New US Edugeek Users - Introduce yourself here :)

[ZeroHour]

Post your intro's here along with any other info you (such as the state/region you are in) want be you techie or teacher.
Above all enjoy EduGeek and hope to see you post in the future.

Cheers

[LCPSWolf]

Hey!

My name's Damian - I'm a lead tech in a smaller Virginia county school system.

We're currently running a Novell network, but planning a change over to Windows this summer. So long Zenworks!

But otherwise, I'm really glad to be on here - the help I've gotten in the past has been solid, and everyone is friendly. Great site.

[A5Ben]

Hi, I'm Ben and I am in a medium sized district (in my state at least) with 18 school's and 12,000 students.

I'm a Network/Systems Engineer. We currently run a dual network with Novel and Microsoft but are in pilot mode for a windows only system. Working through all of the changes and testing testing testing.

I'll tell you this, my machines are SO much faster without all of the Novel 'stuff' installed. Can't wait!

[mark]

Welcome chaps!

Funny to hear that you're soon to be Novel veterans like my local authority. Likewise looking forward to the reduced traffick here!

[EduTech]

Welcome guys!

[LCPSWolf]

Hi, I'm Ben and I am in a medium sized district (in my state at least) with 18 school's and 12,000 students.

I'm a Network/Systems Engineer. We currently run a dual network with Novel and Microsoft but are in pilot mode for a windows only system. Working through all of the changes and testing testing testing.

I'll tell you this, my machines are SO much faster without all of the Novel 'stuff' installed. Can't wait!

Ben,

Awesome to hear we're not the only ones. I have to ask (and I know this would probably be a more Novell-forum question) ...if you use Zenworks, what are you replacing its funcationality with? We're looking at SCCM, SMS, or KBOX. I'm only a day into the research here, but Kbox looks pretty decent at the outset. Mainly we're looking for software management, but if we get inventory, licensing, and OS loads as well - bonus! =)

[kmount]

Nice to see you guys here, hopefully word'll keep spreading

[ZeroHour]

We're looking at SCCM, SMS, or KBOX. I'm only a day into the research here, but Kbox looks pretty decent at the outset. Mainly we're looking for software management, but if we get inventory, licensing, and OS loads as well - bonus! =)

Hi and welcome firstly
We use WinINSTALL Deployment here to do all of the above but even though we deploy apps using it we still use group policy for msi based apps. I have taken a look at SMS but did not have the time to invest to get into it. With WinINSTALL we only have effectively one image that is used to deploy XP to the desktops and like others we can do remote rebuilds with it (aka deploy a package to a lab that triggers the lab to reinstall windows)
I have not heard of KBox though, do you have a link?

[LCPSWolf]

Hi and welcome firstly
We use WinINSTALL Deployment here to do all of the above but even though we deploy apps using it we still use group policy for msi based apps. I have taken a look at SMS but did not have the time to invest to get into it. With WinINSTALL we only have effectively one image that is used to deploy XP to the desktops and like others we can do remote rebuilds with it (aka deploy a package to a lab that triggers the lab to reinstall windows)
I have not heard of KBox though, do you have a link?

Sure do:
The main page is: KACE | The Leading Systems Management Appliances

For more direct info on the OS / App / Patch management:
Systems Deployment and Software Deployment Solutions | KACE

This can be hardware or a virtual solution, apparently.

Let me know what you think =) I only just started talking to sales today - I'm curious to see how cheap they come in compared to competitors, especially Microsoft.

Of course, as a school, we have ~2500 computers and at least as many users - hence we need something that's not "cost per seat" if at all possible.

Thanks for the Wininstall suggestion - I'll add it to my research list!

Damian

[MWakefield]

Mike here, tech director for small school district in N. Central MA. Been in the ed tech biz in one way or another for nearly 35 years; have seen a lot changes in that time, to say the least.

Delighted to be here, very grateful for the resource, making great use of the edugeek joomla template as we re-develop our district web sites. Hoping to go live with the new sites shortly, following the KISS principle as much as possible!

The technology is the easy part; getting the right people to agree on content - not so much.

[elsiegee40]

Hi Mike

Welcome to edugeek

The technology is the easy part; getting the right people to agree on content - not so much.

We all know about that one! Good luck!

[Bayne]

Hello fellow EduGeek users,

Jesse here. Director of Technology for a small private school in West Virginia (350 students, 100 boarders). Mixed environment of PCs authenticating from AD. Just introduced two mobile labs of Macs into the pool and trying to get it to play well in the network. Varied success with help from the forums here as well as Apple who uses are school as a 'test' project. Dorms and main teaching building recently went wireless and we're looking to add a RADIUS server to better control logins.

Looking forward to exchanging ideas/frustrations with the rest of you!

[Dos_Box]

Welcome, and it's nice to see that you guys in the US can get to 'see' Apple directly. Here in the UK you've more chance of finding pixies in the server room than having Apple do anything for you!

[esarratt]

Hello fellow EduGeeks -

I currently work for a Medium sized healthcare group based in Kansas City. I formerly worked in IT for a large public education district in Overland Park, KS for 15 years. I know educators are at the forefront of new technologies so thats why I joined this group.

Take care!

Eric

[elsiegee40]

Hi mike and eric

to edugeek

Our educational IT problems are the same the world over! It's great to see our international community growing.