Wherever there is more than one Mac in the same general physical area, there is an opportunity to network those Macs into a Local Area Network (LAN). A LAN offers many benefits, including the following:
Sharing devices, such as printers
Sharing files
Providing a local Web
Sharing an Internet connection
Providing FTP, e-mail, and other services
A LAN can be as simple as two Macs (or a Mac and a network device, such as a printer) connected together using an Ethernet crossover cable. A LAN can be as complex as hundreds of computers, dozens of printers, and many other devices. Local networks can also be anything in between, from a small home office with a couple of Macs to a workgroup that has 10 or more workstations in it.
Creating and managing a large Ethernet network (such as one with hundreds of devices on it) is a major task, coverage of which is beyond the scope of this book. This chapter assumes a more modest network that includes several Macs, a Windows PC or two, and a couple of network devices, such as printers. Coincidentally, this is the environment in which Macs are most likely to be used. The principles of managing larger networks are the same, but the details are much more complicated.
Similarly, this chapter focuses on the two networking technologies for which support is built into the Mac OS: Ethernet and AirPort. There are other means of networking machines together, but they are specialized and beyond the scope of this book. For most Mac networks, Ethernet and AirPort are the best tools to create a LAN.
More than any previous version of the Mac OS, Mac OS X supports a variety in both range and depth of network services. The network services supported by Mac OS X are summarized in Table 25.1.
Service/Protocol | Abbreviation | Function |
Apple File Protocol | AFP | Enables file sharing on machines running older versions of the Mac OS, such as Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9. |
AppleTalk | AppleTalk | Set of services used to communicate on Macs running older versions of the Mac OS or AppleTalk devices such as printers. AppleTalk continues to be supported under Mac OS X. |
Bluetooth | Bluetooth | Enables Macs to communicate with various wireless devices, such as cell phones and PDAs. |
Common Internet File System | CIFS | Provides remote file access on many platforms, such as Windows. |
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol | DHCP | Provides automatic assignment of IP addresses to devices on a network. |
Bootstrap Protocol | BOOTP | |
File Transfer Protocol | FTP | Enables fast transfer of files over TCP/IP networks. |
Hypertext Transport Protocol | HTTP | Provides transmission and translation of data between a Web server and Web client. |
Internet Protocol | IP | Enables communication across a wide variety of devices and services. |
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol | LDAP | Service enables users to locate resources,such as files and hardware devices, on anetwork. |
Network File Service | NFS | Enables file sharing on Unix-compatible devices, such as Mac OS X computers. |
Network Time Protocol | NTP | Synchronizes time across devices on anetwork. |
Open Transport | OT | Another set of networking protocols that was introduced under earlier versions of the Mac OS. |
Point-to-Point Protocol | PPP | Provides TCP/IP services over dial-up connections (PPP) and over Ethernet connections (PPPoE). |
Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet | PPPoE | |
Printer Access Protocol | PAP | Provides services necessary to printto network printers. |
Rendezvous | Rendezvous | Enables Rendezvous-compatible devices on a network, such as computers and printers, to discover and configure other Rendezvous compatible devices automatically. |
Short Message Block | SMB | Enables Macs to connect to Windows andUnix file servers. |
Service Location Protocol | SLP | Enables devices on a network to be discoveredautomatically. |
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol | TCP/IP | Enables transmission of data acrossextended networks, such as the Internet. |
User Datagram Protocol/ | UDP/IP | These protocols do not provide services Internet Protocolin themselves, but are the means by which data is transmitted across networks. |
Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning | WebDAV | Extends http to provide collaboration and file management on remote Web servers. |
NOTE
Support for SMB and CIFS makes it possible to integrate Macs onto Windows and Unix networks with no additional software installations. If you have ever been treated as a second-class citizen by a Windows network administrator, this feature alone makes Mac OS X a great thing.
All the services listed in Table 25.1 can be useful, but covering all of them is beyond the scope of this book. In this chapter, you will learn how to implement the two services you are most likely to use: file sharing and FTP. After you have learned to configure these, you can apply similar principles to configure additional services on your network.
To learn how to configure Mac OS X's built-in Web server to implement HTTP services, see "Using Mac OS X to Serve Web Pages," p. 389.
NOTE
The WebDAV standard is a relatively new one that is gaining wide use. It provides a much better environment for file sharing and other services across HTTP networks, primarily the Web. For example, when you use an iDisk under Mac OS X, you are using the WebDAV standard. This enables you to remain connected to the iDisk for long periods of time without being disconnected when there are idle periods.
To implement a network, you should do the following:
Design your network.
Build your network.
Configure the services that will be available on the network.
Monitor and administer your network.