Enterprise Mac Administrator's Guide

Charles Edge, Zack Smith, and Beau Hunter provide detailed explanations of the technology required for large-scale Mac OS X deployments and show you how to integrate it with other operating systems and applications.

Enterprise Mac Administrator's Guide addresses the growing size and spread of Mac OS X deployments in corporations and institutions worldwide. In some cases, this is due to the growth of traditional Mac environments, but for the most part it has to do with "switcher" campaigns, where Windows and/or Linux environments are migrating to Mac OS X. However, there is a steep culture shock with these types of migrations. The products that are used are different, the nomenclature is different, and most importantly the best practices for dealing with the operating system are different.

Apple provides a number of tools to help automate and guide IT toward managing a large number of Mac OS X computersit has since before Mac OS X was initially released. However, if you want to put together all of the pieces to tell a compelling story about how to run an IT department or a deployment of Macs, you need to compile information from a number of different sources. This book will provide explanations of the technology required.

• Provides complete solutions for the large- and medium-scale integration of directory services, imaging, and security
• Complete guide for integrating Macs and Mac OS X into mixed environments with confidence and no down time
• One-stop volume for IT professionals who need the technical details to get their job done as efficiently and effectively as possible

• Choose a directory services model that works for your organization and integrate it into your existing model
• Choose an imaging model and begin imaging workstations with or without third-party products
• Leverage scripting techniques to reduce labor for the IT department
• Provide network services (file sharing, mobile home folders, messaging, etc.) to the Mac OS X clients
• Mass-deploy the iPhone

System administrators and IT professionals who need to manage a large number of Mac OS X computers, be they Mac OS Xbased servers or workstations. The assumption is that readers are somewhat familiar with Mac OS X and/or IT in general, but not that they are familiar with the Apple system internals, server services, or deployment techniques.