Remote management of Mac computers

jh

Can anyone suggest a way of remotely managing Mac computers in a small business?

Necessary features:

• Ensure they are kept up to date
• Allow me to remotely install and update software
• Allow me to remotely add/remove users
• Keep an audit trail of login/logout time
• Allow me to remotely control which applications staff can use

Other useful features

• Keep track of likely time wasting (Youtube etc.)
• Allow other systems to authenticate from it as well
• IP restrictions

All I have seen is LogMeIn Central which is expensive.

Thanks

raindog308

http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/

"Apple Remote Desktop is the best way to manage the Mac computers on your network. Distribute software, provide real-time online help to end users, create detailed software and hardware reports, and automate routine management tasks—all without leaving your desk. Featuring Automator actions and Remote Spotlight search, Apple Remote Desktop makes your job easier than ever."

alegeek

Nomachine works great

jar

OS X server was built for this very thing. It's very easy to control a fleet of Macs, local or remote, by keeping them logged into a domain controlled by OS X server. I did this at a school, it wasn't all that different than running a Windows network. I could dish out updates as I pleased, cache them on the server to minimize the update downloads going over the network, etc.

jh

OS X Server is what I'm looking for - thanks. Do we need to get another Mac to be the server or can (should) we designate one of the existing ones to be a client+server?

OnraHost

@jh said:
OS X Server is what I'm looking for - thanks. Do we need to get another Mac to be the server or can (should) we designate one of the existing ones to be a client+server?

Haven't did it in a few years, but a client+server setup should be good.