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[JavaLawyer]

This FAQ entry describes the fundamentals of establishing users, groups, permissions, and shared folders/files in a D-Link ShareCenter.

Definitions

• User - A user is a ShareCenter account with a unique username and password that can log into the ShareCenter. The files and folders accessible to each user are determined by the associated groups and permissions.
  
• Group - A group is a collection of users that share similar attributes. Groups are primarily used as an easy means of setting access permissions to a large number of users rather than configuring each user individually. This approach saves time and also makes user account management easier.
  
• Permissions - Permissions are the attributes that define the content and functions a user can perform on the ShareCenter (e.g. Read Only access to "Folder X" or Write access to "File Y").
  
  

Assigning Access to Individual Users

Assigning access to an individual user requires providing the user with a permission associated to a specific ShareCenter folder or file. User > Permission > Folder/file

Example: Assign user1 with Read Only access to Data_Folder located in Volume_1

• Create New User Account: username: user1, password: 1234
  
• Select Network Share Folder: Volume_1/Data_Folder
  
• Assign Permissions: Read Only
  
  

Leveraging Groups to Assign Access to Multiple Users

The D-Link ShareCenter product line supports the assignment of unique permissions to individual users. However, if a large number of users require the same access permissions, groups are often a better approach than individual assignments.

Example: Create the following user shared folder combinations:

• user1: assign Read Only access to Volume_1/Media
  
• user1: assign Read/Write access to Volume_1/Data
  
• user2: assign Read/Write access to Volume_1/Data
  
• user3: assign Read Only access to Volume_1/Media
  
• user3: assign Read/Write access to Volume_1/Data
  
• user4: assign Read Only access to Volume_1/Media
  
• user5: assign Read Only access to Volume_1/Media
  
  

Configuring each user individually is a lot of work and may result in account management issues later on if modifications need to be made. For this example, assume that the five user accounts (user1, user2, user3, user4, and user5) already exist. A close examination of the above set of requirements will yield that the users can be separated into two lists:

• user1, user3, user4, user5: Read Only access to Volume_1/Media
  
• user1, user2, user3: Read/Write access to Volume_1/Data
  
  

Since there are two specific sets of permissions, we can create two groups to fulfill this request:

• Media_Group: Read Only access to Volume_1/Media
  
• Data_Group: Read/Write access to Volume_1/Data
  
  

After the two groups are created, the final step is adding the users to the appropriate group. Note that a user can be a member of multiple groups:

• user1, user3, user4, user5: Media_Group
  
• user1, user2, user3: Data_Group
  
  

Leveraging Groups to Globally Modify User Access

The true power of groups is fully realized when user access must be modified. Continuing with the prior example, let's say a new a new folder is created in the ShareCenter called Volume_1/Photos and you want to provide Read Only access to user1, user3, user4, and user5. Rather than adding the share to each user individually, only Media_Group needs to be updated.

• Media_Group:  Read Only access to Volume_1/Photos
  
  

Now all users in Media_Group have access to Volume_1/Photos.

Finally, let's assume a new user account (user6) is created and needs access to the Media and Photos folder. Rather than configuring individual assignments, simply add user6 to Media_Group

• user6: Media_Group
  
  

Now user6 has the same access as the other users in Media_Group.

Configuring Users, Permissions, and Groups in a D-Link ShareCenter

The steps required to configure user accounts, permissions, and groups in the D-Link ShareCenter product line varies depending on the ShareCenter model. Please refer to the user manual for your specific ShareCenter model for instructions. Newer ShareCenter models have a Wizard that walks through the configuration process.