NCCE 2010 Session 5 - Managing a Dual-Platform Network

Managing a Dual-Platform Network

Jeffrey White

In order to create a dual platform he was lucky that he has a high income school with a very tech savvy (donor) base.

First order of business is to approach the technology committee and giving a more diverse experience ti the end user as well as a seamless wireless environment. One of the problems in his environment was that the facility was only wired with one drop per room (imagine that) so his primary concern was the shamelessness of the experience for the user. Another primary concern o him is a user managed environment with network based authentication for both platforms and utilize the existing infrastructure simultaneously.

After doing an inventory of existing resources he arrived at a laundry list of devices/software to change as well as update. First order of business was to bring in the wifi which he accomplished with Cisco technology (4404 WLAN Controller) which was pretty expensive but the support and strength of the device will outweigh the cost ($14000/controller & $700-900/access pt). Bottom line on the device is "It really works." One feature of this particular device is the load management and the way it can shuffle traffic between access points.

Network based authentication

Apple has three methods for network based authentication.

1. Open Directory Authentication - Apples version of Active Directory, good for a Mac only shop
2. OD/Active Directory Authentication - hybrid, both can connect to either network
3. AD Authentication w/ schema modifications

His preference originally was to utilize the built in AD plug in but he started to have issues on 10.6 (saw lots of news groups listing various issues on 10.6, recommendation is to not upgrade). (www.afp548.com for more info.)

Managing User Environments

What kind of solutions can he come up with? It gets tiring re associating a machine with a network on a regular basis. One solution he tried was ADmitMac (~$2500/25 clients) didn't really like it. Then tried Centrify DirectControl (multi platform, not just Mac) adds GPO to set settings to manage the systems. Cost is cheaper at ~$50/client. Good references and he likes it and is the resource he is currently using. Additional features he employs include AD single sign on, zone management, delegation of administration to end user, offline log in w/o creating a local account (already inherent in OSX), audit trail. another thing he was fond of was the clean ability of the software to sync between Mac & Windows (he did have to remember to use the FQDN for the .local server). regarding software issues he suggested utilizing cloud apps but also to make sure the software (MS Office, Adobe,etc.) is cross platform compatible or platform neutral.

Professional development issues included training and cross training between platforms with clean and clear documentation. Higher Ed technology support sites are a great resource for cross platform training since they are already utilizing both platforms (even dual-boot).

He really pushes Professional Development in the whole process (unlike the Google Apps presenter yesterday who said to just go with it.)