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atad6

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 7, 2006
155
1
As I mentioned in a previous thread I'm in the process of creating a small office network with three macs (two N capable iMacs and one G capable MacBook Pro). I have a linksys router with dd-wrt to use as the main router and a 1tb time capsule running in N only mode as a client bridge. With this setup I was able to get around 9 megabytes per second transfer speed from the iMacs to the time capsule which isn't too terrible considering it's wireless.

My second set of questions focuses on file sharing. I know there's more sophisticated ways to setup a network with a dedicated server and such but since this is just a small non-profit organization I have to work with OSX built in file sharing tools.

This is what I want to accomplish:

1. Setup one primary user account per machine for the person who will be using it most of the time.

2. Have easily accessible public document space on each of those accounts that is shared across the network. This would be read only to prevent files from being deleted. There would be a read/write folder as well to allow files to be sent.

3. Have an alternate or guest account on each of the computers for times when the machines are used by someone other than the primary user. My only issue with this is enabling this account to have access to the shared folder of the primary account on that same machine. If the shared folder is under documents (no access) of the primary user would the best way to make access be to create an alias to the documents/shared folder under the user/ folder on the hard drive?

4. I only need one account that has administrator rights on the network. Since I'm not running a server doesn't this mean I'll have to setup an administrator account on each computer? So In total each computer will have an admin account (to make changes), a primary user account and an alternate/guest account? If there's a way to retain the user list but hide the admin account that'd be great but I'm not sure if this can be done.

Sorry if this is too confusing. If anyone has any suggestions or experience relating to creating a small network that'd be great. Any security tips would be greatly appreciated.

In terms of backup, I know time capsule isn't a robust solution but I figure it's a start. It's easy and saves incremental changes. I'm also planning on using a combination of archiving the time capsule disk to another drive and an offsite solution like mozy pro. Does this sound like an ok setup to start?

Thanks!

Edit:
Sorry, for some reason I forgot there was a networking forum under the OSX forum, so if someone could move it there that'd be great.
 

ewilson6

macrumors 6502
Nov 30, 2006
368
3
ok the easiest way to do everything you ask is this.

Click on finder at bottom of your dock, then click on help at top and type in drop box or public drop box. This will give you extensive help on file/folder sharing/ and permissions for read write.

To set up a small office network you are going to need a router or a ethernet hub, which is easy to install and set-up. If you need further help reply back to this post.

--Eric
 
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