Apple Mac OS X Server (Administrator’s Guide) - Manual (Page 45)

Administering Your Server 45
Open Directory Services
User and group information is used by your server to authenticate users and authorize their
access to services and files. Information about other network resources is used by your
server to make printers and other devices available to particular users. To access this
information, the server retrieves it from centralized data repositories known as directory
domains. The term for the services that locate and retrieve this data is directory services.
The Mac OS X directory services architecture is referred to as Open Directory. It lets you
store data in a way that best suits your environment. Mac OS X Server can host directory
domains using Apple’s NetInfo and LDAP directory domains. Open Directory also lets you
take advantage of information you have already set up in non-Apple directory domains—for
example, LDAP or Active Directory servers or Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)
configuration files.
Comprehensive Management of Macintosh Workgroups
Workgroup management services let you simplify and control the environment that
Macintosh client users experience.
Mac OS X Server client management support helps you personalize the computing
environment of Macintosh clients. You can set up Mac OS 8, 9, and X computers to have
particular desktop environments and access to particular applications and network
resources. You can design your Macintosh users’ experience as circumstances warrant.
You can also use NetBoot and Network Install to automate the setup of software used by
Macintosh client computers:
m NetBoot lets Macintosh Mac OS 9 and X computers boot from a network-based system
image, offering quick and easy configuration of department, classroom, and individual
systems as well as Web and application servers throughout a network. When you update
NetBoot images, all NetBooted computers have instant access to the new configuration.
m Network Install is a centralized network software installation service. It lets you selectively
and automatically install, restore, or upgrade network-based Macintosh systems anywhere
in the organization.
Mac OS X Server also lets you automatically configure the directory services you want Mac OS X
clients to have access to. Automatic directory services configuration means that when a user
logs into a Mac OS X computer, the user’s directory service configuration is automatically
downloaded from the network, setting up the user’s network access policies, preferences, and
desktop configuration without the need to configure the client computer directly.