Connecting to Servers in OS X v. 10.4

It is possible to set up your computer to reach a file saved on another computer or server. A server is a computer whose sole purpose is to store files that can be accessed from other computers. You can also set up your computer to be accessible from other computers if there are files you want to share with colleagues or if you would like to be able to access your computer from other locations on campus.

There are a number of Windows NT computers which have been set up so that files can be added and removed by both Macs and PCs. The following information will allow you to connect to an NT server from a Macintosh with OS X v. 10.4. Any college-owned computer and any other computers with a network card that are configured to the network, are able to access NTM.

Remember that if you need to edit a file that is on a server, you should copy it to your computer for editing, then copy it back to the server when you have finished. Do not run software on the server.

Getting Started

• Find the name of the server to which you want to connect. If you are not sure, please contact the Faculty/Staff Computing HelpDesk (x3333) for assistance.
• Check what version of OS X you have. To do so:
  1. Click on the Finder icon in the Dock
  2. Go to the Apple menu
  3. Select About this Mac. The version should be listed in the window that appears.

Connecting to Servers

1. Click once on the desktop so that it says Finder in the top left of the Apple Menu Bar or click on the Finder icon in the dock.
   
   
2. In the Apple Menu Bar, click on the Go menu and select Connect to Server...
   
   
   
   
3. A Connect to Server window will appear. If you know the name of the computer to which you want to connect, in the Server Address field, type in smb://computername, where computername is the name of the Windows computer you want to connect to. For example, if you wanted to connect to NTM, you would type: smb://ntm.
   
   
4. Click Connect.
   
   
5. A dialog box will appear in the top left that says Connecting to Server. Another dialog box will appear in the center of the screen that says SMB/CIFS Filesystem Authentication. In the SMB/CIFS Filesystem Authentication dialog box, fill in the information for the fields.
   
   
   
   
   • If you are connecting to NTM, type your username and domain account password. Make sure the Workgroup says Wellesley.
     
     
   • If you are connecting to a Windows computer that is on the Wellesley domain, such as a faculty or staff desktop computer, in the Workgroup/Domain field type Wellesley; in the Username field, type your Wellesley Domain username; and in the Password field, type in your Wellesley Domain password.
     
     
   • If you are connecting to another Macintosh, type Wellesley in the Workgroup/Domain field. In the Username type in the account name which is usually your username. Then enter your password if it is not the same as your domain password.
     
     
6. Click OK to connect to the computer.
   
   
7. A dialog box will appear in the center named SMB Mount. It will include a drop-down list of shared folders to which you can connect. Click on the blue double-arrow to display the list and select a share to connect to.
   
   
   
8. Click OK.
   
   
9. An icon should appear on the desktop for each share to which you connected.
   
10. To connect to more shares on the same computer you will need to go through the process again.
    
11. To disconnect from the shares, drag the icon from the desktop to the trash. The trash will change into a disconnect icon.

• Erin Foti
• Information Services
• Date Created: August 26, 2005
• Last Modified: August 26, 2005
• Page Expires: July 1, 2006