File Sharing with a Mac is nothing more then the breakdown of three concepts; file types, implementation, and platform. These concepts will serve as the building blocks that allow multiple users the ability to retrieve shared files from a central location. For the creative professional, this is an essential part of creating comprehensive work-flows that save time and money.

File Types

File types, or simply the data stored on a file is our first clue as to how the infrastructure of our file sharing network should be designed. File types most commonly distributed on a network include: audio, video, documentation, spreadsheets, and even computer programs.

Implementation

Next, let's look at the system we're going to implement in order to share our files, we can further broken this up into three concepts: storage, transmission, and distribution.

• Storage Small Tree offers unique options when looking at how to tackle the storage aspect of file sharing. A traditional server approach allows you to customize how big your storage solution is going to be, it also affords you the flexibility to dictate the speed at which you can store files. A more innovative technique is the Shared Storage solutions provided by our GraniteSTOR product line. GraniteSTOR offers a fantastic solution to team-based editing by allowing multiple users the ability to collaborate simultaneously on ProRes 422 HQ or Final Cut Pro editing projects. Small Tree's approach to each of its shared storage solutions for the Mac OS X is two-fold: use Ethernet connectivity to simplify the storage infrastructure, and provide a shared storage solution that allows real time editing at an affordable price. We call our shared storage solutions GraniteSTOR.



• Transmission and Distribution Transmitting files can be done in a multitude of ways and utilizes network cards and switches to facilitate the bandwidth used. When looking at the type of distribution that would work best for file sharing it's important to gauge the size of our team and the files we'll be transmitting. For smaller teams it may suffice to use a Gigabit solution, however if you're dealing with large multimedia files or have considerable collaboration amongst large teams you may want to kick it up a notch to a 10Gb setup (roughly 10x the speed).

Platform

Mac OS X is our platform of choice and we've designed our solutions to encompass two basic concepts:

• Using ethernet connectivity to simply a companies storage infrastructure.
• Provide a shared storage solution that allows real time editing at an affordable price, this means an atmosphere that promotes dynamic collaboration at realistic prices.

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