Chapter 27. Managing Windows Clients Using Mac OS X Server
The past few chapters have all dealt with Mac OS X Server and varying types of Mac client computers. However, the vast majority of networks today, even if Mac-based, have at least some Windows workstations, and many have both Mac and Windows servers. This chapter discusses how to manage Windows computers from Mac OS X Server.
Despite the significant level of support for Windows clients that Apple has built into Mac OS X Server, it is not as powerful as that which is built into Windows servers, and vice versa. If you are planning a new network or an upgrade, you should bear this fact in mind. It often leads to the dominant server platform in a network being the same as the platform used by the majority of workstations. Of course, as we’ll discuss in both this chapter, it is possible to integrate both Mac and Windows servers in a network.
Hosting a Windows Domain
Windows services under Mac OS Server include the ability to share files and printers using the SMB protocol (the default file and print protocol for Windows), Windows name resolution services, and the ability to function as a Windows Primary Domain Controller (PDC), and host a Windows domain. When all of these services are implemented under Mac OS X Server, it is possible to manage a network of Windows computers almost as though you were using one or more Windows servers.
When acting as a PDC, a Mac OS X Server supports Windows domain login using accounts created in ...
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