Using Mac OS X Lion Server

Chapter 9. Network Services

Few servers come without the option to manage various services that most networks require. Lion Server is no exception to this rule. Most networks need network traffic routed into and out of the local network, services that automatically configure network settings for clients and DNS servers, useful for connecting to names of devices rather than IP addresses. These days, many also need to share usernames and passwords with third-party routers and firewalls and to provide secure connectivity to users when they are not on the local network (e.g., connecting to work from home).

Lion Server can provide all of these services. In this chapter, we’ll look at a basic implementation of each service, how to configure clients (if appropriate), and more importantly when to and when not to use Lion Server’s implementation of services and when to instead use something else.

When to Use Apple’s Network Services

Each network service is one small part of what a Lion Server can do. Each is also a role that could live on entire clusters of servers in very large environments. If any of these services are mission critical for your environment, then you probably don’t want them to run on a Lion Server. But if you’re trying to establish an inexpensive means of connecting to your home network to keep the WebDAV connection from being published to the world or if you’re trying to hand out more IP addresses than what an AirPort can do, a Mac OS X Server might be able to do the trick. ...