Mac OS® X Leopard™ Bible

Chapter 12. Sharing Files and Network Services

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Accessing files

• Using Keychains

• Sharing your files

• Dealing with security risks

• Sharing your Internet connection

Viewing Web pages over the Internet is just one type of network service that you can access with your computer. Just as the Internet is one way of obtaining information and viewing files, so is file sharing over a network and the Internet. Using different types of connection protocols and interfacing with Macintosh, Windows, and Internet servers, your Mac can connect to an abundance of devices and trade files back and forth between them all. This chapter explains how to access files from other people's machines, how to use Mac OS X's Keychains to keep track of all of your passwords for you, how to set up your own Mac for sharing files so that other users can get them from you, and how to secure yourself from intruders.

Accessing Files

The sharing part of file sharing implies a give-and-take scenario. On a network and over the Internet, you can take and use files from other people's computers, and, if you set your computer to allow it, they can do the same from you. Computers that provide files and storage space are known as file servers. A file server is said to be a dedicated server when it's a computer that is not used for personal work. Its primary job is to share files. A file server can also be someone's personal computer (also called a workstation) that, aside from being used for regular work, is set up to share ...