Re: [Fed-Talk] Secure online storage?
Re: [Fed-Talk] Secure online storage?
- Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] Secure online storage?
- From: "O'Donnell, Dan" <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 17:39:54 +0000
- Thread-topic: [Fed-Talk] Secure online storage?
If you want to mount the volume then you are doing system administration
(OS or IIS) work and not standard user or site management work. If you
want to continue doing that work (which is not a problem) use Microsoft's
Remote Desktop Connection application, which is free [1].
This will allow you to authenticate to and access any Microsoft OS
(Windows, Windows Server, AD server, etc.) from a modern Mac. (There is an
older version of RDC that works on older Macs.) This RDC app is basically
the same as the RDP app used by Windows to connect to other Windows
machines (real or virtual). Note that it does not mount a volume - it lets
you authenticate to and operate a remotely located machine.
[1]
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads?pid=Mactopia_RDC&fid=68346E0D-44D3-4
065-99BB-B664B27EE1F0#viewer
You do not need RDC for use of SharePoint as a standard user. If you are a
user and wish to access Office files on a SharePoint server from a Mac,
your best option is to use Microsoft's Document Connection application.
This is part of Office 2011 (or 2008) and allows the Mac to authenticate
to a SharePoint server, and then to traverse and view the contents of user
accessible folders on the server. Finally, it allows you to "download" a
file to view or edit, and then save back.
I put the "download" in quotes because it is not a traditional download of
the file to the local machine that we are accustomed to. The Document
Connection app pulls the file from the SharePoint server to the local
machine and puts it on the screen, without the interim step of downloading
the file to the desktop (or other file location).
For those keeping score at home, I'm sure the file probably goes into a
temp folder somewhere. But what appears to the user is that the file just
magically opens on the screen. DC also allows locking of the file while
the user has it open on their machine, and then unlocking of the file upon
check in. Microsoft calls this "check out" and "check in" of the file. For
obvious reasons it is a useful and even necessary function.
DC is bundled with Office and is apparently not available separately. Most
SharePoint admins are pure Windows people and are unaware of this app,
which adds to the Mac functionality that is built into Windows.
Note though, that you do not need DC to use SharePoint as a standard user
from a Mac. SharePoint is a web server with a bunch of extra features, so
you can authenticate to it (assuming the admin has required I&A) and use
nearly all of it as a standard web server. Not surprisingly, there are
actual web sites on the public internet that are built on SharePoint.
(This may not be immediately noticeable.)
Files that are not Microsoft Office behave the same way for the Mac as
they behave on Windows. For example, I'll briefly describe: text files,
rtf files, html files, PDF files, "other" file types.
PDF: Seem to act the same way on Windows as on Mac (open as a web page or
downloadable for editing). They don't open "on the glass" like Office
files.
Text: open as web pages with no formatting
RTF: I vaguely remember that in Windows these will open in Word, but on
the Mac they download to the desktop. My memory is likely faulty, you
should test.
PDF: Act for both Windows and Mac clients the same as PDF files on any web
server. In IE or Safari they will open in the browser, in FF they will
download to the local desktop.
Other file types: will download to the local desktop
A few other things to know about working with SharePoint: It is a Windows
IIS server with a SQL database that stores data as blobs and not as
discrete data. That is, even if you upload an Excel file it is not stored
as data that you can perform SQL operations on. It is a blob like a jpg or
a png.
Also, if you want to do serious web design on a SharePoint site you'll
probably want to use Microsoft's proprietary design suite. (This was
definitely true with the past few versions of SharePoint, but may be
changed with the current or upcoming SharePoint version.) Doing design
like on a web server is not impossible, but it is harder.
Nearly all of your basic, intermediate and advanced site administration on
a SharePoint server can be done from a Mac. You can create sites or
subsites, add or delete users, or modify the permissions of user groups,
change the navigation elements of top level sites or site elements, etc.
It's not exactly AJAX or JSON, but it's actually much easier for a site
administrator to deal with.
Due to its deepness and complexity there is a considerable learning curve
for administering, but in fact it's remarkably OS agnostic from the user
or administrator perspective. (That being said, of course it only runs on
Windows Server.)
HTH.
-----Original Message-----
From: "Blumenthal, Uri - 0668 - MITLL" <email@hidden>
Date: Friday, December 14, 2012 10:13 AM
To: Dan O'Donnell <email@hidden>
Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] Secure online storage?
>But (a) how do I mount or access that SharePoint volume from mac or Linux,
>and (b) how do I edit non-MS Office files (say, raw data)?
>
>Tnx!
>--
>Regards,
>Uri Blumenthal
>
>
>
>
>On 12/14/12 11:56 , "O'Donnell, Dan" <email@hidden> wrote:
>
>>Um, no, SharePoint is not hard to access from non-Windows machines, e.g.
>>Mac, Linux, *BSD.
>>
>>I have found one little-used service (embedded modifiable tables) on
>>SharePoint that doesn't work from non-Windows, but pretty much everything
>>else works. You can access (open and edit) Word, Excel and Powerpoint
>>files hosted on a SharePoint volume from a Mac without the file
>>downloading to the Desktop. You can even administer SharePoint from a
>>Mac.
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: "Blumenthal, Uri - 0668 - MITLL" <email@hidden>
>>Date: Friday, December 14, 2012 8:50 AM
>>To: Dan O'Donnell <email@hidden>, "David R. Whitley Jr."
>><email@hidden>, "email@hidden"
>><email@hidden>
>>Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] Secure online storage?
>>
>>>One problem with SharePoint volumes is that it may be hard to access
>>>from
>>>non-Windows machines, while the other solutions (Dropbox, Google Drive,
>>>MS
>>>Skydrive, etc. etc) are accessible from pretty much anywhere including
>>>smartphones. Likewise with BoxCryptor. Though now of course one would
>>>face
>>>the approval (or lack of) problem.
>>>--
>>>Regards,
>>>Uri Blumenthal
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>On 12/14/12 11:46 , "O'Donnell, Dan" <email@hidden> wrote:
>>>
>>>>There are some services that "rent" SharePoint volumes. Whether one
>>>>personally likes this or not, it's likely to be approved.
>>>>It might also allow discrete user I&A, though probably not based on AD.
>>>>
>>>>I don't remember the name of the site/service, but Google (Bing?) is
>>>>your
>>>>friend.
>>>>
>>>>HTH,
>>>>
>>>>D
>>>>
>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>From: "David R. Whitley Jr." <email@hidden>
>>>>Date: Friday, December 14, 2012 7:36 AM
>>>>To: "email@hidden" <email@hidden>
>>>>Subject: [Fed-Talk] Secure online storage?
>>>>
>>>>>I have a need to store contractor provided survey reports and pictures
>>>>>online with a means to share with non-govt people as well. A perfect
>>>>>solution is Dropbox, but it's blocked for me so I'm guessing that it's
>>>>>not allowed. Does anyone know any available solution? I could even
>>>>>provided funding if necessary.
>>>>>
>>>>>-D
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>David R. Whitley Jr.
>>>>>SPAWAR Atlantic
>>>>>Email: email@hidden
>>>>>Work: (843) 218-5348
>>>>>Mobile: (843) 412-8298
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