New School ICT Plan

[MattGibson]

Dear all,

 

I have been asked to draw up a new ICT Plan for a secondary school that doesn't exist!! I have a pretty good idea with which route I want to go down such as Thin Clients, Citrix, VOIP, Management Cluster & VDI Cluster. Could any of you suggest your thoughts or recommendations?

 

I'm guessing the builders will be installing all the cabling back to the server room. but any of your thoughts will be appreciated.

 

Regards

Matt

[mthomas08]

Lucky, I really have to say that - very lucky. You have a chance to make everything perfect from the get go before you have turned on a computer.

 

Had to do the 3 Year budget plan for my not so new job, spent several hours going through everything for next Year once I got told the estimated budget I could be getting.

 

What sort of budget do you have, or is there not one?

 

Personally I wouldn't only go down the Thin Client route unless I had a ton of low spec machines to make them less server/networking reliant. Then again if you get your networking top notch you might not even notice the difference.

 

Virtualisation on non core servers is my preference with the core servers clustered. You might as well aim for the moon because you have a great chance at future proofing everything.

 

Print management with Biometrics linked up to a cashless catering system is very useful to have (perhaps Parent Pay as well to avoid all the cash handling). Not sure if you are going to want a Reprographics area to be used for large printing?

Online ordering for head of departments

Projectors/IWBs ? personally I would avoid all in ones because our old ones cost a fortune to replace, a new projector, new mount/bracket which cost almost as much as a new IWB. Unless you resort to eBay and even then you may not get what you want.

Wall mounted speakers with trunking

Wall mounted Remotes for the projectors - scrap the remotes because they lose them left right and centre

Budget plan to replace out dated kit (although it may take 5-7 Years average) it can be useful to have because when I came here there was nothing but PC replacement plan. People have a habit of forgetting Projectors/IWBs don't last forever.

Trunking every where, network/electrical points everywhere - Staff have a habit of moving desks causing new cabling requirements.

Air con/UPS for the servers

 

The above is just some stuff you may/may not care about but I hope it helps - will have some more at another time.

Edited June 4, 2014 by mthomas08

[Grey-gear]

You may want to think about setting up a VLE

[CAM]

And the MIS. Maybe a parental engagement system too!

[Grey-gear]

Gigabit switches too would be good

[Norphy]

Gigabit to the desktop, 10gbe backbone would be better.

[Grey-gear]

Gigabit to the desktop, 10gbe backbone would be better.

 

That is true

[pantscat]

 

I'm guessing the builders will be installing all the cabling back to the server room. but any of your thoughts will be appreciated.

 

I wouldn't necessarily make this assumption!

 

If you've been asked to draw up a plan then dictate what sort of cabling is installed. For example - I have a network cabling standards document that all contractors have to agree to - it dictates what type (and brand!) of cabling is to be used, how things are to be terminated and other such exciting things!

 

In terms of your plan - it's best to start with a functional design explaining what you want the "ICT system" to do and support (it's probably going to be useful to get buy-in and guidance from management on this). Once you've outlined what you want it to be able to do then it's time to drill down and outline technical solutions that fulfil the requirements.

[Norphy]

The way our building is set up is as follows:

 

Imagine a building which is the shape of a giant space invader (No, really. That picture is the college being built, the building site is where we are now and the other bit has been demolished) Each leg and the body is a wing, each wing has two floors. Each floor has a hub room. All of the cat6 cables on each floor runs to its respective hub room. We have two server rooms with a core switch in each, each hub room has a fibre running to the server rooms.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Norphy

[Cablers_JonPaul]

Start with the vision of what the SLT want to achieve and how they want to use technology in your new school and work backwards. A robust network will be the key to everything anyway. Make sure you over-spec the network as in our experience consultants, builders and M&E's will always pair it back to what they think they can get away with installing during the build process whilst keeping within budget. Any cost savings they can make normally add to their profits if they have won the job by bidding a set price.

[dhicks]

I'm guessing the builders will be installing all the cabling back to the server room.

 

Your network wiring is probably going to be used for VoIP, too - we installed double sockets everywhere, no single ones, as we assumed that anyone with a PC was going to want a phone at some point, too. If you're using VoIP phones, you'll want PoE-capable switches. Our HPs are great, although they are a little noisy - you might want to consider getting muffled network cabinets all round (we had to get one for the ICT room, out in corridors is okay). If you have a power cut, all the phones will also go out - a UPS in each network cabinet might be a good idea (and not, actually, that expensive), although you need to check the size of the cabinet and how securly it can be fastened to the wall.

[Norphy]

we installed double sockets everywhere, no single ones, as we assumed that anyone with a PC was going to want a phone at some point, too.

 

Don't most VOIP phones come with network passthrough sockets? You plug the phone into the network and the PC into the phone? Ours certainly do.

[dhicks]

Don't most VOIP phones come with network passthrough sockets? You plug the phone into the network and the PC into the phone? Ours certainly do.

