Summary

This chapter covered the multiple ways that a Macintosh workstation can interact with an SBS 2003 server. Macintosh workstations running any version of the Mac OS can connect to shares on the server via AppleTalk when the server is running Services for Macintosh. Mac OS 10 workstations can also connect to SMB shares on the server after some modifications have been made to the server and the Macintosh. Mac OS 9.2 and Mac OS 10.2/10.3 have trouble with name lookups for internal domains using the .local namespace. The workarounds are to use a host file on Mac OS 9.2 and make modifications to the network setup on Mac OS 10.2/10.3. Mac OS 10.4 does not have trouble with the .local namespace.

Macintosh workstations can get email from an Exchange server using a variety of methods. OWA provides access to a user's mailbox from inside or outside the local network. Older Macintosh mail clients can use the IMAP protocol to access the mail server, and the Entourage X client uses this protocol by default. For best Exchange server integration, Mac OS 9 machines should use Outlook 2001, and Mac OS X machines should use Entourage 2004.

The Macintosh has some issues working with the self-signed SSL certificate on the SBS websites. Internet Explorer for the Mac will never be able to access secure sites with a self-signed certificate, but Safari, Netscape, and Firefox all have ways to work around the certificate. The self-signed certificate must be installed into the Mac OS certificate store for Safari and Entourage 2004 to access secure SBS websites without warnings.

Macintosh workstations have a number of remote access avenues available as well. Macs can access most of the features of the RWW interface of SBS. The built-in VPN client in Mac OS X can connect with an SBS VPN server easily, and the RDC client allows a Mac to make an RDP connection either to the SBS server or a Windows XP workstation.