Vanilla Network from Scratch

[dcwhitworth]

OK I'm thinking of building our school network again from scratch and I'm looking for pointers on where to start for a vanilla network.

 

What tools would be good to have ?

Should we engage some consultants to help ?

Anyone got a plan of how to proceed ?

 

The backend side I'm fairly confident with, Server 2008/12, VMWare etc should be no issue, but we need tools to build computers, lock them down, deploy software etc, etc. I know most of this stuff is built into Windows but 'built in' MS stuff is sometimes not the best way to go.

 

Basically I'm at the very first stages of planning this and so I'd be grateful for any useful pointers here.

[thesk8rjesus]

SCCM 2012 is really good for building computers and deploying software remotely. It also deploys antivirus as a standard. If you have a EES desktop agreement then its included in it.

[maark]

I would use server 2012 and windows 7 - use group policy to lock things down and mdt or sccm to build computers/install software.

I have used hyper v with no issues for virtual servers - though vmware is supposed to be good hyper v is very cheap if you have a Microsoft schools EES agreement.

Most useful bit of extra software we have is impero - to monitor/control student machines and also lets you do remote installs etc.

Also veeam is good for backing up hyper v though you can use dpm.

[dcwhitworth]

SCCM 2012 is really good for building computers and deploying software remotely. It also deploys antivirus as a standard. If you have a EES desktop agreement then its included in it.

 

Yes we've got ESS. Do you have an good resources for learning how to use SCCM ?

[TechMonkey]

Effectively did the same last year at my previous place. Planning, planning, planning is all you need. Can't remember exactly but I think we managed the actual change over in about a week during the summer but that was with building the system from about Feb. Obviously after that was lots of tweaking and finding things we had missed but it was a great sense of achievement and that knowledge that the system was your own and there were no hidden nasties. Make sure you keep staff well informed and make them realise you will be VERY busy and the network will be unavailable for a section of time over the hols. Also make them realise there will be a period of adjustment and you need their patience and help. I had a very good boss that acted as a buffer during the really hectic times, even taking over the phones when we were doing training. He was very understanding of what was involved so prepared to put people in their place if they were being too demanding. IF you can get the same understanding from your SMT, selling the positive benefits down the road, then you will be on to a winner.

 

GPO and planing your AD carefully is your best friend.

 

I didn't use SCCM then but we are getting into it now. Prepare to lose a lot of time into it is all I will say. But it will be worth it.

 

Would love to do the same in my new place but I'm going to have to wait a few years for that.

[tmcd35]

Generally, building from scratch I would look at...

 

Windows 2012 Servers

Hyper-V virtualisation

System Center Suite for various management tools (not just SCCM)

Windows 7 Pro 64bit desktops

Office 2013

EES for licencing

 

If I could complete start a fresh here It's what I'd do. To be fair I've spent the past 4-5yrs moving in that direction and we're about 90% there any way. Our use of Hyper-V could be tided up, would prefer a proper SAN, and better integration of System Center.

[djm968]

Having completed similar vanilla upgrade and migration projects for other Schools, the biggest challenge I found was the implementation of a reliable software/application deployment solution.

Things have moved on significantly now and if I were contracted to complete a similar project today, application virtualisation technology would be very high on my check list.

[synaesthesia]

For SCCM itself, check out Portal - www.windows-noob.com - great guides on the use, testing and implementation there. Set yourself up a test environment and have a good play; read all you like for the best practices but nothing will teach you like getting your fingers on it.