it's an external company we pay to look after it - so I'd hoped they might have at least looked into it for me, but it's a brick wall "We don't support Macs" response... which is why I think it's unhelpful - even though they supplied the software knowing it needs to have multiplatform support...
It's really frustrating.
And I hope nobody does insist I use Windows... please... I'd have to leave....
EDIT - "We"?? - Do you work for them!?

How do i map a small business server's windows path to my imac

Trying to map a Small Business Server's shared drive on my business network to a new iMac on the same network. Ethernet hardwired into network. I can see other PC's but not the server. Trying to enter the server's name and shared drive but having no luck.

Did you use Finder to enter the name address?
Finder menu Go>Connect to Server>' then enter something like afp://127.0.0.1/sharename
For connecting to windows it will probably be smb://IPaddress/sharename

How to configure Time Capsule etc as a local network server with remote access server and for backups

I'm trying to set up new 3TB Time Capsule as a wireless network server (with remote access) and for backups for use in a small office (of two Macs). We have a late 2011 Intel MBP and a brand new MBA both running 10.8.3. We have two external 1TB hard drives that until now have been attached the MBP for storage and backing up that computer, which up until now was the only machine in use. The MBA is for a new employee and we need to share and work on the same files, both here in the office and ideally remotely too via Back to my Mac. The MBP needs constant access. The MBA only occasional. The TC has 7.6.3 firmware and we've set it up using AirPort Utility 6.2. It is currently attached to the MBP via ethernet and it has internet access via a Sagemcom router attached to TC's WAN port.
We've managed to set up a wireless network and both have wireless internet access through the TC
But there are so many issues I don't know where to begin - so I'll start with a description of what we're trying to achieve:
I planned to use the TC as the main server drive and place all the key folders and files there so that both of us can access them wirelessly and remotely. The MBP would back up to the TC and to one or two of the external hard drives - one being attached to the Mac via USB and the other being attached to the TC's USB port. We would back up the important data on the TC using SuperDuper and copy it to both external USB drives.
So , first of all, is that a sensible configuration? Should the 'server' be the one of the external hard drives attached to the TC USB port, backed up regularly to the TC using SuperDuper?

But when you say 'So using USB drive does make sense if you want to use it as a file store', do you mean a USB drive plugged into the TC? I hope that I can attach an external drive to the TC so we can all access and read/write the content wirelessly via the TC network or remotely.
Yes, USB.. as it prevents the sparsebundle mixing with data files. I guess it does depend on how much data you are talking about.. you can use the TC internal disk if you are careful and setup the sparsebundle with fixed sizes once you create them..
And to be clear, I wasn't planning on backing up remotely via BTMM - only to access the shared folders on the TC data drive or USB external drive attached to it. I'm assuming that's ok?
Yes, that is fine. Sorry I got the impression you were going to do backup over internet.
What is the alternative? Having a Mac Mini that's always on? Do I need OS X Server etc.?
A mini would be great.. you don't need server edition.. but I would see how the TC goes.. since you have it and it is much lower power consumption device. It is just that its design is not really for file storage.
One big problem I have is to do with the sharing permissions. For everything on the TC or attached external drive attached to it, it says I have only custom access and every time I try to change permissions it says I don't have the permission to do that. And if I try to change the owner it says my user name is not valid.
How is the security setup on the TC?
The security is a bit tricky.. I must admit since I run windows computer in the network, that I simply turn on the guest account to read and write access. For a business setup that might not be adequate but it allows me full access to all the files.
If you setup the TC with user accounts then you are in trouble. That makes it very difficult to access, especially if one person already has the file open you may find a second user cannot login. I am not sure as I have avoided the security. IMHO it is meaningless.. since anyone with physical access to the TC can press the reset for one second and has full access.. and can add or change passwords.

Small Network Trouble

I am currently trying to setup a small network at my Mothers work and I have ran into a small problem. Here is the situation: I have ten iMac G4 that I have networked together using a NetGear switch. I now need to get internet to these ten computers. The hard part about this is I need the switch to get the internet from an AirPort Extreme in here office and the switch is located down the hallway in another room. I don't have the option of running a sing CAT5 cable from the Base Station to the switch it needs to be done wirelessly. I will include a link to twitpic (http://twitpic.com/1x1xsz) where I have uploaded a diagram that I drew to give you a visualization of my problem.
Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Thanks

Welcome to the discussions!
You might want to explore all the options.
You could use wireless and setup an AirPort Express to "join" the wireless network that the Airport Extreme creates, then enable the ethernet port on the device to feed the switch.
While this should work most of the time, you would be trusting an entire network to a single wireless connection. I would think long and hard about this and use this only if there were no other alternatives.
You could also use a pair of ethernet powerline adapters to transmit the ethernet signal over the AC powerline. Just run an ethernet cable from the AirPort Extreme to an adapter and plug it in the wall. Plug the other adapter in the wall and then run and ethernet cable from the adapter to the switch.
Works great. Faster and more reliable than wireless by far. Newer powerline equipment is almost up to Gigabit speeds...almost as good as running an ethernet cable.
Just make sure that everything is on the same master electrical circuit.
Whichever you decide upon, it would also be a good idea to have a full understanding of the store's return policy in case things don't work out as hoped. Sometimes, it really is worth the extra expense to have the security of a traditional ethernet connection.

Small Network Server Options - Advice?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for