35. Share Another Mac's Files  BEFORE YOU BEGIN 30 Configure Networking Manually
 SEE ALSO 36 Allow Others to Share Your Files 37 Share Files from a Windows PC 40 Connect to the Internet Wirelessly
When your Macs are networked, you no longer have to keep copies of all your files and applications on each individual machine; you can store them all in one central location, and connect to that machine (the server) whenever you need to access those items. You can even create aliases to items hosted on remote servers, and when you try to open them, Mac OS X will mount the remote server automatically and open the item for you. You can even connect to Macs that aren't on your local network; you can mount a shared resource from a computer in Boston onto your Desktop in San Francisco, as long as you know the remote computer's hostname or IP address. | 1. | Open Finder Window Create a new window by clicking the Finder icon in the Dock or by pressing  . | | 2. | Browse the Local Network Click on the Network icon in the Sidebar of the Finder window. This icon leads you to all the browseable resources available on the local network. 35. Share Another Mac's Files  The Finder can show you only those servers on the local network (LAN). To connect to a server in a remote location on the Internet, or to go directly to a server whose name you know without having to browse, you can enter its network name , Internet hostname, or IP address manually, using the following method. | | 3. | Connect to a Remote Network Press  or select Connect to Server from the Finder's Go menu. Type the hostname or IP address of the server you want to connect to into the Server Address box, and then click Connect . You will then be presented with a similar authentication dialog box to the one you would get if you had browsed to the server on your local network. Use the + button next to the Server Address box to add the server to your Favorite Servers list, and use the History button next to it to select from recently used server addresses. | | 4. | Select a Zone
Most Macs today operate without zones (logical groupings of computers under descriptive names ). Existing Mac-based networks that have always used AppleTalk for their in-house networking might have multiple named zones to choose from; click the name of the zone you want. If your network has only newer Macs, however, they will all be found in the Local zone. Double-click the zone (or single-click in column view) to open the zone's server listing.
| | 5. | Select the Server to Connect To
Each of the available servers appears in the Finder window. Double-click the one to which you want to connect; in column view, click the Connect button that appears in the preview pane. A dialog box appears that prompts you for your name and password, or to opt for guest access.
| | 6. | Enter User Information (or Select Guest Access)
If you have a registered user account on the Mac you're connecting to, enter your name (either your full name or your short name, as you specified when you first set up Mac OS Xsee 118 Add a New User for more on users' full names and short names) and password and click Connect . If you don't have an account on that machine, click Guest ; this will give you limited access to the publicly shared resources on the server to which you're connecting.
If you connect to a server directly, by typing in a machine name or IP address in the Connect to Server dialog box instead of by browsing, you can specify some extra options in the connection screen.
| | 7. | Specify Server Options
Before connecting, choose Options from the gear button to bring up a dialog box that permits you to set certain default behaviors for when you connect to a Mac server. For privacy and security, you will probably want to deselect the Allow sending password in clear text option, and select Allow secure connections using SSH . Click OK to save these settings for future connections to this Mac server.
Select the Remember password in keychain check box to save the password so that you don't have to remember it the next time you connect.
| | 8. | Select a Shared Volume All the server's shared resources (which are thought of as volumes in the context of file sharing) are accessible as soon as Mac OS X connects to the server. All these volumes are listed beneath the selected server in the Finder's hierarchy. If you've connected as a Guest , each user account appears as a volume; if you have authenticated with a user account instead, you can select from the physical disk volumes attached to the remote Mac as well as from your own Home folder.  NOTE If you connect as a Guest , and you select any user's Home folder as the volume to mount, you are connected directly into that user's Public folder. You cannot browse any of the user's other files or folders. | | 9. | Browse the Server's Files
If you've connected to the server directly, Mac OS X connects to the server and mounts the selected volume as a new data source in the Finder. The volume appears on the Desktop if you have configured it to do so; the volume also appears in the Sidebar of any Finder window that is open. Click the icon for the volume and browse its contents as you would any other mounted volume.
If you've connected by browsing using the Network icon in the Finder, the server resources can be browsed using that icon's hierarchy. The server volumes do not appear on the Desktop, nor will they be listed in the Sidebar of the Finder window.
| NOTE The Finder responds more slowly when you're browsing remote files than locally mounted files. All the information about the remote resources must be transferred to your computer as you browse, and if you open any document, the entire document must be transferred to your computer as well. The circular "progress" icon in the lower-right corner of a Finder window indicates that the system is transferring data.
TIP You can send files to individual users on remote servers, privately, using the Drop Box folder inside each user's Public folder. To do this, connect as a Guest and navigate into the volume corresponding to the user's short name. Open the volume; then drag any items you wish to the user's Drop Box folder. Just as with a physical drop box, you won't be able to see what's inside this folder; but you can add items to it, and the owner of the folder can then open the folder and retrieve the items.
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