Server

[Leeachatfield1985]

We have recently had an ICT audit of our school. It says that our server needs replacing and our WiFi internet needs improving.

 

We use RM, the server is windows 2003. Internet is fibre optic. At the moment we have approximately 30 computer hard-wired. 30 laptops that use WiFi, 30 android tablet. We also have 10 ipads with the possibility of this increasing. The school also has 10 kindles and we are looking into buying other apple products such as iPod touches.

 

Any suggestions with regards to the server? We are open to the possibility of cloud but I'm not entirely sure what this would mean set up wise.

 

Thanks in advance

Leea

[Ephelyon]

Apart from Unify, I'm not aware of any RM Community Connect-style offering for cloud-hosted IaaS. It sounds like you'd have to go vanilla if you don't want to be paying for a new RM server.

 

Where did this audit come from, by the way?

[Alkaline]

I would move away from RM personally.

[supawat1]

You do not give a lot of details on your question there so I assume that your

=> WiFi Internet is Wireless Access Point;

=> Internet Fibre optics is your Internet connectivity;

=> RM server is based on CC3;

=> Cloud is Virtualisation?

 

It seems that your Local Area Network is quite small anyway, so in terms of Server hardware, this should not be costing too much e.g. HP Proliant ML380e, 16GB of RAM, RAID5 SAS HDD

 

If you do upgrade to RM CC4 then you probably have to purchase RM CC4 upgrade licences + Installation and migration fees, which could be around £5k

 

In terms of Wireless connectivity, I assume you have un-managed wireless kits, you may need to consider wireless kits that support 11n. You should consider Wireless Access Point manufacturer such as Ruckus, Unify, Meraki, Meru, this depends on your budget.

 

You should consider your network infrastructure also, so that you have a robust network connectivity for both wired and wireless. You may need to consider managed switches e.g. HP Procurve E series or Cisco Catalyst. £2k - 3k.

 

In terms of visualization your server, you may consider Thin Client to replace those 30 desktops. But again, you have to invest in a more powerful server.

[strawberry]

If the audit has left you with questions the best thing you can do is go back to the auditors with your questions until your happy with the answers. Unfortunately what you've asked is fairly generic, so you'll only get generic answers

For instance have they said why the server needs replacing?. What have they said is wrong with your wireless?. Who carried out the ordit and why?

[elsiegee40]

Server 2003 goes out of support in mid July 2014, so you do need to be thinking of replacing that

[Chris_]

According to Microsoft support for Server 2003 ends mid July 2015 so you've got a bit of time to decide what to do before then.