TITLE
    AppleShare 3.0.x: Set Up For Large Group Possibilities
Article ID:
Created:
Modified: 		12476
6/29/93
2/8/00
TOPIC

    I'm going to install a network and use AppleShare 3.0.2 for file sharing. I need advice on how to create users and groups with proper security for about 40 lawyers and 10 secretaries. When a case is created, two random lawyers are assigned to it with both needing access to the case folder, as do their secretaries. No one else should have access to these files unless they are public. Each lawyer may be teamed up with another lawyer on as many as 50 ongoing cases at a time. This wouldn't be the same pairing of lawyers every time, there is a possible 39 combinations for one lawyer. There are no set groups in this scenario. They handle roughly 700 cases a year with one user belonging to 42 groups.

    What is the best way to set up users & groups to accommodate this scenario?

DISCUSSION

    If we understand the scenario you describe correctly we recommend the following:

    First of all it is essential to remember that a User and a Group are virtually interchangeable in AppleShare 3.x. This fact will give you the flexibility needed to implement a viable solution for your client.

    Create a group for each lawyer and secretary pair. Even if each lawyer worked with all 10 secretaries this would still only add up to 400 groups. For each case folder assign one lawyer/secretary pair to the Owner field and the other lawyer/secretary pair to the User/Group field. Give both Owner and User/Group all privileges and set Everyone to no privileges.

    At this point you have a maximum of 400 groups, only 40 if each lawyer always uses the same secretary. The case folders can now be assigned to any combination of lawyer/secretary pairs without worrying about number of users or groups. If a special case requires more than two lawyers then a special group containing the appropriate people could be created. If you start running out of groups in that scenario then delete old groups and assign those case folders to the administrator for archiving.

Document Information
Product Area: Apple Software; Communications-Networking
Category: AppleShare
Sub Category: AppleShare for Mac OS

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