Small Office Access

I am working with a small company that has a single server, a client/server app, and shared MS office files. They currently have a couple remote users that connect to the sever via VPN connection over a DSL/Cable connection.
The connection seems to be slow and they occassionally timeout while trying to open word documents.
Is there a better way for the remote user to access the network?
Thanks in advance.

Hi,
Is the internet connection SDSL or ADSL?
Regards,
Dandy

Similar Messages

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Setup Lion Server for use in Small Office of Windows & Mac Clients

I've purchased a Mac Mini Server with Lion Server installed to be used in my small office of less than 10 people.
The primary goal of this server is to used for File Sharing, bother locally, and remotely.
In the process of setting up Lion Server I have come across a couple things that I am confused about.
The first is Open Directory.
It is my understanding that this is not a necessary setup for the number of users in my office, however I set it up anyway as it appeared to be something that would be useful in the future.
I have come across information that states Lion Server will not be accessible for Windows users connected via Open Directory. Thus my inclination is to disable the service, and set up my users as local users.
My question is, for local and remote File Sharing, is there any benefit to using Open Directory?
The second has to do with Remote Access.
I am familiar with the notion of a VPN, but I need some clarification as to my remote access options.
When I go to setup my Server's hostname, I am presented with three options. 1) Host name for local network, 2) Host name for private network, and 3) Host name for Internet.
I have a domain name for my company's website, so I set up a subdomain (server.mycompany.com), asked my ISP for a Static WAN IP, and pointed thesubdomain to said IP using my DNS. Thus this appears to be option number 3; to allow users to connect to my server from the local network, as well as the Internet.
My question is, how does this differ from a VPN both in setup, as well as method with which users will access the server? Is there a benefit to one over the other? I would Google this to find an answer, but I can't seem to find a name for what this setup is called.
I very much appreciate any help you can provide.
Thanks.

Well, I spoke too soon. Lion Server is unstable, awkward and is far too limited to qualify as an Apple product. Even though there's quite a few enhancements, the omissions of technologies in the server 10.6 edition makes this "server" a no go for us.
Even after installing mysql, I still cannot run a Joomla website on Lion server as it should be done. The wiki's a nice thing to have, but isn't a "professional grade" solution. There's too much iOS as well.
With that said, I think it's a shame that apple would put customers through so much frustration and disappointment by releasing such a lame product. In order for us to use Lion server, we would have to be able to run a second (totally separate) instance of Apache. It also appears that server settings are changing to the extent that services become inaccessible as the system is running.

1 small office + 2 companies + shared resources = ? (SG300, SA520, WAP2000)

I need to configure a network in 1 small office space that segregates 2 company domains but allows them to share an Internet connection, a WAP, a couple of printers, and a non-Cisco VoIP phone system. And, it needs to provide guest access to the internet and printers via wireless. I have a SG300-28P, an SA520W, and a WAP2000 to make it all happen. Here's the plan below. Will this work? Is there a better approach that uses the available equipment? Thanks in advance!!!
VLANs:
VLAN 1 - default, mgmt vlan, 192.168.1.0
VLAN 10 - CompanyA-Data, 192.168.10.0
VLAN 20 - CompanyB-Data, 192.168.20.0
VLAN 30 - Guest, 192.168.30.0
VLAN 50 - Printers, 192.168.50.0
VLAN 100 - Internet, 192.168.100.0
VLAN 200 - Voice, 192.168.200.0
Device IPs:
SG300 = 192.168.1.254
SA520 = 192.168.1.1
WAP2000 = 192.168.1.245
DHCP Servers:
VLAN 10 = SBS-A
VLAN 20 = SBS-B
VLANs 30,50,200 = SA520
VLAN 1,200 = NO DHCP
Wireless:
SA520 is primary, WAP2000 is repeater (will it repeat multiple SSIDs???)
SSIDA - VLAN10
SSIDB - VLAN20
SSID-Guest - VLAN30
Switch Ports:
SG300:
1 = trunk, VLAN 1
2-6, 25 = access, VLAN 10
7-12, 26 = access, VLAN 20
13 = access, VLAN 30 (unmanaged switch providing additional ports)
14 = access, VLAN 50 (unmanaged switch providing additional ports)
15-23 = access, VLAN 200
24 = trunk, VLANs 10, 20, 30 (connect to WAP2000)
27 = unallocated
28 = trunk, all VLANs (connect to SA520 p4)
SA520:
1-3 = access VLAN 1
4 = trunk all VLANs (connect to SG300 p28)
Routing:
SG300 in L2 mode using SA520 as router on a stick??

