What’s wrong with Network Home Folders?
“True” network home folders means that when a user logs into a Mac, ALL the data associated with that user resides on the server. From documents to photos, to temporary internet caches, everything is being read and written across a network connection. For dynamic environments with many portable Macs connecting over WiFi, it has become all but impossible to use true network home folders in a reliable way.
TechTonic’s Solution
Enter Redirector. Redirector allows system administrators the ability to mass-manage hundreds, or even thousands of Macs, to designate folders on the local Mac that will be redirected to corresponding folders on the server. Create new management groups or use your existing workgroups or computer groups, settings for Redirector are easily pushed to all your Macs with methods familiar to Mac sysadmins, employing the ubiquitous Managed Preferences (MCX) and Managed Profiles introduced in OS X Lion.
Customizing Redirector
Every environment has their unique needs. Some want to do a true redirect, from the local Documents folder to the network Documents folder. Some admins don’t want to actually redirect existing folders, but create a unique folder where users know to put their documents. Redirector can put a folder on your Desktop (or anywhere!) and call it whatever you want (SaveHere, MyNetworkSave, etc). Redirector also respects your files. It checks for contents of a folder before redirecting to make sure it doesn’t contain any important files.
Who is using Redirector?
Redirector has been deployed in dozens of school districts. Every deployment has been a huge success, leaving system admins with a tried and true method for accomplishing something that was previously done with klunky scripts and static values. Redirector is built using low level OS X API’s, hooking into the system at a deeper level than shell scripts that don’t have access to some important system API’s.
How much is Redirector?
Redirector is free for all our customers.