 

Yes, but most are 10/100 ethernet, not gigabit. Also, with new classrooms you really might as well put in as many connections as you can, and running two cables instead of one to a particular point is pretty much the same cost. Things like projectors also come with network connections these days for monitoring (10/100 is fine for those), the more connections you have the better.

[visioN]

Our VOIP phones can daisy chain the PCs but as said they are 10/100 and would rather have the PCs on 1GB - might as well get the extra sockets!

[pantscat]

That's a good point, but it's only really worth having 1GB to the desktop if you've got a multi-gig backbone - e.g. 10GB or multiple 1GB links that are trunked.

[PotNoodleTech]

Ok - clearly you can't devise an explicit plan as you (and probably the school, at this stage) have no idea of the actual ICT vision?

 

You’re in a really enviable position – most of us would love to be able to start from scratch and get things perfect.

 

There are several things the school will need whatever the vision ends up being.

 

1) Master Dedicated server room, securely built, brick walls, no windows, secure door access, preferably with all network cabling cabling coming back to here as cat6, rack cabs installed and ready, multiphase power delivered via a 32amp 240v plug per phase into separate PDU and separate UPS’s per phase, and redundant air con installed.

2) Backup server room, preferably in another building, one rack cab, one air con single phase 240v. Again preferably brick walls no windows and secure door access.

3) Reliable network infrastructure (Cisco or HP depending on your preference) preferably with redundant switches and links where possible 10 gig to servers and ti inter switch/inter building links, and 1 gig to desktop

4) Reliable server and storage infrastructure loaded with your preferred virtualisation software (Dell & Vmware with VSan using local storage for me, no SAN needed)

5) Reliable backup infrastructure e.g. Dell Server loaded with 4tb drives for use with Veeam Software, a separate NAS device (Synology for me) for mirroring/archiving backups.

6) Use physical cat6e drops and PCs wherever possible. IMHO Wireless/laptops should only be used where neccassary, Dedicated staff PC in every classroom cabled in with Cat6e and IT Suites for departments that need computing en mass is the way to go, Wireless and laptops/tablets just have far higher installation, maintenance and total cost of ownership).

7) Strong wireless system. Cisco here. Make sure the entire site is covered, should the school decide to purchase 35 laptops for a room – the wireless should cope with that.

8) Documentation and labelling. Every single cable, device etc documented labelled in inventoried. Makes future life so much easier.

9) Software to audit PC and internet use. Much easier for the school to safeguard pupils and manage their IT requirements in the future if they know who’s doing what, what’s being used, where, and can prove it.

 

If you get the above right, then the school will be in a position to use any number of different types of devices in any way they see fit in order to comply with their ICT Vision.

[dhicks]

That's a good point, but it's only really worth having 1GB to the desktop if you've got a multi-gig backbone - e.g. 10GB or multiple 1GB links that are trunked.

 

This is a (theoretical) new network in a new building - I'd aim to run multiple fiber strands between each switch cabinet and have at least 10 gigabit connections between switches, which is what we put in last year. This year, 40 gigabit fiber might be affordable, it'd be worth checking.

[dhicks]

1) Master Dedicated server room, securely built, brick walls, no windows, secure door access, preferably with all network cabling cabling coming back to here as cat6, rack cabs installed and ready, multiphase power delivered via a 32amp 240v plug per phase into separate PDU and separate UPS’s per phase, and redundant air con installed.

2) Backup server room, preferably in another building, one rack cab, one air con single phase 240v. Again preferably brick walls no windows and secure door access.

 

Makes sense, although I think I'd look at offsite hosting for at least the backup server cupboard - a fiber link to a datacenter somewhere, your own servers co-located there. Actually, if you're building a server room / cupboard from scratch then you have a chance to install to a standard datacentre-style level and start renting out server colocation space yourself.

[psydii]

Wireless needs to be a first class citizen. With coverage to support VOIP over Wifi across the entire building, and guarantee 5MBit/sec to 30 2x2 devices per classroom. Every space should be covered by at least one 2.4Ghz 20Mhz Channel and one 5Ghz 40Mhz Channel

Support captive portal for guests and student owned devices. RADIUS for everything else.

Any school wireless devices MUST be ac and at least 2x2:2 otherwise you will find wireless performance crippled.

 

 

1 GbE to desktop. Lots of Gigabit PoE for phones, Wireless APs, door access control and possible CCTV.

 

Classrooms should have 4 Sockets at the teaching position, two at high level for projector and streaming device and 2 for wireless.

It is prudent for AP locations to have two sockets as the top end WAPs generally require a lot of power.

 

PC Suites should be U shaped with standard class desks in the middle. (assuming PC Suites are wanted), and have 36 sockets available round the room plus the standard classroom provision.

 

All non-student desk positions should have 3 network sockets and 2.5 double-gang power sockets.

 

Each Cab should have at least 2x PoE switches. For general classrooms it is safe to assume that initially only 50% of sockets will be populates. Similary for Admin offices. IT Suites are likely to be fully populated. An estimate of 1 live switch port per member of the school is about right.