Hi Rick,
This is a great question that our Partner Design Support team can help you with. Please go here to start chatting with them:
https://supportforums.cisco.com/community/netpro/small-business/partnerzone/pds
Refer the engineer to this post so that they can see what you have.
Regards,
Cindy Toy
Cisco Small Business Community Manager
for Cisco Small Business Products
www.cisco.com/go/smallbizsupport
twitter: CiscoSBsupport

Perfect router for small office (2-3 peoples)

Hello,
I'm trying to find the most cost effective VoIP solution for one of our small branch offices. This office will have no more than 3 peoples, but each person requires to have a PC and Cisco IP phone (voicemail, multiple line, direct inbound, pstn dial out and etc).
Building will provide ethernet hand-off for internet access (part of T1 I guess) so we are planning to create VPN connection between our data center and the local gateway.
As for the PSTN connection, 2 POTS will be provided by LEC. Gateway should be able to accomodate 4 Ports FXO module.
What would be the smallest but the best router can handle firewall/VPN/IP Voice/PSTN for the small office?
Thank you very much for your help in advance.

Hi,
What drives the price up a bit is the FXO requirement. Cisco used to have a router small as the 1751V, but it is EOL now, so the smaller you can get is a 2801. The price is almost the same but the earlier model was a bit more office-friendly due the box shape and size, while the 2801 is a classic rack box 1 unit.
The good thing with the 2801 is that it supports POE (optionally), so if you put one 4 or 9 port ethernet switch (HWIC) in the router, your phones can work without the external power supply.
You can configure the voice system be totally controlled by the router itself with the embedded CCME, or be part of company's CallManager (now CommunicationManager)
Can I give you another advice, try to get ISDN BRI preferentially instead of FXO. You will have all the features like DID, caller-ID, and much easier setup a diagnostic in the router. Plus, if you add a WIC-1B/ST you can also have ISDN backup using the same data facilities.
Please remember to rate useful posts!

Microsoft office access record-locking information

Hello,
Maybe is a stupid question but i didn't saw question similar to this and I'm concerned about my privacy. Yesterday when i logged in to my skype account I found out that in Users-App Data-Skype- there were created a small file called 'microsoft office access record-locking information'. I'm not exactly sure what this means, because it is happening for a first time. I'm not using Microsoft account for logging in into Skype, also I did not gave any access to another computers, especially to Skype folder.Also after logging off from Skype, this file is not automatically deleted. Can somebody explain me should I concern about something?

CMMMC wrote:
I dont know how to post my own question, but see that there is a response to this question within the last 8 mins.
what my question is (and it must be ridiculasly simple but i cant find it) is how do i get to the page where i can make calls...where my contacts are and such...from the skype home page? i am in prague, using skype from here...am logged into my account but it is just all of my account info, history and such. there is no icon to make a call. i have clicked on everything to see where the option is to simply make a call and...nothing...
this happened before with my husband when he was using skype on windows 8 for the first time. this computer has windows xp so it ought to be straight forward...not so far.
thanks,
CMMMC
It’s still straight forward but not using your Account page on web. You need to install Skype application on your computer and login to this application with your account details.
http://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/
See also this:
https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA11098/getting-started-with-skype-windows-desktop

Looking for advice on small office use ...

I'm looking for options to share our photo library in a small office environment. Essentially we have a single person (ie, our photographer) who is responsible for maintaining our program's photo library. What we're looking for is a way for him to very easily "publish" the photos which would allow other staff in our environment to quickly find and use images when necessary. We're a pure mac environment, although our photographer is currently a bridge / CS3 user (ie, not Aperture). I'm an experience Aperture user at home, and I'm trying to see if it could be used in a shared environment.
If not - does anyone have any suggestions ?
Thanks,
Paul

