Among non-technical people, “servers” can be a horrible word.
No, we’re not talking about the people who bring you food and drink at the pub. Those servers are delightful.
We’re talking about the computers that manage your stuff and do things for you. Google servers, Amazon servers, email servers… the list goes on. Most of us don’t think about servers. We just use them without being aware of their existence, but we couldn’t imagine managing them.
People don’t overthink these servers, and we advise people not to overthink Daylite Server Admin either. It’s just an application that manages people’s interactions with the Daylite database. Most people need not even see it, or know it exists. And on most days, the Daylite administrator won’t even look at it.
If you’re a one-person operation, you’re the Daylite administrator. Don’t be scared. Daylite Server Admin runs on your desktop Mac or MacBook equally well. It can run on the same Mac you use for Daylite, so you don’t need to buy and configure another computer. It enables you to run Daylite on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. And it’s easy to use.
Whether you’re in a company of 50 or you’re a corporation of one, here’s a quick list of reasons to use Daylite Server Admin.
Updating your version of Daylite
We recently released an update for Daylite, which we call 4.2. Step Three in the update process was to turn off the Daylite server. Step Eight was to turn it back on again. A few steps in between also involved Daylite Server Admin, and one of those was…
Backing up your Daylite database
Daylite Server Admin lets you quickly create a backup of your database. While this is a handy feature, most people just schedule regular automatic database backups. Some people also back up the backup files that Daylite creates using other, third-party solutions like Time Machine. Two backups, and the administrator doesn’t need to lift a finger.
Managing Daylite user privileges
When you need to grant people access to Daylite, or take that access away, use the Licenses tab in Daylite Server Admin. And yes, the word “Licenses” means that you need to buy a license per new user before you add the user to Daylite.
Managing iOS devices
Did you just get a new iPad and download Daylite Touch for it? Your licence extends to that iPad, as well as your Mac, iPhone and iPod Touch. The iOS devices fall under the (surprise, surprise) iOS devices tab in Daylite Server Admin, where you can do things like add iOS devices and remotely wipe any Daylite information off a device.
Letting Daylite Server Admin contact you
Should Daylite Server Admin find out about a problem, it will email you at the address you enter in the Admin Email tab. This is a set-it-and-forget-it thing, but it’s worth setting up if you’re the administrator.
A quick note for “single” Daylite users: As we said, Daylite Server Admin works great on MacBooks if you’re the only person using the database. If you decide to give other people access to your database, put Daylite Server Admin on a stationary Mac that has a static Internet protocol (IP) address or a fully qualified domain name (FDQN).
Daylite Server Admin lets you do a few other things, but these are the main reasons you’ll have to use it. And if you don’t need it, don’t even think about it. Out of sight, out of mind.
