CC3 and Teacher Laptops

[docboggle]

I am trying to figure out the best way of keeping our teacher laptops in control, but am not sure of the best way. I am hoping that there are some people out there that can give me some recommendations.

I am currently running a CC3 network in a primary school. All student computers (laptops and desktops) are Win XP and are CC3 workstations. All students have roaming profiles.

The staff laptops are all Win XP standalone machines (aprox. 15 of them). They connect up to the network for AV updates, internet access, and network printing.

I want to make it easier so that I can centrally control Microsoft updates, backups, network shares, SIMS access, etc. However, they also need to be able to be used at home and connect to individual's broadband.

What is the best approach to be able to do this? Make them into CC3 workstations (what type)? Or should I join them to the domain in a different way (is that possible with CC3 networks)?

Any suggestions? Any feedback is much appreciated

[ajs]

Off the top of my head you can either:

Build them as CC3 workstations, change the workstation type to Personal and specify the user that will use them as a priveleged user. They can then use RM Synchronise to keep their week in sync between home and school and still have enough freedom to happily use the laptop at home.

Or

Add them to the domain in the usual way but make sure you keep them out of the Establishments OU on the DC. This way they won't interact in anyway with the CC3 network and you can manage them however you wish :-)