Honest CC4 Feedback?

[Theblacksheep]

Yes RMMC in cc4 has had its issues latest version i have seems to be lot better than it was.

 

Are you on 28?

or has 29 been released?

[russdev]

Are you on 28?

or has 29 been released?

 

28 at moment as 28 is not fully released yet.

 

Russ

[s69]

If some systems try to boot on USB but fail, try changing the USB speed in the BIOS to 'Full Speed' which is slower than High speed (!!!). This sometimes works but of course is slower.

[mburland]

They key with building from USB is that your BIOS detects the USB as a HDD and not a FDD. Our older (RM!) machines can only detect and boot from USB FDDs and not HDD therefore we were stuffed and had to open up each machine and plug in CD drives (booting from USB CD not an option either).

[s69]

They key with building from USB is that your BIOS detects the USB as a HDD and not a FDD. Our older (RM!) machines can only detect and boot from USB FDDs and not HDD therefore we were stuffed and had to open up each machine and plug in CD drives (booting from USB CD not an option either).

 

I understand RM are working on this. If you can boot it with a USB key to DOS and as a large drive (not a 1.44MB!), then you will be able to use that to install the CC4 files onto the hard disk. Then the PC can boot from the hard disk to WinPE. So if you have a USB key that will boot to DOS (eg USB-ZIP) it will work. However, it will take about 10 minutes to do it with the key left in, but you should only need to do it once per system.

 

For some systems - e.g. MX46's, the *only* key that I can get to boot to DOS are the RM MiniSafe Pro 512MBs formatted as USB-ZIP (the 1GB ones I have do not work!).

 

If you are desperate, ask RM if you can be a trial site.

 

 

 

HTH

[Robbo123]

Totally honestly, I don’t like the way the ‘4’ logo is on top of the vista wallpaper all the time…

[mburland]

Honestly?

 

The support staff are excellent.

 

Unfortunately, the product is FUBAR. To put it bluntly.

[MNHughes]

Makes me glad im running vanilla to be honest reading that lot.

 

 

Just out of interest what deployment method do you have in place?

 

e.g. Ghost imaging, Microsoft RIS, Acronis *Cough* snap deploy?

[jamesfed]

Our CC4 experience has been far from perfect, the upgrade (from CC3) was performed by a RM Tech with little or no experience in CC4 which ultimately meant delays in it being installed successfully.

While the RMMC has been upgraded to give it a new 'look and feel' the only real change has been in the addition of creating custom build disks (which can now be done through PXE) and in the use of 'filter lists' which act as a kind of search.

Performance has been degraded dramatically and we have had to replace many of our old notebook PCs because they simply could not run CC4s additional software.

Stability has been a big issue as well with the RMMC crashing regularly as well as security services on the client PCs causing them to reboot.

Other server issues have caused the printers to fail on occasion as well as even the simple ability to change users passwords/disk space allocation.

 

Personally CC4 is the Vista of RM so stick with CC3 for as long as it’s reasonable and hope that the bugs have been sorted out when you do switch.

[jsnetman]

And you guys actually pay 90 quid per machine for all this hassle. Glad I went vanilla!

[webman]

All the additional time and hassle of writing scripts and creating GPOs and messing with ADM templates and buying a mish-mash of third-party software and trying to get WDS to work to run a vanilla network? Glad we're going CC4!

 

Edited December 4, 2009 by webman

[jsnetman]

Everything you mention is running just fine here, I suppose it depends on the NM.

[jamesfed]

And you guys actually pay 90 quid per machine for all this hassle. Glad I went vanilla!

 

To right with that! Expecily considering its £90 for a Server 03 licence + the RM gubbins

[MNHughes]

And you guys actually pay 90 quid per machine for all this hassle. Glad I went vanilla!

 

What method of deployment do you use?

[jsnetman]

What method of deployment do you use

 

Active Directory

[MNHughes]

We've had problems with RIS in the past and have now moved to Acronis Snap Deploy which is a whole new world of pain.

 

We're now looking into Ghost has anyone had any success with this, sorry I'm hijacking the post.

[Edu-IT]

Everything you mention is running just fine here, I suppose it depends on the NM.

To be fair, I would considor webman and bossman, I beleive, to know a fair bit and enough to setup their own Vanilla network.

[jsnetman]

Ah thought you meant software deployment. For image deployment we use WDS, I must admit it's a pain to setup but once functioning it's no bother and a dream to use. We used to use ghost but could not justify spending 10 quid a machine to keep it going when WDS is free. I think with any deployment method there are hurdles to cross, but far better to jump over free ones. Edited December 4, 2009 by jsnetman

[Edu-IT]

I also think your role has something to do with it. Do the school have the money and hours you need to manage a Vanilla network? Are they willing to let you have them etc.

[jsnetman]

I am purely network management, meaning I don't get roped into class support or any other type of duties, I have a technician that deals with all the minor issues like printers not functioning and PC problems.

[Edu-IT]

I am purely network management, meaning I don't get roped into class support or any other type of duties, I have a technician that deals with all the minor issues like printers not functioning and PC problems.

You're lucky then. Some of us get roped in to deal with anything that needs plugging in. If that's the case you have 40+ hours a week to manage your Vanilla network, I imagine.

[jsnetman]

You're lucky then.

 

yes correct. there was a time years ago that I was involved with all sorts of activities that were'nt really related to my job. When I argued for the move from RM in 2003 I insisted that my role must become network management only. The management agreed after seeing what they would save over a 3 year period staying with RM.

[bossman]

@jsnetman:

 

How much did you save overall going vanilla as you would still have to buy client licenses and server upgrade licenses plus hardware?

 

Don't know how big your organisation is but if we were to go vanilla it would mean taking on at least an extra member of staff who would have to be either trained or have the experience, more cost and more time.

 

All the extra's involved WSUS, RIS, WDS etc etc and the constant scripting which takes up time at a cost.

 

When you add up all these extra costs you could have upgraded or built a new CC4 platform for just the upgrade costs and managed it as you did the CC3.

 

I feel CC3 as a platform has proved it's weight in gold for us as an upwardly mobile school helping us achieve through various means of communication a very high spot in not only the LA's eye's but also in the community.

 

We came from being a low achieving school probably the worst in the county at the time to one which is now ranked 4th in the County and in the top 2% of the country, I truly believe our CC3 network has helped the school through all the communication services we have been able to incorperate into our IT busness systems.

 

Now as we move to CC4 it has cost us very little and as we already have our infrastructure in place will not cause us too much fuss by way of migration.

 

P.S. I do like vanilla systems and I am microsoft accredited but it is what I felt the school and the students wanted so here we are and it has proved to be a success story for us.

 

[Edu-IT]

Interesting bossman. I do think sometimes schools who take the RM route are seen to be 'less able' and this isn't always the case, people need to understand that. At the end of the day we're all here to do the best for the schools we work at and if that means RM, or whatever other company, then so be it.

[jsnetman]

Our exam result keep getting better every year, I would not put this down to how well the network runs rather the teaching and senior management contribution. Of course a we ll run network with few client machine issues will assist in this process. I can't see how having RM connect improves exam results but probably contributes to the teaching process as does a smooth running vanilla network. Edited December 5, 2009 by jsnetman