Enterprise Mac Administrators 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 computers―it 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

Charles Edge has been working with Apple products since he was a child. Professionally, Charles started with the Mac OS and Apple server offerings in1999 after years working with various flavors of Unix. Charles began his consulting career working with Support Technologies and Andersen Consulting. In 2000, he found a new home at 318, a consulting firm in Santa Monica, California which is now the largest Mac consultancy in the country. At 318, Charles leads a team of over 40 engineers and has worked with network architecture, security and storage for various vertical and horizontal markets. Charles has spoken at a variety of conferences including DefCon, BlackHat, LinuxWorld, MacWorld and the WorldWide Developers Conference. Charles' first book, Mac Tiger Server Little Black Book, can be purchased through Paraglyph Press. Charles recently hung up his surfboard and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his wife, Lisa. Charles can be contacted at krypted@mac.com

^Zack Smith has been working as an IT consultant his entire adult life. He has consulted for insurance companies, entertainment companies, medical organizations, and governmental agencies. Zack holds an Apple Certified Trainer position where has taught at Apple and various market centers in Boston, Virginia, Los Angeles, and Cupertino. As a certified instructor, Zack has taught Apple's Security Best Practices Class, as well as many of the other Apple Certified System Administrator level classes (such as Mac OS X Deployment and Mac OS X Directory Services). Zack has been a speaker at MacWorld San Francisco as well as many other smaller venues such as IT user groups. Zack is also the author of a set of open-source IT administration software and scripts and has long term plans of being a full time Objective C developer. When not attending IT & Security conferences or traveling for work at 318, Zack can be found in Portland Oregon with his partner in crime Anna, and dog, Watson.^Beau Hunter is a systems engineer employed at 318, Inc. in Santa Monica, California. He has been working professionally with Apple technologies since 1999, and has been supporting businesses running the Mac OS for over 8 years. Throughout this time, he has developed a name supporting and securing Apple OS X systems in multiple capacities: cross-platform systems integration, clustered web and database solutions, high-performance SANs, high-capacity backup systems, automation, and multi-OS mass deployment. Beau has also spoken at numerous events including MacWorld 2009.