OS X Server to exclude Windows boxes?

[HawaiiMacAddict]

Aloha everyone,

I have a question about Mac OS X Server, as I've never had the pleasure of running it. This seems to me to be a "Duh" question, but I'll ask it anyway.

Currently, I have my iMac, MacBook Pro, my wife's PC (my old PC, given to her when I upgraded to the iMac 😀), and my brother-in-law's PCs - desktop and laptop. I'm exploring the possibility of getting Mac OS X Server (and hopefully a new Mac Pro to run it 😀), and would like to segment the home network into two parts, Mac and Windows, instead of the other way around. I'm thinking of doing this partially because, as a former Windows fanboi, I'm a bit paranoid, but moreso because I would like to see Mac OS X Server running a network and compare it to the way Windows Server 2003 runs my C4ISR networks at work.

Also, I don't want to advertise the network to my brother-in-law's online friends, not that they could break in anyway. I only really share things with my wife's PC (like the printer, a networked HP 6300 series All-in-One). My brother-in-law only needs to get on the internet.

The question is really this: I can get all of the computers on the internet and STILL segment off the Mac-only portion, right? In other words, I want to use the open directory-specific approach with the Macs (Kerberos authenticiation and all), to include all operations - internet access, file sharing, printer sharing, etc..., but completely block the Windows PCs from accessing the Mac-only portion of the network. From what I've read, this should be easily accomplished, but I would like to ask the question on this forum for verification of my initial findings. Of course, adding the Windows PCs will be a piece of cake, but that's for later. Actually, my nefarious goal is to completely rid my house of PCs once and for all, once I convince my brother-in-law to junk the PCs for Macs, then get my Mac Pro and replace my wife's PC with my iMac 😀

HawaiiMacAddict

 

[Sherman Homan]

If I follow your question correctly the answer is yes. But I don't understand the title of your thread and your question. You can set up the OX Xserver to handle Active Directory, Open Directory and LDAP for Macs and PC's. I don't think there is any such thing as a Mac-only part of your network. As long as nothing like file sharing or any other services are running on the client Macs, the server would presumably handle all of those.
With stealth mode turned on in the Firewall, neither your brother-in-law or his friends are going to get in!

 

[HawaiiMacAddict]

Aloha Sherman,

Thanks for your reply. I agree that I should have named the thread something else, but you got the gist of my question. My wife and I are thinking of tearing our house down and rebuilding (adding a 2nd story this time). I will be wiring up the house such that each room will have network drops. I thought of using CAT6 cabling, but I don't have Gigabit network devices (and the Apple Airport Extreme is ONLY 10/100 😡), but also wanted to experiment with segmenting the Mac side from the Windows side. Assuming that none of the Macs have Windows sharing turned on, then regardless of how hard they try, I will still have no uninvited guests.

I think I'm doing pretty good now, though. I run my Macs from a standard user account and use MAC address filtering on my router. I was going to use WPA2 on the wireless side, but for whatever reason, the Windows PCs can only go up to WPA (my Macs had no problem using WPA2, however - they just work 😀).

I know I sound a bit paranoid, but I've been using PCs since 1990 and only switched to the Macintosh platform last August - paranoia is still deeply ingrained in me, I guess, from having used Windows for so long 😀 That, plus the fact that my brother-in-law, if asked about network security, will only give you a rather puzzled look, even though I've attempted to educate him on that subject more often than I care to recall.

I would like to run Mac OS X Server with my Macs, partly to compare it to Server 2003, as I posted before. Thus far, I've found out that only with respect to Transcender (a certification exam engine) and the Cisco programs from the CD in their test prep books, do I really have a have a need to run Windows (although I recently completed an inventory database in Access for my work). I would like to definitively prove that my company can make the move to the Mac - not that it will make any difference, however. I am a contractor with General Dynamics, and we are filling a contract with the US Army, who is deep in bed with both Microsoft and Dell, but they can save untold millions of dollars, in the long run, by making the switch to the Macintosh platform. Apple's answer to Active Directory is Open Directory, and what with the much lower cost of Mac OS X Server when compared to Windows Server 2003, it really should be a no-brainer. They as the computers are phased out, they could be replaced with Mac Minis or iMacs - higher cost upfront, but with the reliability and long life of Macs in general, lower TCO in the long run as well. The most important aspect, but one that has fallen on deaf ears thus far, is the Windows virus problem. All I get is the tired old "security through obscurity" argument, with no consideration for the real reason why Macs are inherently more secure than PCs.

Anyway, I didn't intent to get back up on my soapbox - sorry about that 😀 I just keep kicking myself for not having made the switch until last year. All I know is that, now that I've made the switch, I'm extremely satisfied and will never go back to the dark side.

HawaiiMacAddict