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Chapter 2 Getting Started with User Management 35
 What services and resources users need (such as mail or access to data storage)
 How to divide users into groups (for example, by class topic or job function)
 How to group computers (such as all computers in a public lab)
Identifying Directory Services Requirements
Identify the directories where you’ll store user and group accounts, computers, and
computer groups:
 Set up an Open Directory master and replicas to host a Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) directory for storing other user accounts, group accounts,
computers, and computer groups on your network. For information about password
handling options, see Open Directory Administration.
 If you have an earlier version of an Apple server, you might be able to migrate
existing records. For available options, see Updating and Migrating.
 If you have an LDAP or Active Directory server set up, you might be able to use
existing account records. For details about accessing existing directories, see Open
Directory Administration.
For information about working with Open Directory groups and computer groups,
see Chapter 5, “Setting Up Group Accounts,” and Chapter 6, “Setting Up Computers
and Computer Groups.”
Note: If all domains are not finalized when you’re ready to start adding user and group
accounts, add the accounts to any directory domain that exists on your server (the local
directory domain is always available). You can move users and groups to another
directory domain later by using your server’s export and import functions.
Passwords are not retained when exporting and importing account information. For
more information, see the appendix, “Importing and Exporting Account Information.”
Determining Server and Storage Requirements
When planning for server needs, you must first acquire the following information:
 The number of concurrently connected computers, which affects network traffic and
server response times
 The number of user accounts, which affects the amount of storage space required to
store user files
Directory services, including authentication and user management, require one Open
Directory master or replica for every 1000 computers, regardless of the number of total
user accounts. For example, if you have 400 computers and 2000 users, you need one
Open Directory master for authentication and account management. If you have 1800
computers and 2500 users, you need one Open Directory master and one Open
Directory replica.