Out with Ranger, In with... What...?

[Fillwox]

Hey all,

 

Long time reader, first time poster, please go easy...

 

I've worked at my current school as one of 3 Techs for around 3 years now. We're making the move to Windows 10 on our Student network (we have two domains) and It's a massive job, but we're planning and planning and planning. Server Upgrade and Migration, 400 Workstation Redeployment to Win 10, GPO Reconfiguration etc all over the first week of the summer holidays.

 

One thing we're stuck on is a new network management solution. Currently we use the vastly outdated but still super great Ranger Remote Control and LANRanger. Unfortunately they aren't compatible with Windows Server 2016 & Windows 10 1803 (and for some reason RRC stops our AV from updating its definition) so we need to move onto something else.

 

I've been looking at all sorts of solutions, me and one other Tech went to BETT where we saw a great bunch, however it was all quite sales-y and we didn't get the most in-depth look at them. We've made a list of crucial and good-to-have points of what our current system gives us and I just can't find any one (or two) softwares that include it all. The exception is Impero, however we're a fairly rural public school and as such budget is tight... So far I've looked into Impero, NetSupport, Senso, ABTutor, GoverLAN, and LANSchool.

 

Here's what we're looking for in our network management -

 

- Remote Control + Workstation sorted into 'Room' categories

- Control of room by room of Workstations

- Disable Internet access per workstation on the fly

- Teacher Access (Cross Domain or Internet Browser UI)

- Restrict Maximum Logons Per User

- Title Checks (Auto-Close window based on partial/full title match from list of words)

- Run software/apps/scripts en masse per room on the fly

- Scheduled Workstation Power Off

- Workstation activity Logs (event logs)

 

We use PDQ Deploy and Inventory so that covers a lot of deployment and Wake on LAN etc. We have a few iPads so it'd be a plus If it was cross OS, but not essential... Some Storage Quota control would be nice but push comes to shove we can control that through Windows Server. We're using GPO to lock down a lot of things, so really it's that list above that we just need to be able to manage...

 

Sorry to pour all this on, there are just too many options and none of them seem to do everything we need!

 

Will

[Jcx500]

I Use BCX Network Management tools combined with Impero, they do most of that list above

[fiza]

We are in a similar position.

NetSupport DNA can do most of that except for the title check but I have raised that with @Al_NetSupport who has said it shouldnt be too difficult to implement in a future release. They recently introduced max concurrent logins into DNA.

The Ranger Remote Control is Netsupport School rebadged anyway so it should look and feel the same to teachers (newer UI as its been updated).

You also get Tech Console for technicians to connect to machines and provide remote support. We also use DNA to schedule power off in the evenings.

[Fillwox]

Those Title Checks are great for security and safeguarding, it's a shame it's missing or DNA would be perfect. I've installed both DNA and Tech Console onto a test server and it seems to be working pretty nicely, it works cross domain too which is sweet. I'm unsure as to weather DNA and Tech console come included together or If we'd technically have to buy two subscriptions...? The Browser interface would be so handy, the Impero one we got shown at BETT seemed like most of our Teachers here would be able to pick it up quickly and implement it with laptops or if they were using a PC Suite.

[Mattjones47]

We are in a similar position.

NetSupport DNA can do most of that except for the title check but I have raised that with @Al_NetSupport who has said it shouldnt be too difficult to implement in a future release. They recently introduced max concurrent logins into DNA.

The Ranger Remote Control is Netsupport School rebadged anyway so it should look and feel the same to teachers (newer UI as its been updated).

You also get Tech Console for technicians to connect to machines and provide remote support. We also use DNA to schedule power off in the evenings.

 

 

Hi @fiza @fillwox

NetSupport DNA can do all of those things apart from title checks which is coming soon (not 4.70 which is imminent but the next release should contain this) - we can create alerts for dialog titles, and we can meter application and Internet usage using different means - @fillwox - perhaps worth a quick phone call to understand better what you are trying to achieve

 

Matt (NetSupport)

Edited January 30, 2019 by Mattjones47

[fiza]

@Mattjones47 - That is good news. Do you know how title checks will work yet? Will it be similar to the way Ranger worked in that the agent scanned the title and if it was in the list of banned titles it instantly closed the application?

[Mattjones47]

@Mattjones47 - That is good news. Do you know how title checks will work yet? Will it be similar to the way Ranger worked in that the agent scanned the title and if it was in the list of banned titles it instantly closed the application?

@fiza we are still speccing out how this will be implemented (so now is a good time to provide your thoughts) - I would hope we will be able to block applications and also report and alert on them. email me your suggestions [email protected]

 

Matt

[fiza]

@fiza we are still speccing out how this will be implemented (so now is a good time to provide your thoughts) - I would hope we will be able to block applications and also report and alert on them. email me your suggestions [email protected]

 

Matt

 

Matt,

 

Will get my colleague to email you over what our suggestions are. Thanks

[ITBadger]

Have a look at Senso if you are looking for alternatives. It's cloud based, modular, and often cheaper than the alternatives. It was getting a lot of attention at Bett this year and works really well for us. If there is an aspect missing that you'd like then speak to the devs as they are constantly improving it.

[mavhc]

We should make a gsheet with things people want and which management systems do that, and how well, notes etc...

 

OK, made one https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pjC6NobfCNUHt2fA1o5IkXtii4duwUNC-066HHKL-0w/edit?usp=sharing

[LanSchoolUK_Adam]

We should make a gsheet with things people want and which management systems do that, and how well, notes etc...

 

OK, made one https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pjC6NobfCNUHt2fA1o5IkXtii4duwUNC-066HHKL-0w/edit?usp=sharing

 

Great idea - have added our details in. There's plenty of other fields that could be added here, so other people can add more and we'll try to keep up filling them in

 

Would be curious to know the general consensus on how important file access logging is to people.

 

We have never had it raised before, and with more files being cloud hosted (Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint etc) and read/write permissions controlled by admins.

[mavhc]

I'm just adding anything I can think of, there's 100s more rows to add really, join in everyone!

 

thanks for updating Adam, and I assume someone from Senso :-)

[jon-senso]

I'm just adding anything I can think of, there's 100s more rows to add really, join in everyone!

 

thanks for updating Adam, and I assume someone from Senso :-)

 

No-one from here yet, but i'll take a look

[Nimon]

Very much in a similar boat. Ranger has been a godsend for an undertrained solo tech and the lack of a like-for-like replacement is sad.