So, how's your Summer going

[FragglePete]

We're at about the half way point now; how's your preperation for September coming along?

 

So far, my network infrastructure upgrades are still going on, 2 weeks late, but end in sight on Thursday then I can move the servers to their new home. Won't use that contractor again.

 

New server for CSE.NET in place and working well, roll out to the School going well although slow as I'm checking each one by one in an attempt to sort out our AD once and for all and get rid of all the orphaned objects.

 

Installation of various AV in 9 classrooms going very well, definately use that contractor again!

 

Air Conditioning installation in 4 ICT suites going extremely well also, again another contrator we will use again in the future!

 

Haven't even looked at tweaking WiFi yet or set up the 7 x Asus EEE-PC's ready for Electronic Registration. Got a working test unit all prepared with SIMS, just need to image that.

 

Not panicing just yet! Can only get a chance to look on here in the evenings at home as spending no time at my desk!

 

Pete

[maniac]

Well so far;

 

We've completed re-imaging of all our laptops (340 or so machines) just got to replace the power cords on some of the cabinets where they've been badly pulled, and PAT test them all and they can go into their respective classrooms. Network infrastructure improvements have gone well, contractor took exactly the length of time they quoted for, and did a few other odd jobs for me while they were on site, which was good of them!

 

CCTV improvements also complete. New staff laptop image created, and new GPOs written and tested for staff machines (which took me longer than expected.)

 

I've also setup an ICT helpdesk system, some new library software which is web accessible all over the site and is very good, you'd hardly know it's web based it runs that well! I've also established a staff and student intranet to give a good starting point for internet use, built all our new office furniture , currently setting up 2 new workstations for video editing use in IT.

 

I've also renamed most of our student accounts to make the naming convention more consistant, archived all the old YR11 work and removed the accounts, done some housekeeping on the servers, moved student home areas around a bit to make better use of our server space etc.

 

Still to go:

• New SIMS server has arrived and is being installed by the LEA next week
  
• Gonna have some fun with printers getting them all where they need to be
  
• Couple of small cabling jobs to be done
  
• Desktop PCs to be setup in English once the premises team have built the worktop for it.
  
• Couple of bits of new software that arrived on my desk last week, would have been nice to have had them before the holidays!
  
• Revise our backup procedures as it's overly complecated at the moment!
  
• Clear out and tidy up our store room
  
• Turn the old SIMS server into a WSUS server (or something else equally as useful)
  
• Lots of other little jobs!
  

 

Mike.

[SteveB_NI]

Well, I'm just back after just over 2 weeks holiday, so playing catch up at the mo. Got a good bit of my list done in July (and also had a full week off then too!) so it's not too bad.

 

Progress has been hindered though due to cleaners stripping + re-varnishing floors in the labs + classrooms

 

So far got the following done:

• 2 laptop trolleys + contents checked, cleaned, profiles deleted, images created + restored as appropriate
  
• Old computers removed from areas throughout the school & stockpiled for disposal
  
• Wireless access points located throughout school to reduce need to connect laptop trolleys in certain classrooms
  
• Additional 40 laptops set up & fully updated & awaiting allocation into laptop trolleys
  
• Technology department computers (inc. croc. clips & pro. desktop etc) set up & printers allocated
  
• Web design work started for a partner primary school
  

 

Still got to finish up sorting out laptop trolleys etc before I start on my fun project... setting up a technician support system for myself including inventory management (got the barcode scanner etc ready for go!) and an ordering system for toners + other consumables. Want to teach myself some more Flash + PHP as well.

 

Teachers in this week for A-level results day too :censored: lol!

[Oops_my_bad]

No end in sight, teachers have already started coming in asking for this that and the other and I've already got one complaining she broke the screen on her laptop :mad: stupid c*w

[Gatt]

No end in sight for me either..

 

• Out of about 8 ICT Suites I have 3 that work!
  
• 3 of the 5 main ICT Suites are inaccessibly as all the benching, etc have been removed to allow the old carpets to be repalced.. this was done the day after the kids broke up (25th July!) and are still in that state today..
  
• I have imaged a grand total of... 60 PCs! out of approx 160!..
  
• It takes about 3 days to paint, lay carpet (lift, screed, tackify and lay) and to get the benching back in...
  
