Chapter 17. Integrating the Macintosh into a Small Business Server 2003 Environment

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Sharing Files with a Macintosh from an SBS Server

• Secure Website Access

• Accessing Exchange from the Macintosh

• Remote Connectivity Tools for the Macintosh

For the last few years, Apple Computer has been producing products that have become increasingly popular among the home user marketthe iMac, the eMac, and now the Mac Mini. These devices have started making their way into the business arena as well. In certain industriesgraphic design, audio production, advertising, publishing, and so onthe Macintosh platform has always been present, but some Windows administrators have been reluctant to figure out how to incorporate the Macintosh platform into their Windows networks.

The SMB market seems to have a greater presence of Macintosh devices interacting with Windows-based PCs than the enterprise space. To that end, the SMB consultant has been struggling to discover how to connect the Macs to the network in such as way that he doesn't impact the way users on either platform expect to work.

This chapter outlines the steps necessary to configure both the Macintosh devices and the SBS server to allow the Macintosh platform equal opportunity access to the services provided by the SBS server.

Best Practice: Keep Mac OS Up to Date

Just like Microsoft, Apple periodically releases updates and security fixes to Mac OS. With Mac OS 9 and earlier, users had to run the Software Update control panel to check for updates from the Apple servers. Later versions of OS 9 included the option to schedule update checks weekly, but the process is still manual.

Mac OS X has an automatic update feature that checks weekly for updates by default. As with Automatic Updates on Windows XP, Software Update can be configured to automatically download the files for important updates in the background, so when the user is notified that updates are available, the files are ready for installation.

Mac users should be given permission and encouraged to install these updates when they become available.