So, back at the end of January, I got the opportunity to sit down with a number of the key people behind SIMS, namely Jon Wood, Graham Cooper, Ben Jones and Phil Neal.
Above - Phil Neal (MD); Graham Cooper (Head of Product Strategy)
This follows my article on SLG; and the hints at what was to become the Spring 2013 SIMS.net release.
It was refreshing to get to speak so candidly with the team behind SIMS - arguably, these guys come in for a fair amount of grief from the community. Th
Some of you may have read from my previous Microsoft School Blog posts that I run a HyperV Clustered network. This consists of 3 HyperV Hosts, running Server 2008 R2 (considering when to upgrade to 2012)... with the VHD server data files located on a SAN.
This allows me to use the Failover Clustering feature to manage the resilience of the network.
This week; I came across an odd problem.
I was getting ready to do some maintenance across the system - and running a backup across the Host
A departure from my normal blog topics to something even more relevant to a lot of schools than my normal writings.
Introduction
SIMS is a School Management database, written and supported by Capita Education Services. 6 months has passed since I was invited to join Capita at their Annual Conference to see and write about forthcoming changes, as well as report back on the year (and ask the awkward questions from the community). In this post, Im going to pick up on SIMS Learning Gateway (SLG
Well, I know its been a long time since my last published blog post! The truth is Ive been working on a few for a while now - but just never got round to finishing any of them.
Heres the first of my next batch... a return to an earlier thread of posts, originally related to Printing on Remote Desktop.
First, a bit of background... traditionally, most systems will be set up to map printers via a logon script. The script typically checks a machine name and adds the appropriate printers based
Another diversion from my usual blog posts - but this one came out of necessity, when I had issues with my SQL databases for SIMS and FMS. Many of you may know that FMS has its own "SQL" logins, as does SIMS - but at least with that, you can set it to use Windows Authentication.
Anyway, my problem - I was greeted by FMS with the lovely "Cannot rollback atomic" error whenever logging in. It turns out this error (after some digging) has lots of causes - none of them really to do with SIMS or FM
Those who follow my blogs will remember that last Summer, I set about building a single platform system - based around Windows 7/Server 2008 R2. This post deals with the final part of the jigsaw relating to the Thin Client section - powered by Windows Thin PC (aka Windows 7 lite... it runs NT6.1)
This post follows http://www.edugeek.net/blogs/thescarfedone/1108-remote-desktop-thin-client-part-2.html
Introduction
So – if you are using Terminal Server, or to give it its new name – Remote De
Ok - so from Outlook, you've been able to share your calendar with another user for ages. The problem is there haven't really been many options around automating this. Well - enter some handy new features in Exchange 2010.
The calendar sharing feature introduced in Outlook Web App 2010 (OWA) allows a user to grant access to their calendar to another user. To access the option, click on the Share option when in the Calendar and then on Share This Calendar. You’ll then be able to select the use
Welcome to Part 4a of my System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM) series! So - here is probably the most anticipated post - how to get started with OS Imaging! Im going to show you how to get SCCM ready for building your first Windows 7 image - and then in 4b, how to deploy that (with a load of extra options and fancy stuff!) to your estate. In the mean time, if there is something specific you need, or that you think Ive missed, please comment or send me a PM. Alternatively, you can find me on
Welcome to Part 3 of my System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM) series! I know its taken me a bit longer to get this lot sorted, and I hope that Im covering the mailbag of questions Ive had - but if there is something specific you need, please comment or send me a PM. Alternatively, you can find me on Twitter @TheScarfedOne.
Part 3 is going to deal with your initial configuration. Im going to take you on a whistle-stop tour to get your basic SCCM system ready to do a Build and Capture in P
Welcome to Part 2 of my System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM) series – desigined to show you how to get a basic setup up and running in a day not a week!
So, Im guessing you’ve gone through Part 1 – and are now ready to get on with the actual install.
You will be needing those two AD accounts - SCCMAdmin and SCCMClient – so make sure you have them ready.
Starting the Install
STOP – SCCM needs to extend the AD Schema. If you have not installed SCCM before, you will need to do t
This post is going to seem very odd - as it is Part 4 of a series, where Ive only published Part 1 so far! Bear with me, there is a reason...
A lot of my blogs recently have covered areas I get asked about a lot - and this one came up today!
Take the scenario, you are sending out your OS Builds to Machines, and also you are letting staff choose from your catalog of software to install themselves.
Problem - your OS install also shows in the list, so technically - they could bork the mac
Ive had a lot of contact from people asking about installing System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM) – having all sorts of issues with it. Normally – this install and config to the basics of doing a build and capture, through to the end game of it deploying your network clients for you!
Im not going to cover AD or DHCP – other than saying have 2 accounts setup ready to use, something like SCCMAdmin and SCCMClient. Make sure that you arent running SCCM on the same server as DHCP; and if at
Ok – so, most of you know I love System Centre products – and after getting SCCM (System Centre Configuration Manger) setup nicely (I will blog on this, as lots of people seem to have a problem getting this up and running in less than a day) – it was time to play with its partner in crime SCOM (System Centre Operations Manager).
Introduction
What exactly is Operations Manager? Well, it revolves around an agent on the computer to be monitored. The agent watches that computer, grabbing and col
Introduction
This article is a continuation, and update on the changes made since the original article published earlier in the year.
A bit of background to start with… in Summer 2011, I started a big modernisation project at the Academy I took over at. When I started, we were still on Windows XP across the desktops. To take us to Windows 7 presented a problem – the specs of some machines prevented it. I had a significant number of Celeron 1.6’s and 1.9’s. Although I tested Windows 7 on thes
Introduction
Right... as part of a corporate branding exercise - I have been working on sorting out the email signature front.
Before everyone says it - yes, I know you can do a "sort of solution" on the Exchange server. Im not going to cover that one in this post - as its more designed for Disclaimers. If you want to know more on that - Google "Exchange Transport Rule Disclaimer".
Why not Exchange Transport Rules
Back to this post - and why I didnt use Exchange server. Well - the one bi
Introduction
So, regular readers of my blog will know that we run quite an extensive Remote Desktop Environment at my new School. This poses for some interesting issues when dealing with printing - so a rethink on the traditional methods was needed.
Traditional Printer Scripting
Lets start at the beginning - with the "old-school" method of printer mappings. Usually, this was achieved with a good old-fashioned batch script, ala Drive Mappings. Not content with batch anymore - I moved this on
I use roamin profiles - and I know that people have their own views on using them, so no flaming please! I use it for all users, and combine it with folder redirection to for speed and efficiency.
Here is an outline of my setup then... and some links to getting it set up the same way if you are so inclined.
All userdata is stored on SAN paths, mapped through DFS. But, but could have this on single servers equally, and it would work just fine. The root path is \\DNSNAME\Network\, with paths
Ok, so - some of you have tried to put this in place and have not had much luck with it. I use this one a lot, as it saves additional software - and it is just nice to have everything all in one place.
How to do it properly then...
1 Create a NEW GPO... yes I said new. Don't go adding this to exisitng ones as when you want to change the time for different machines - you will be stuffed (well you could use item level targetting -but thats a bit out of the reach of this post)... and the seco
So... Windows Thin PC (Windows Embedded Standard 7 - for its full name really) is now out, whats the story?
Its the replacement for Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCS... ie its a cut down version of the current Windows OS, designed for older PCs to make them last a bit longer. You can use it to make a "Think Thin Client"... ie Autologon, start an RDP session and thats it.
And thats exactly what Ive done with it.
So, hows it all set up, and what do I think of it? Well - it installs in t
