Chapter 5. File Sharing

File sharing is by far the most common use for a server. For many organizations, file sharing is the only reason they have a server. Although Mac OS X Server is accomplished at tasks other than file sharing, it stands out as a robust and reliable multiplatform file server by providing file-sharing capabilities via the four most common sharing protocols: Apple File Protocol (AFP) for Mac OS clients, Server Message Block (SMB) for Windows-compatible clients, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for almost any client, and Network File System (NFS) for Unix-based clients. Mac OS X Server is unique in its ability to share the contents of any directory via any of these protocols simultaneously.

For many administrators, the amount of time spent planning access to shared items outweighs the time spent configuring the server. Access to shared items is often a technical and political issue. As a server administrator, you're often charged with figuring out how to configure server resources so they fit with your organizational requirements. Therefore, it's a good idea to plan access to your shared items before you try to implement sharing services on your server. You should also set up users and groups before you enable your shared items, because Mac OS X Server uses Unix-style user and group permissions to control local and shared file access. (See Chapter 4, "User and Group Management," for detailed information on configuring users and groups.)

When you're ready to configure share points, you have two main areas of concern: setting up and configuring the protocols over which users connect, and the actual share point. This chapter examines both, moving back and forth between sharing protocol configuration and the share points.