ful56_uk Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 Evening all So as a growing academy how do you deal with sims at different sites. So at moment we have sims servers at both secondary's schools with remote apps so HR & Payroll can access either site. Now we are getting more schools joining the mat I am thinking is this the best way?? We have a primary with sims and no remote access at the moment so it's something I'm going to need to look at. Cheers Mark
FN-GM Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 Evening all So as a growing academy how do you deal with sims at different sites. So at moment we have sims servers at both secondary's schools with remote apps so HR & Payroll can access either site. Now we are getting more schools joining the mat I am thinking is this the best way?? We have a primary with sims and no remote access at the moment so it's something I'm going to need to look at. Cheers Mark Separate SIMS instances. However we had modified the connect.ini file so it includes a dropdown box. This is so the user can select what schools SIMS they access. No need for remote access etc.
ful56_uk Posted October 5, 2016 Author Posted October 5, 2016 Oh right sounds interesting mind telling me more? Do you have sims at each local site or central? How does the drive mapping work for sims for multiple sites? Mind sharing your connect.ini file with me please.
FN-GM Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 Oh right sounds interesting mind telling me more? Do you have sims at each local site or central? How does the drive mapping work for sims for multiple sites? Mind sharing your connect.ini file with me please. A mix of central and local! All going central though. We don't map the SIMS drive. Haven't for years. Connect.ini file below. You need need full modify rights for your users on the file for it to work. The first server is the one that it will default to. We have the local site SIMS as default. This example is the connection.ini for Academy 1 [sIMSConnection] ServerName=simssevrer1\sims2012 DatabaseName=sims ServerType=SIMSSQL CommandTimeout=5000000 DatabaseMode=OnLine ConnectionType=TRUSTED [sIMSDatabases] FriendlyName0=Academy Server0=simssevrer2\SIMS2012 DatabaseName0=sims DatabaseMode0=OnLine FriendlyName1=Wardle Academy Server1=simssevrer1\SIMS2012 DatabaseName1=sims DatabaseMode1=OnLine [sIMSOffline] PreviousRedirect= PreviousServerName=simssevrer1\SIMS2012 PreviousDatabaseName=sims PreviousDatabaseMode=OnLine 2
ful56_uk Posted October 5, 2016 Author Posted October 5, 2016 Thanks for the info. Do you link sims users to there ad accounts? Do you run fms if so do you set it up like above? What do you do with the docserver from sims how's that setup. How many central sims servers are you running? What sort of spec is the server. Sorry for all the questions.
ful56_uk Posted October 5, 2016 Author Posted October 5, 2016 Sorry also how does solus handle the upgrades and deployments?
FN-GM Posted October 5, 2016 Posted October 5, 2016 Thanks for the info. Do you link sims users to there ad accounts? We do Do you run fms if so do you set it up like above? What do you do with the docserver from sims how's that setup. We don't use FMS How many central sims servers are you running? What sort of spec is the server. Just a couple at the moment. Sorry for all the questions. Not a problem Sorry also how does solus handle the upgrades and deployments? The same way as a standalone SIMS. Each install has its own Solus. We upgrade all sites at the same time to ensure the above solution works. 1
RootsSchImp Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Interesting, can you run MAT wide reports and look at assessments from different schools side by side?
FN-GM Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Interesting, can you run MAT wide reports and look at assessments from different schools side by side? Not really no as they are separate SIMS instances
RootsSchImp Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Not really no as they are separate SIMS instances Is this functionality on the way @PhilNeal?