Tell us about your "shared environment." I assume the various Macs are connected via a local network. Do you have a dedicated server? (A mac that is used to store files and is always on - that all other macs can access via cable or wireless.)
If so, it seems that Aperture may be the wrong app for this. Since "everyone else" just needs to access pictures that the photographer has adjusted (using AP), what you need is software that accesses a "library" of image files. I'm thinking of something like the old iViewMedia Pro (now MS Expression Media, yes it's available for the Mac). So, basically you need a good DAM (digital asset management) app for everyone to use.
What I envision is this (not sure if this is the workflow you are thinking about) - photog processes RAW or other image formats in AP and exports adjusted images to jpg or tiff. These are then stored in some folder hierarchy. "The DAM Book" discusses a strategy for this - folders in the
<year>
<month>
<day>
hierarchy, but you can use some other organization like
<year>
<subject>
Once the photog has processed the images and exported the final products, you import each new batch of images into each of the DAM software on each Mac. This software should be able to read metadata like keywords (you'd have to be sure the AP exported image files have XMP sidecar files or DNG files with embedded metadata that includes keywords - keywords are the important data you really need for everyone to use when searching for images). Unfortunately, DNG is still not well supported in AP, it's better handled in Lightroom. However, others here may want to add some ideas. I believe you can add some metadata like keywords directly inside other image file formats (tiff, jpg??). Don't know if AP handles this.
At any rate, look into Expression media or something similar that others here might suggest.

Sharing Reports in Small Office

Post Author: pma
CA Forum: General
Hello,
I am hoping this is a basic question for someone. We use Crystal Reports Professional II to report off a MS SQL server. We would like to share report output amoung our small office of about 12 people. I am told that the professional version comes with some type of web deployment system you can put on a server, but I don't see this anywhere. I see the "Crystal Report Server" on Business Object's website, but this seems like overkill for us (not to mention too pricey). Anyone have some simple direction on how to deploy reports? Optimally I could schedule reports and have them viewed in a browser.
Thanks in advance.

Post Author: qcheng
CA Forum: General
Sounds like you have a Crystal Report Designer only. You may need to install BusinessObjectss or Crystal Report server on which you can publish your reports. Once you have published a report on the server, other people can get access the website and schedule the report.

Just bought a 3TB Time Capsule for a small office. Will have 4 users with MacBooks. What would ne the best setup for time machine individual backups and internet sharing in a secure way?

Just bought a 3TB Time Capsule for a small office. Will have 4 users with MacBooks. What would ne the best setup for time machine individual backups and internet sharing in a secure way?

Set up each Mac for Time Machine backups in the normal way. Time Machine will keep each backup separate on the Time Capsule, so users will only be able to see the backups of their own Mac.
Yes....there are convoluted workarounds that might allow one user to see the backups of another.....IF...they know the administrator password of the "other" Mac.
As far as Internet sharing, all users will have access to the Internet if they have a wired or wireless connection. If a Mac connects using wireless, it is possible to limit the time that they are allowed to connect to the network.
For example, you might limit the ability to connect to the wireless from say each Weekday from 8 AM to 6 PM.
With a wired Ethernet connection, you cannot limit access times to the Internet.

Making powermac G4 MDD for data center for small office server

Hi mac expert,
i had a small office which need to pool every data audio and metadatas ( wav, mp3, flac, mp4, mov, ms office xls, docs, jpeg, tiff ) into 1 place or hard disk that can be access from any macs and pcs in the same office.
i have 2 units G4 1Ghz MDD (bus speed 133mhz, both has 2 gb of RAM, a 120 gb of HD internal installed.
i upgrade one of those with DP 1,42ghz and 2TB of SATA hard disk that attached to PCI SATA Sonnet card.
installed mac osx 10.5.8 leopard.
airport extreem card installed.
my questions:
- How big a hard drive can I get? I installed a 2TB drive with no partion, but sometimes when i open the disk it gave me spinning cursor and it show no items on that drive, got freeze and can not turn of by shutdown menu, i have to press the power button of the mac itself.
- if i want to make a data center like what i mention above using powermac G4 that i had, what should i do?
- should i install leopard server os?
thank you so much.

MacDrive may work, also see if these are still avaiable...
NTFS-3G Stable Read/Write Driver...
http://www.ntfs-3g.org/
MacFUSE: Full Read-Write NTFS for Mac OS X, Among Others...
http://www.osnews.com/story/16930
MacDrive for the PCs... allows them to Read/Write HFS+...
http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/

Small Office Access

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