Apple x - page 19

What Is NetInfo?

Domain visibility depends on the computer, not the user. So when a user logs in to a

different computer, different NetInfo administrative data may be visible to that computer. In

the educational scenario, an undergraduate can log in to a graduate student’s computer if the

undergraduate’s user record resides in the Students domain. But the devices that are deﬁned

in the Undergraduates domain are not visible unless they are also deﬁned in the Graduates,

Students, or root domain.

You can affect an entire network or just a group of computers by choosing which domain to

publish administrative data in. The higher the administrative data resides in a NetInfo

hierarchy, the fewer places it needs to be changed as users and system resources change.

Probably the most important aspect of NetInfo for administrators is planning NetInfo

domains and hierarchies. They should reﬂect the resources you want to share, the users you

want to share them among, and even the way you want to manage your NetInfo data.

Binding

is the technique that sets up the subtree of domains visible to a Mac OS X

computer.

Binding associates a child domain with a particular parent domain. In the education example,

when an undergraduate’s computer starts up, the local domain on the computer binds to the

Undergraduates domain, the Undergraduates domain binds to the Students domain, and the

Students domain binds to the root domain.

Because the subtree is initially set up at login, it is sometimes called a

hierarchy.

All the shared domains in a hierarchy could reside on the same server, or they could be

distributed among multiple servers. The way you set up the binding would determine the

actual NetInfo hierarchy.

Faculty

domain

Graduates

domain

Under-

graduates

domain

Student

domain

Employees

domain