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General MacOS networking knowledge wanted

gbynum

gbynum

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 23, 2019
66
19
Greenville SC
I'm not asking for an extended help session, rather a pointer to sources.

I've been a personal computer user since before CP/M, mostly on intel type processors. Now, with pushes by my developer son, I'm exploring MacOS. My wife and I joined the Apple ecosystem with iPhones and iPads. I have had a MacBook Air for a little over a year, now on the current version of Ventura, 13.1 although my question existed back to 11.x.

My wife and I each have Windows desktops and laptops, all running Windows 10 home. We have a NAS where we keep many of our files.

Dating back to my NetWare experience and habits, the NAS is accessed by all of our Windows systems as N:. We each have full access and share some folders (pictures, movies, music) and individually use some folders, backups and individual projects. No logins or passwords are involved.

The drive assignments are "sticky" or persistent, that is, if I reboot a system or get updates, all comes back. I would like to have similar functionality with my MacBook, and if possible, with our iOS and iPadOS devices. Can someone direct me to a reference on how to accomplish as much of this is practical?

Additionally, I share on each computer a folder named "Shared"; how unusual? Each of our systems are named by our initials and a 2 digit number going back to my first WFWG 3.11 days; the Mac is GWB16. We can "see" files via typical UNC conventions; \\GWB13\Shared\ connects to my primary Windows desktop, and I have shortcuts on my desktop to these. These also are persistent and survive reboots. I've neither had good luck attaching to a shared Windows system nor from one to my MacBook. I have succeeded in shortcuts to the NAS and Windows shares, but initial use after a reboot of the Mac or (unknown) other conditions are difficult to "double click" and give me an extended "resolving alias" followed by what I assume is a network icon, 3 people holding hands. Where can I find more information to understand what is happening?

Thanks!
 
Connect to windows is probably SMB file sharing? Mac smb support has always been really finnicky. But it should still work I guess. Other supported protocol is I think AFP which is what you get when you enable native mac file sharing.
 
Me and the wife left the Windows world in 2009. So we have been Apple-only before terms like iCloud and "Apple eco system" even existed. And these days we use the "ecosystem" to it's fullest extent. - Here is how we do it.

Each of us have an iMac, an iPad, an iPhone, an Apple TV 4K and an Apple watch. All those devices uses the same Apple-ID and we use iCloud "synchronization" for all apps where this is possible. For other types of data (those which are not kept "inside" an app, like documents and spreadsheets) we store everything in iCloud by using the setting for "Documents and desktop in iCloud". - So our data are everywhere (where relevant) on all devices by way of synchronization or available from all devices in iCloud Files.

As we use the same Apple-ID we only have to buy an app once because it can then be used on the other devices with the same Apple-ID.

So we do not have any NAS or any sharing problems at all. There is no NAS. Only iCloud. Everything is done automatically by our "ecosystem" approach. iCloud ties all our devices into one big "IT system".

We use iCloud Keychain for our many (unique) passwords and they also synchronize to all relevant devices. We put our sensitive data into Apple Notes as locked notes, so they are encrypted and available on all relevant devices.

We also have some documents/Files which we want to have locally on our devices, so they are available when we are off-line. We put those into an app called "Keep It" (Keep It Mobile on iPhone/iPad). The app then handles synchronization via iCloud automatically just like an Apple app does.

Our "one Apple-ID" approach started long before iCloud and Family Sharing was invented. So today it is probably best to use the Family Sharing setup as this is the way Apple wants us to do things. But there are distinct advantages to our approach if you are sure you won't get into a divorce situation. Especially when it comes to synchronization of (shared) data.

I basically write this to show you that you have to forget all things from the PC/Windows world and totally change your ways, if you want to use the "ecosystem". All your general IT knowledge and any particular expertise in the PC/Windows world is of no use in the Apple world. And quite often you will create a mess if you try to apply such old knowledge in the Apple world.

So the "pointer" really is to start all over by reading the basic Apple User Guides and start to figure out how to move data from the PC world to the Apple world. And be sure to understand Apple Photos and how iCloud actually works. (iCloud is more than one thing).

Most common trouble spots for old PC users are these:

Apple Photos is a database where all photos are stored in one big "all photos" folder. All the manual folders and organizing you do manually are really like music playlists. You only work with links to the original photo.

ICloud is not a cloud made for external storage. It is a synchronization mechanism which distributes all your data to and from all devices. So iCloud is also not a backup service (except for iPhone/iPad backups).

PC users often start by installing the same apps which they used on the PC. - But the MacOS version of those apps always have fewer features and more bugs than the PC version. And there are normally very good alternative apps which actually are made for Apple. - So no Adobe, no PC browsers, no Microsoft Office. (Of course they will mostly work fine, but not always.) - If you must use a more advanced browser than Safari for some reason then use www.icab.de. It can (also) behave like several versions of the popular PC browsers, but it is a nerd browser made specifically for the Apple world. Both on Mac and mobile.

Of course I don't know what kind of "pointers" you are looking for and what exactly you expect from the Apple ecosystem. But I hope that my answer here will make you realize that you have to scratch all PC/Windows/Nas totally if you want all the advantages of being an Apple-only user.

If you somehow attempt to combine the Apple World and the Windows world you will end up in a situation where you get the worst of both worlds and none of the benefits from either.
 
@TorbenIbsen, I understand your solution. I envy you. My problems are primarily related to softwares and internet access.

I support heavy industry, although less and less as I proceed into retirement. In general, the data acquisition world does not support Apple. I've far more invested in Dataq hardware and software than in my PCs and other devices. I've done much programming of, and still support, PLCs by several manufacturers. None are supported by Apple; some sorta are supported by Windows VMs, but poorly.

When I am in a plant, I usually do not have internet access, but local storage suffices ok. iCloud obviously isn't there. This isn't a pro-Windoze situation as other "cloud" features don't exist either.

I do use MS Office eXcel, but that is mostly since I started with VisiCalc, SuperCalc, QuattroPro, etc on the path to Excel. I greatly preferred WordStar and WordPerfect to Word, but they are all gone. Word tools are heavily utilized by my hardware applications. I never got into the MS databases, jumping from dBaseII to RBase, then using the web based (mostly *nix based) products. Access wasn't my favorite, EVER.

I guess this is just to say that as long as I have old customers and employers calling me for help and I am alive, there will be Windows in my world. I still have 3 XP systems (not on the internet or intranet) to support old stuff.

SneakerNet works. USB is supported on everything I have. Copying to-from my NAS works. But neither Windoze nor MacOS does a good job with handling existing "things" when they update their respective products. I prefer to live in the past, but recognize that the present and future WILL be here. (Oh, I do share the DVD/CD drive on my Windoze box for use by my optical drive free other systems)

Thanks for your insight. I really do respect it.
 
Here’s a great place to start with Mac <—> Windows file sharing. This link goes to directions on sharing Mac files to Windows machines, and there is a link at the bottom of the article with directions on how to access windows files on Mac.

Share Mac files with Windows users

To let users connect to your Mac from a Windows computer, turn on file sharing and enable SMB sharing.
support.apple.com
 
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