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Please be aware that if you've left EMBC services already, you *must* ask EMBC to close down their DNS records once done - otherwise emails from other schools will be dealt with by EMBC's internal systems rather than your new provider (and you won't get them)
(edited as more information came up - cheers Tony)
Because of the different ways a number of schools have their systems set up (remember the standard network build was just a baseline) different schools will migrate / change their DNS host, entries and associated settings in different ways.
There are a few things you specifically need to remember when making changes. If you leave your old DNS entries in place then it might not affect you and the outside world, but can still affect those using that name server. Also remember that MX records have been pointed at a mail filter / store & forward (which also acts as the on-network relay for northants-ecl users) and so that has settings in there too. Mail going into MailMarshal will still expect to go the the allocated LAN IP address unless you tell it otherwise or ask for the entry to be removed.
These changes are not automatically being applied because schools will need different changes in different orders depending on their present a future setup.
I know some schools have thought this through very carefully and others are relying on the fact that they will only lose a little bit of email if there is a gap.
Please make sure you close down services you no longer need.
I know that certain services will be turned off on 31st October, but don't just wait until that date. Tidy things up beforehand.
It's alright if you know the provisioning dates and the next steps. Some companies haven't made their migration plans public. Or, I am looking in the wrong place.
Well with only 14 days and counting left I would sincerely hope schools in the process or moving, or moving lock-stock on the last day (not sure that's advisable!) would have that information to hand so the technical staff or people involved would be able to make such decisions and plans. If that's not something you've had from yours, I'd certainly be pressing them *hard* for information about now especially considering lead times for change requests, DNS propogation times and what-not.
Hi folks,
an interesting thread. I would seem sensible to me that when the TAG moves that all associated DNS entries are also removed from the ISP as it no longer resides with them. I know we do this if a domain leaves us otherwise the above happens.
Thank you for pointing this out @synaesthesia . We're now getting in touch with all schools to make sure they've done the same.
Dave
Oh I'm all over it. Like a rash. I'll leave it to you to guess where I'm wanting information from! ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by synaesthesia
If I phoned them, would I have an 80% chance of being put through to an adult themed chat line? ;)
This is mainly about schools moving some or all services off EMBC.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edu-IT
With the way some schools have things setup it *really* isn't a good idea to presume that all schools would be ok if the zone file and MailMarshall setting were deleted. Moving the Tag doesn't mean DNS is ready to run on the new name servers, it doesn't mean the relevant services have moved over and the best migrations I've seen so far when there are complex services (predominantly secondary schools) is where there has been a phased approach to reduce areas of failure.Quote:
Originally Posted by SchoolsBroadband
Tags and DNS don't even have to reside with the same service owner (and we do have schools in this position) which makes it even *more* interesting.
Let's just say that I am looking at taking a fortnight's holiday from 31st ... (Only joking!)
It is worth noting that after checking with several people, this is unusual behaviour for an ISP/host - it's not something that happens in general.
Thus, I'm a little disappointed that it's not something people are informed of in the case of something different. On the positive side we have comprehensive notes and procedures should we need to go through this again with one large caveat - never make assumptions based on what you think should happen. Check, check and check again with *all* involved parties.
I understand that, but, still helpful to know what direction you're going in and when if you're staying.Quote:
Originally Posted by GrumbleDook
Having spent time covering for a few large scale hostmasters it is not that uncommon, as each ISP / Registrar / DNS host will tailor what they do for their customers.
Once I've checked with a few schools (get permission to talk about their setups) I'll put up some scenarios showing why schools are such different customers, especially when they have not had to really deal with Public DNS in the past. The main issue is to try and have a smooth change of services and when you have things like a hosted email service which relies on DNS, a mail filter and then the exchange servers themselves there are a lot of dependencies. Change DNS and Tag without considering the other bits mean people lose email.
And this is part of the problem ... Some schools are moving nothing, some are moving a little, some a lot and some everything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edu-IT
Some schools are not just swapping a few things but doing wholesale change of email, web hosting, etc using different technologies at the same time.
In some LAs it is simpler as there has been more direct influence on sticking to some common things, but in Northants it is a tad more ... varied!
EMBC are now apparently telling schools that any remaining transfers will occur on October 31st.
Some schools are about to get very shouty!
What transfers exactly?Quote:
Originally Posted by synaesthesia