• So by a week thursday they will prob be done... which is also results day! and I go on holiday that day at 12PM for 2 weeks!
  
• On top of that I got threatened with an "Official Warning" due to some b*t*h thinking i was leaving early and starting late (this from the one who swans in at 9am then buggers off at 2pm on a regular basis!)
  
• I still have servers to build - 3 of which i cant cos of furniture blocking my access!
  
• I have had to move almost all Admin staff! on my own - after site management ripped the PCs out and dumped them in a tangled pile!
  
• I have not been givien a list of the new Year 7's so cant add them to AD yet
  
• I need to create - Profiles, Home Drives, Pupil Intranet, Terminal Server for new ICT suite..
  

 

School re-opens on teh 3rd of september - and im off that week - my tech is in Mexico..

 

Chances of having a workng IT system by then....

 

Who's gonna get the blame?

[Oops_my_bad]

I can fully sympathise with you

 

We have a right bunch of c*w's for cleaners - it's been impossible to get anywhere because they're constantly stripping the floors with polish stripper and god knows what else, without leaving alternative access routes!

 

Same story every summer.. every holiday even! :mad:

 

Year 7's havent been accepted onto SIMS yet so I cant create accounts etc.. no doubt that will get done first day back along with the other hundreds of jobs that will no doubt need doing

 

If I was you keep a record of the times she is coming and going, and also the work you do at home in the evenings etc that you should be getting overtime for.. we can all be just as petty when we want to be

 

Jeez maybe I should've posted in FFS

[dave.81]

None whats so ever of any end, or even the middle. We rent our campus out to french students for the full 8 weeks of the summer so out of the 6 weeks i'm working i spend most of that being nurse maid to them. One of the biggest problems is them using the classrooms i need to be in working, this means only have 3 hours a day to get around them to work.

[Gatt]

I used to do a fair bit at home but stopped that now as I was getting no thanks when asked about the OT was, effectively, told no!

 

As for the member of staff (who happens to be part of SMT) I will be keeping an eye on this... They claim to regularly do 40hrs plus at work - as justification for their late/early finishes - yet my work at home doesn't count for anything ???

 

Just had a walk around with the head hilighting my concerns of the ICT Suites and he didnt seem impressed himself.. I have 1 week to get things ready - I dont see it as its going to be at least that to get the rooms into a state where I can go in to setup the PCs and image them

 

Looks like my tech is going to have a long list of jobs - and that I'll get the blame for it all..

 

Oh and they wont give me any more Techs..

 

**but will build a "Board Room" with kitchen, en-suite shower, plush leather chairs... **

[SteveB_NI]

None whats so ever of any end, or even the middle. We rent our campus out to french students for the full 8 weeks of the summer so out of the 6 weeks i'm working i spend most of that being nurse maid to them. One of the biggest problems is them using the classrooms i need to be in working, this means only have 3 hours a day to get around them to work.

 

That would drive me completely mad. I HATE being restricted from areas of the school during 1 of the few times I actually get a chance to sort out things.

[Gatt]

My main issue with whats being done here was not being consulted first!#

That way I could have arranged for me to go in first and image the PCs, label them and disconnect them, let everyone in to decorate - least then all that would have been needed was for us to go back and reconnect everything!

 

But.. No... they didnt.. so come Sept 3rd.. half the kids IT Systems (and suites) wont work!

[martynbez]

well lets get you up to date!

 

we had new L3 cisco switch's installed which ment that all the other cisco switch had to be re-config (around 20 around the school)

 

222 new dell's to install

 

170 new network points (they have just started)

 

New patch room!

 

So all going well! lol

[Jake]

We've completed most of our bigger jobs, just got some smaller stuff left to do. Stacks and stacks of time left to do it, so large portions of time at the moment are used by simply sitting around doing nothing. Which is handy as I am finding that I have ALOT less enthusiasm or desire to do anything this summer for some reason.

 

Maybe its boredom, maybe its the belief that anything done wont be appreciated anyway, maybe its because they will probably break or not use at all anything we've implemented, maybe its the shadow of BSF. Not really sure, but finding that I am not really giving a toss this year

[russdev]

We've completed most of our bigger jobs, just got some smaller stuff left to do. Stacks and stacks of time left to do it, so large portions of time at the moment are used by simply sitting around doing nothing. Which is handy as I am finding that I have ALOT less enthusiasm or desire to do anything this summer for some reason.

