MacAdministrator 3.4>> Case Studies

When the initial designs for this large and complex network were drawn up, it became apparent that the existing Macintosh computers were under threat. The Board had many different types of Macintosh computers with OS versions ranging from 7.5 to 9.0. The solution needed to provide the Macs with a login and enable authentication on to the Windows 2000 Server base. It was imperative that this be a direct connection, as intermediary servers would have to be based in the school locations and would add numerous complications, bandwidth problems and cost and to the project. It would also make a significant contribution in reducing the total cost of ownership, realized from centralizing the server base and support staff.

When an initial search failed to find a solution, serious consideration was given to phasing out the Macintosh computers. Many of the teaching staff were opposed to this policy, considering it very important to keep the Macintosh computers which had proved more flexible and reliable than their counterparts over many years.

Following consultation with Apple, MacAdministrator was selected. It provided all of the necessary features and functionality. Furthermore, the login, authentication and mounting of home folders and group shares, and the setting of the required protection proved to be faster than the PC equivalents with virtually no load on the network.

Throughout deployment of MacAdministrator, the software distribution and audit features of the product proved to be invaluable and avoided huge costs in both time and money. Software updates were required to many of the machines, dependent on their particular hardware specification. The ability to remotely audit machine groups, or individual machines also provided the help desk with the required functionality.

The Board is planning to deploy new Macintosh clients next year, running OS X. Originally, this had not been envisaged for some years to come. However, with MacAdministrator 3 providing the same functionality and central point of control for all of the OS versions, the decision made on the early deployment was relatively straightforward.

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