- Challenges of File Sharing
- Different Protocols for Different Clients
- Planning File Services
- Using Apple Filing Protocol
- Configuring Apple File Service
- Monitoring AFP Activity
- Using Windows File Service
- Configuring Windows File Service
- Configuring Access and Starting Windows File Services
- Using NFS Share Point Access
- Configuring NFS
- Using FTP File Service
- Configuring FTP Service
- Network-Mounted Share Points
- Preparing for a Network Home Folder
- Configuring Network Mounts
- Controlling Access to Shared Folders
- Troubleshooting File Services
- What Youve Learned
- References
- Chapter Review
Preparing for a Network Home Folder
You also can set up a share point to automatically be available for a network home folder for a network user. The user’s home folder can reside in any AFP or NFS share point that the user’s computer can access. The share point must be automountable—it must have a network mount record in the directory domain where the user account resides. An automountable share point ensures that the home folder is automatically visible in /Network/Servers when the user logs in to a Mac OS X computer configured to access the shared domain. Because AFP is the native file-sharing protocol for Mac OS X, and allows Mac OS X clients to reconnect to the AFP service after a temporary network disconnection, without errors, Apple recommends storing home folders in AFP share points.
When a network user logs in to a Mac OS X computer, the computer retrieves the account information from a shared directory domain on the accounts server. The computer uses the location of the user’s home folder, stored in the account, to mount the home folder, which resides physically on a home folder server. If you don’t set up a home folder for a network user account, the user cannot log in.