How to set-up 2 shared systems with 4 family members

[miata]

What is the best way to set-up multiple users with multiple computers?

I already have multiple users set-up, but I want to allow anybody to access to their files and logins no matter which computer they log into.

Ideas?

 

[brandone]

What is the best way to set-up multiple users with multiple computers?

I already have multiple users set-up, but I want to allow anybody to access to their files and logins no matter which computer they log into.

Ideas?

Home or Office?

 

[miata]

Home or Office?

Home family.

 

[brandone]

Home family.

The only way to do EXACTLY what you want to do would require a server solution making use of Open Directory. Open Directory is essentially a service that store user information and manages policys and permissions on your network. This solution is exactly what you want, but is complicated and expensive.

If you are simply trying to enable redundant file sharing across multiple computers you should invest in a network shared external hard drive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136346
This hard drive would be accessible from any computer on your network. You can simply make folders on the drive with the users name.
Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[miata]

The only way to do EXACTLY what you want to do would require a server solution making use of Open Directory. Open Directory is essentially a service that store user information and manages policys and permissions on your network. This solution is exactly what you want, but is complicated and expensive.

If you are simply trying to enable redundant file sharing across multiple computers you should invest in a network shared external hard drive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136346
This hard drive would be accessible from any computer on your network. You can simply make folders on the drive with the users name.
Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks brandone. Sounds like the NAS apprach makes the most sense.

I have an Airport Extreme connected to a USB drive spare with a spare drive bay. Is the idea to link each of the users to this external drive? I want the bookmarks, preferences, documents, iPhoto, Photobooth crap, etc to all be accessible from the NAS. Will that work?

 

[brandone]

Thanks brandone. Sounds like the NAS apprach makes the most sense.

I have an Airport Extreme connected to a USB drive spare with a spare drive bay. Is the idea to link each of the users to this external drive? I want the bookmarks, preferences, documents, iPhoto, Photobooth crap, etc to all be accessible from the NAS. Will that work?

Yes, the idea is to link each user to the external drive. However, with this approach, it is for data access, not preference redundancy. With that said, you can easily save photos and documents to the network store. This way each user will have there files with them at any location on the network. As far as bookmarks and preferences, this is going to vary from computer to computer. I believe that google has a way to store your bookmarks to a cloud thus having the ability to access them from any computer.
https://www.google.com/bookmarks/l
So after you setup the network drive, create folders on it:
User1
User2
User3
User4
Etc.
Where UserX is the name of a particular family member.
In Finder, you can add a network share by going to "Go" ----> "Connect to Server..." ----> Enter Server Address i.e. smb://dnsname/UserX or smb://192.168.1.10/UserX ----> Connect
If you need further help, feel free to send me a PM.
-Brandon