Snow Leopard-Network-Software...Ready for PrePress?

[CP_PrePress]

Hello...Our Company currently has a bunch of Macs (running OS 10.4 Tiger and OS 10.6 Snow Leopard) working off file servers (running Windows 2003 and Windows 2000). We use an Esko Nexus workflow. Things currently run OK...though there are some network communication issues with Snow Leopard which are a pain.
We need a new Mac workstation...so my question is...is anyone using Lion 10.7 in a similar PrePress environment successfully? My understanding is that any new Mac comes with Lion and CAN NOT have an earlier OS installed. I can do Mac trouble shooting but I am not a PC / Mac networking wiz who could trouble shoot an initial setup.
Besides Network issues, are there software issues? Acrobat, PitStop, etc.
Is Lion OK for PrePress? Is it configurable by a regular PrePress guy? Is it Configurable by a professional network guy? Is there any third party software that makes network communications easier? (Tune in tomorrow...)
I would think that these are issues that will affect all of us in the future. Thanks for any help.

 

[chevalier]

Talk with Esko about software compatibility with Mac OS 10.7 (Lion). If using 10.7 is not going to work and you have a retail Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) installation disc you can likely startup the Mac from disc then load disk utility format it then install 10.6. Generally speaking with a Mac you can install a legacy operating system one version prior without issue. This might even work if you have a non-retail disc of 10.6 that was included with a computer.

Your current networking issues...
A.) Are you using a 10/100/1000 "Gigabit" ethernet?
B.) Are you connecting to these Windows servers via the SMB protocol?
C.) Are your servers on a domain and your Macs not?

 

[schenkadere]

GroupLogic's Extreme Z-IP is a great alternative to the canned SMB...works simply and sleek...easy to configure...I've used it for years without issue.

 

[graficworx]

This might even work if you have a non-retail disc of 10.6 that was included with a computer.

That probably won't work, as since 10.6 debuted there have been substantial hardware architecture changes, and the disc won't have the latest drivers until a more recent software update (10.6.8 is the latest).

What sort of networking issues are you having between the 10.4 and 10.6 machines? SMB should world fine, but if the 10.6 machine is having some trouble its probably because the Windows 2000 box is using an older version of SMB thats now deprecated in 10.6. You could re-share the SMB share on the 10.4 box as an AFP share, so the 10.6 boxes wouldn't have any trouble.

We keep around a 10.5 G5 that re-shares antiquated AppleTalk devices since 10.6 did away with AppleTalk.

 

[chevalier]

That probably won't work, as since 10.6 debuted there have been substantial hardware architecture changes, and the disc won't have the latest drivers until a more recent software update (10.6.8 is the latest).

What sort of networking issues are you having between the 10.4 and 10.6 machines? SMB should world fine, but if the 10.6 machine is having some trouble its probably because the Windows 2000 box is using an older version of SMB thats now deprecated in 10.6. You could re-share the SMB share on the 10.4 box as an AFP share, so the 10.6 boxes wouldn't have any trouble.

We keep around a 10.5 G5 that re-shares antiquated AppleTalk devices since 10.6 did away with AppleTalk.

All good points - that's a very creative solution you have come up with on those re-share solutions!

 

[CP_PrePress]

Not really a Network guy

Not really a Network guy

Hi...thanks for the responses.
I believe I am on a 10/100/1000 "Gigabit" ethernet...and connecting with the SMB protocol.
I don't know about the 'Domain' issue.

I guess what I'm asking is...is it possible to connect a Mac running Lion (and for that matter, Snow Leopard) to Window Servers 2000 and 2003 without problems (for instance, on our Snow Leopard Mac, we can create a folder on the server, save an InDesign file,and then be told we do not have access to it...not all the time, but sometimes)...I'm not a Networking guy...and even less a PC guy...This used to be easier under System 9 with AppleTalk.

So...can it be done simply, or do I need a 3rd party software like Extreme Zip?

