Apple Desktop PC manual Back to My Mac User’s Guide

Safe and secure

To make connecting to your Mac over the Internet secure, Back to My Mac uses advanced authentication and data encryption technologies to help prevent unauthorized access to your data and protect it during transit. For more information, see the Security section at the end of this guide.

Back to My Mac User’s Guide

December 2007

Back to My Mac

User’s Guide

This guide will help you access your remote Leopard-based Macs over the Internet using .Mac.

Overview

Getting something from your Mac when you are away from home is a daunting task. It’s nearly impossible considering that your home Internet provider frequently changes your computer’s Internet address—and your router or wireless base station disguises things further. With Leopard and a .Mac account it’s not only possible, it’s simple.

Back to My Mac keeps an updated record of your computers’ addresses on a .Mac server. So when you’re on the road, you’ll see your other computers in the Shared section of the Finder sidebar, just as if you were at home.

How it Works

.Mac

Internet

MobileHome

1Your iMac at home sends its IP address to .Mac.

2On the road, your MacBook retrieves the address of your home iMac from .Mac.

3From your Macbook, you can securely connect to your home iMac over the Internet.