[tri tran]

I need to purchase and set up a server so that our office can file share via airport dsl. We want to be able to access it remotely as well. Please give suggestions as to what I need to get started. Do I need to hire a professional to do this? Or is there material out there to help me do it myself?

Thank you.

[Justin W. Williams]

Originally posted by tri tran:
I need to purchase and set up a server so that our office can file share via airport dsl. We want to be able to access it remotely as well. Please give suggestions as to what I need to get started. Do I need to hire a professional to do this? Or is there material out there to help me do it myself?

Get an old G4 tower. Install OS X server and just set it up. Its pretty simple IMO.

If you wanna be a real hardass though, get an xServe

Set up the remote filesharing via a WebDAV server or FTP.

[Jager]

as for the professional, just talk to us

[tri tran]

Assuming that I will use an old G4 tower w/ OS X server or an Xserve, how can you remote connect? What is the limiting connection speed?

I want to be able to see the server like a remote external drive on my desktop just like the .mac/idisk. I have tried idisk and it is exactly the model that I need but it is excruciating slow even on my dsl connection. To save an excel file takes over 5 minutes, and when you have 4 people sharing the same file it's just not practical.

Perhaps I should see if an Apple store has an Xserve demo I can test run via my powerbook?

[tgrundke]

Originally posted by tri tran:
I need to purchase and set up a server so that our office can file share via airport dsl. We want to be able to access it remotely as well. Please give suggestions as to what I need to get started. Do I need to hire a professional to do this? Or is there material out there to help me do it myself?

Thank you.

Make sure first of all that the issue of security is not a big one with your office. Airport, while 'secure' is nowhere near as secure as a standard cat-5 ethernet network. Second, you must be sure that the airport reception is good based on the location of all computers. Keep in mind things like walls, brick, etc.

Perhaps most important is the size of the files. Transferring files over ethernet is far quicker than sending them through an airport network. If they are small files it probably won't be much of a deal, but I still would stick with a physical cable network, IMO.

Depending on your comfort with MacOS X / OS X server you may be able to do things on your own. I suggest finding a good consultant in your area, however.