Also what means, "We keep around a 10.5 G5 that re-shares antiquated AppleTalk devices since 10.6 did away with AppleTalk." Is this a workaround?

Thanks again.

 

[graficworx]

The short answer is no SMB will never work as well as AFP. Macs don't rely on a file extension to tell them what type of file it is, instead they use a metadata file. Since the windows machine doesn't understand this, the metadata file can be lost, and your files will show as unreadable in OS X. There is a fix, but it's extremely time consuming.

If you really need to store files on an SMB share, you will probably need to copy them all to the new machine, through the older Mac, then back to the SMB share.

 

[CP_PrePress]

Through old Mac?

Through old Mac?

Hello
When you say, 'If you really need to store files on an SMB share, you will probably need to copy them all to the new machine, through the older Mac, then back to the SMB share.'

We are currently working off a Windows 2003 Server. So what would new scenario be...
Work on local Mac (Snow Leopard or Lion)
Copy to older Mac (Tiger)
Copy from Tiger mac to Server

Then to get files
Copy from Server to Tiger Mac
Copy from Tiger Mac to Newer Snow Leopard-Lion Macs

This sounds a little crazy.

You said 'There is a fix, but it's extremely time consuming.' Is it possible for an experienced Network guy (or Gal) to set it up Direct? Are there other options than SMB?

It's hard to believe it's this complicated...what do the big agencies do?
We are ready to purchase a new workstation...but if it just sits there the boss will not be happy.

Thanks again...

 

[pcmodem]

When you connect to the Windows Share put "afp://" (Except the quotes) in front of the Server name or IP Address ie:
afp://192.168.1.50. This will allow you to connect All of your Mac OS X computers to the Windows Servers without any major problems. This method is called Apple File Protocol.

 

[CP_PrePress]

Thanks...but we are setup that way

Thanks...but we are setup that way

PC Modem
Thanks for that...but we are set up that way (with the 'afp'). Still have some problems...
The question still remains...can Snow Leopard and Lion Macs connect to a Windows 2003 Server? With/without some third party software? Surely, there must be some shops out there who have an answer.

Thank you

 

[Joe]

PC Modem
Thanks for that...but we are set up that way (with the 'afp'). Still have some problems...
The question still remains...can Snow Leopard and Lion Macs connect to a Windows 2003 Server? With/without some third party software? Surely, there must be some shops out there who have an answer.

Thank you

Snow Leopard connects to Windows 2003 server just fine. I can't say about Lion because we don't have any Macs running Lion but I don't see why it wouldn't be able to. And they can connect either via AFP built into Windows 2003 server or via SMB.

 

[pcmodem]

Not sure how each of your computers logs into your Server. But if they login with different usernames, then you should try using the same username for all computers. This should simplify not having access to the file.

 

[zoran]

If you are connecting with SMB, Lion has improved over Snow Leopard.
If on the other hand you are using AFP, by default out of the box it might not work due to some security setting Apple changed but there is workaround to enable it to work properly.
I am using brand new iMac with Lion and it works just fine on both AFP and SMB.
Our server is Linux with Netatalk.

 

[Sev]

Snow Leopard connects to Windows 2003 server just fine. I can't say about Lion because we don't have any Macs running Lion but I don't see why it wouldn't be able to. And they can connect either via AFP built into Windows 2003 server or via SMB.

In the last couple of months we installed two new Macs, running Snow Leopard. All of our Macs (Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard) all connect to our Windows 2003 server via SMB with no problems or issues. We did have some font issues at first on the Snow Leopard Macs, but that was fixed with a simple command in Terminal. The fonts from the server were showing up on the Snow Leopard Macs as zeroK, but once we used the command in Terminal, that problem was solved. Since AppleTalk has been removed from Snow Leopard, we set up our Tiger machine with printsharing, and we print to our Nexus workflow through the Tiger box. All in all, our upgrade to Snow Leopard has been pretty painless.

-Sev

 

[zoran]

Sev, do you remember what the command is?