PhilNeal Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Partnership Exchange isn't really for group wide reporting. We have just begun a pilot of SchoolView which streams data from separate instances of SIMS into a reporting warehouse to allow comparisons of key data.
matt40k Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Interesting, can you run MAT wide reports and look at assessments from different schools side by side? Have a look at Assembly
ful56_uk Posted October 6, 2016 Author Posted October 6, 2016 A mix of central and local! All going central though. We don't map the SIMS drive. Haven't for years. Connect.ini file below. You need need full modify rights for your users on the file for it to work. The first server is the one that it will default to. We have the local site SIMS as default. This example is the connection.ini for Academy 1 [sIMSConnection] ServerName=simssevrer1\sims2012 DatabaseName=sims ServerType=SIMSSQL CommandTimeout=5000000 DatabaseMode=OnLine ConnectionType=TRUSTED [sIMSDatabases] FriendlyName0=Academy Server0=simssevrer2\SIMS2012 DatabaseName0=sims DatabaseMode0=OnLine FriendlyName1=Wardle Academy Server1=simssevrer1\SIMS2012 DatabaseName1=sims DatabaseMode1=OnLine [sIMSOffline] PreviousRedirect= PreviousServerName=simssevrer1\SIMS2012 PreviousDatabaseName=sims PreviousDatabaseMode=OnLine I have just tried that at my site works really well thanks for this info. All i need to do know is find away of doing something with FMS
Foresthippy Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 You can use FMS Database Selector for FMS. 1
matt40k Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Its called FDS (Finance Database Selector) - if its more then two FMS databases then you'll need to buy a license. It has a few quirks but it works. 1
FN-GM Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 I have just tried that at my site works really well thanks for this info. All i need to do know is find away of doing something with FMS You could use a shortcut that links to a batch file that modifies the .ini file?
matt40k Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Unless you want FMS accidentally sync with the wrong SIMS database and getting a bill from Capita for fixing it. No, no you can't.
ful56_uk Posted October 6, 2016 Author Posted October 6, 2016 I have the FDS working can access both fms.
Michael Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 I think the issue with SIMS is it's legacy - it was never designed to work across a WAN, hence why browser based MIS systems are becoming more common and more popular; plus to prove a point Capita themselves are making a browser based product as they also realise the full fat version of SIMS isn't the future. As to what you should do if you're a growing MAT now? You should research for browser based MIS systems and get all parties concerned to agree to a new system. It will function better, lower costs (one less physical server or VM per site) and no SQL licensing to worry about - it really is a no brainer in the context of MIS systems.
Michael Posted October 6, 2016 Posted October 6, 2016 Other considerations are no server or end user upgrades, no specific requirements, just a browser and an internet connection. Also consider in future the likes of Group Census's - being able to submit the Census for a group of schools in one go; it'll inevitably happen with a browser based MIS solution. It won't happen with a localised, standalone instance(s). That's just one example, but I am sure there are lots of others where the same applies.
Bromcom_Jay Posted October 11, 2016 Posted October 11, 2016 (edited) We have actually just completed the first automated online census with a MAT and are looking at 10 schools with all the information online and in one place, so integrated reports and side by side comparison is easier. Edited October 11, 2016 by vikpaw Promotion
CAM Posted October 11, 2016 Posted October 11, 2016 (edited) We have actually just completed the first automated online census with a MAT and are looking at 10 schools with all the information online and in one place, so integrated reports and side by side comparison is easier. Is that the October one? Doesn't each school have a data manager or are they all piping data to one person at the MAT to check? Edited October 11, 2016 by vikpaw
localzuk Posted October 11, 2016 Posted October 11, 2016 Is that the October one? Doesn't each school have a data manager or are they all piping data to one person at the MAT to check? Overall performance should be checked at MAT level. Assessment and progress stuff are the responsibility of our CEO here, so all the data is collated by one person in the MAT. Each school still does their own data stuff though. The main issue is that it currently requires liaising with multiple people to get data out of multiple MIS systems. We're working on our WAN at the moment, so as to make it so a single person can log in to all the SIMS databases from anywhere in the Trust but it'll take a bit of time to implement.
Esteban_Child_of_the_Sun Posted October 12, 2016 Posted October 12, 2016 If all schools use SIMS then you can use something like TeamViewer to create a VPN connection from a workstation to each SIMS server and run multiple copies of SIMS on the same workstation (multi connect.ini witht he TeamViewer IP address in place of the server name), 1 for each school (pulsar.exe /MULTIINSTANCE). That way you can just tab between them. One advantage of TeamViewer is you can try it free to check it works before buying it but I'm sure there are other products out there that can do the same, TeamViewer is just the one we use.
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