 

10GbE OM3 Fiber from every cab back to the core (ideally 2 x 10GBe with load balancing)

 

 

 

Core network should be configured for IPv6 and v4. Windows infrastructure should be similarly configured. Printers etc should have any services not being used switched off, and their IPv6 interfaces correctly configured.

 

Consider not having departmental printers and instead have strategically place Riso with PaperCut.

 

 

All kit should come with 5 year warranties. Networking Kit preferably lifetime.

 

Make sure you can get support for any technology from multiple sources, in case the relationship with the initial provider breaks down. Always take the manufacture's support contract with software/firmware updates - stuff NEVER works right and you want to be able to fix it as quickly as possible.

 

Projector or fancy TV? - To get decent image size and resolution Display panels are very expensive, consider TCO of a Display Screen vs a high end interactive (or not) projector with a 5 year warranty (or two).

 

Office 365 seems a pretty simple call, unless you really want to go down the Google route - this is very much where understanding the Head's Vision for the school and the expectations on the service matter. (the rest of the above is the same no matter what the vision is)

 

 

Build a year 2-10 budget for maintaining a steady-state service (i.e. be able to replace kit as it fails, planned replacement of IWB/Projectors/Printers/End User devices etc, and ensure firmware/ OS updates, AND keeping your skills and those of your team relevant)

[visioN]

Random question with VOIP - do people generally VLAN the phones?

[pantscat]

Random question with VOIP - do people generally VLAN the phones?

 

Yep and QoS...

[Soulfish]

Dear all,

 

I have been asked to draw up a new ICT Plan for a secondary school that doesn't exist!! I have a pretty good idea with which route I want to go down such as Thin Clients, Citrix, VOIP, Management Cluster & VDI Cluster. Could any of you suggest your thoughts or recommendations?

 

I'm guessing the builders will be installing all the cabling back to the server room. but any of your thoughts will be appreciated.

 

Regards

Matt

 

I did exactly this 4 years ago, taking a new school from building site to full operation/business as usual. Was great fun, and I learnt alot (in particular about building sites ). One thing I would say is don't assume anything. Make sure you have network sockets everywhere - it's much cheaper to have them put in as part of the build. Make sure your thinking about future proofing the building, running network cables to all doors, possible proximity card reader locations, anywhere you might want to mount a speaker/phone/tv/wireless AP/CCTV camera, network sockets for every device in the school gym etc. And don't forget about provision for external network points .

 

Also ensure that your involved in ensuring you have network comms rooms in sensible locations. In the school I worked in we had comms room for every half floor (building was 4 stories) which air con, UPS, raised flooring (wonderful stuff) and 2 42U racks. The main server room was connected to the IT technician/workroom office and had space for 8 racks + redundant professional server room AC + 3-phase 40kva UPS. It's useful to have multiple fibre routes from each comms cabinet location back to the central server room - we had 32 cores between each comms room and the main server room split over two separate routes through the building. It's also useful to have at least 5 Cat6 cables run from each comms room (in a separate patch panel) back to the main server room - it's surprising how useful they are for routing things that aren't IP based.

 

I'd also say that while VDI/Thin Clients are good don't base everything around them - it's good to have a mix of physical and virtual .

 

Any questions just ask - I've still got all the plans and documentation around here somewhere

[MattGibson]

Just wanted to say a really big thank you to you all, for the feedback and suggestions.

 

Yes, it's an exciting position to be in. We're looking to build the school ourselves e.g. The Academy Trust pending government approval.

 

As you suggested I do need the vision of the non-existent SLT but at least I can make a start on a writeup.

 

Please keep your suggestions coming in!!!

[dhicks]

Master Dedicated server room, securely built, brick walls, no windows, secure door access, preferably with all network cabling cabling coming back to here as cat6, rack cabs installed and ready, multiphase power delivered via a 32amp 240v plug per phase into separate PDU and separate UPS’s per phase, and redundant air con installed.

 

How much power does a full rack of modern server equipment actually draw these days? Our UPS went bang (complete with smoke and everything) this morning, so I've just been on the phone to sort that out. It turns out our UPS is meant to have a 50A supply, but it's connectd to a 16A supply (that doesn't explain why it went bang, though, as if it had drawn too much power it would simply have tripped the circuit breaker). I'm currently trying to sort out a couple of replacement 16A UPSes, but it made me think - is 50A what you actually need for a rack full of equipment, or is that overkill?

 

We've also just had a discussion about whole-building UPS systems, which might be worth looking at if yu're building a new school. Instead of just a stand-alone UPS for the servers, have a battery or generator-backed circuit that powers strategic places around the school (servers, switch cabinets, admin PCs, wireless access points, phone system) in case of a poer outage. Seemingly there are large battery systems available, or you could go for a generator.

[nicholab]

One problem is with a new build all you end user kit will need to be replaced at one time. Also you to ask what can we afford to run you could build the mega stuff and it get left to be run down and not replaced.

 

Might be worth coming up with a Bronze, Silver and Gold option in your plan.

Edited July 7, 2014 by nicholab