Mac OS X Server - Snow Leopard Server in a Workgroup

Snow Leopard Server in a Workgroup

The next illustration shows a configuration of Mac OS X Server that serves a
department in a large organization. This organization has an IT department that
provides DHCP service for assigning network addresses, DNS name service, mail service,
Internet access, and a VPN.

Everyone in the department already has a user account provided by the organization’s
Open Directory server, so these user accounts have been imported to the department’s
server. This means everyone simply uses the user name and password they already
know to authenticate for services provided by the department’s server. Those services
were set up to use the Kerberos authentication of the Open Directory server, allowing
users to log in once per session for all departmental services.

The department’s server provides address book, calendar, and instant messaging
services that work with the users’ Mac OS X Address Book, iCal, and iChat applications.
The department’s server also provides shared folders and private wikis for groups and
projects within the department. Some projects include participants from outside the
department. Outside participants use their existing user accounts to authenticate for
wiki or shared folder access.

The organization’s servers provide storage for backup, but most users have Mac OS X
Snow Leopard and prefer to use Time Machine with the external hard drive (not
shown) attached to the department’s server.

The department has some Windows users, who use Internet Explorer, Safari, and FireFox
to access wikis, web calendars, and blogs. Shared folders appear as mapped drives in
their Network Places. They have also set up their PCs to use the department server’s
Jabber instant messaging.

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Chapter 1

Introducing Mac OS X Server