Using it is pretty simple, and you can favorite many types of server or network shares, be it another Mac (AFP), Windows PC or Linux ( SMB), FTP, FTPS, VNC, amongst others. Let’s cover the basics and understand how to use Connect to Server and the simple Favorites option:

  • From the OS X Finder or Desktop, pull down the “Go” menu and choose “Connect to Server” (or hit Command+K to bring up the “Connect to Server” screen)

  • Enter the networked server destination address* as usual, often this is an IP address in the format of something like: afp://192.100.1.155

  • Before hitting “Connect”, click the [+] plus button to add the target server to the favorites list, this will appear directly below the server address field in the “Favorite Servers” list




* Note that you can also browse servers and connect that way, which will then appear in the Recents list.


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Now when you want to connect to that server again, rather than entering the full target IP address or network share name, just hit Command+Shift+K and select the favorited server from the list below. Selecting something from the Favorites list will populate the address field instantly, but you can edit it if desired. As a side note, targeting the IP and adding it to the Favorite list can be a meaningful workaround to LAN discovery issues in OS X, particularly when attempting to connect from older versions to newer OS X versions.


Something to keep in mind is that once a network share has been found or favorited, anytime it is located, it will also appear in the “Shared” section of a Finder window sidebar for quick access. Assuming the login authentication is saved and cached, accessing it directly from a sidebar will open the shared volume/server in the Finder as usual:


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Additionally, these servers will be available in the Network window, this applies to all versions of OS X.


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For those who want to go beyond just having an easily accessible “Favorite Server” list, the Connect to Server function in OS X can be taken a step further and basically turned into a Mac version of a mapped network drive from the Windows world, with persistent connections over reboots, logins, and rapid re-connections from an alias. That’s particularly handy for Macs that are on a LAN or who frequently access a network drive or file sharing server.


And yes, this works to favorite FTP and FTPS servers, if you’re a fan of the built-in FTP client of OS X too.


While this works to connect to any Mac or Windows / Samba shares, there are plenty of other ways to share files Mac-to-Mac as well, so if you find this to be unreliable or inconsistent, alternatives for file transfers are out there.


from: http://ift.tt/1Dz0KCg
Connect to a Server Often from Mac? Add it to F...

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