 

Maybe its boredom, maybe its the belief that anything done wont be appreciated anyway, maybe its because they will probably break or not use at all anything we've implemented, maybe its the shadow of BSF. Not really sure, but finding that I am not really giving a toss this year

 

Don't ask two weeks left and lots of things left to...

 

Russ

[richard.thomas]

Our imaging is coming along nicely now. Still got a few rooms tho!

One ICT room we cant access as asbestos has been found in there (oops!)!

We're waiting on loads of VGA cables to complete the machines that we've installed in every teaching room (~50!).

We still have a suite of iDesks to sort out (if anyone has any im sure they understand why thats an issue ).

We've still got some laptops that need collecting by new staff- but they're ready to be collected so not too much of a biggy.

I've still got to write up bits of documentation as I leave at the end of August.

 

So i reckon we have 7 rooms left to image/repair and 6 rooms that have <10 machines in. Also need to update audits

[wizzard]

Spent most of the summer in an office admin job, still trying to break into IT properly and now I'm unemployed, short term agency contracts are a right royal pain

[kesomir]

Done some of the hard stuff like the dancing and Cinema room, MLS Invoice PDF output and automatic saving so the Michaelmas invoices could be generated, timetabling for the coming year, alterations to synopses of work etc, but too much left!

 

Got a new lab, rack and server(s) order to pick quotes on, make, receive and finally install. Two new networks to build on two other sites, Broadband upgrade for here and new orders for the remote sites. Migration of current network & domain onto the new hardware when it arrives so that the old hardware can be re-deployed to the remote sites.

 

New science lab has been pushed back and work prob won't start until september.

 

Swap machines in labs 1 and 2, deploy lab 1 machines around classrooms, deploy new machines in lab 2.

 

Meet with the lighting and electricians to cover the spec for the stage lighting.

 

Currently working on the MLS - completed the modifications needed to get the invoices out, upgraded all the userdata sections, but I've got to get the testing system upgraded and operational for 2nd week back, teacher lesson planning module done ASAP, all the new accounts setup plus sorting out the Moodle users and documenting user guides.

 

Biggest pain is data entry into the MLS database (mySQL queries) for things like the learning objectives -> 639 of them just for KS1-2 Science.

 

Still, that's a lot better than the poor chap writing the questions for the tests - that's a killer, especially after about the 5th question on each.

 

Need more coffee.

 

On the bright side, my chroma key curtain, stand and lights turned up yesterday so I can play with funky effects for VLE videos.

 

In september

[beeswax]

This is not so much what we have to do, and what we have achieved so far, as what you do with contractors who say they'll turn up at 09:30am Monday, but in fact don't show their faces until midday Wednesday. Our NM works himself really hard coordinating and organizing all this, phone calls, emails, face to face. What do you do when people don't turn up when they say they will? Have you any sanctions? Do you tie them in to a contract (with penalties) which stipulates certain factors such as when they turn up etc?

[Gatt]

Well fingers crossed I can get into some of my IT Suites tomorrow

If I can pin down the caretaker to get the furniture back in...

Pity im on a half day (Suit fitting for wedding - super B*tch wouldn't let me out an hour early to go ) cos could have them imaged by 4pm!!

[leco]

Know that feeling, Beeswax. Our decorators said they would be finished in two or three weeks at the most. Four men on the outside and four on the inside. At most there were only ever three "Oh he didn't turn in today." or "He's got food poisoning" This on a Monday - strange how he arrived fit and well on Tuesday. They started the last week of term and still haven't finished (and they keep missing bits).

[maniac]

This is not so much what we have to do, and what we have achieved so far, as what you do with contractors who say they'll turn up at 09:30am Monday, but in fact don't show their faces until midday Wednesday. Our NM works himself really hard coordinating and organizing all this, phone calls, emails, face to face. What do you do when people don't turn up when they say they will? Have you any sanctions? Do you tie them in to a contract (with penalties) which stipulates certain factors such as when they turn up etc?

 

I'd be straight on the phone to my rep, and if they failed to turn up at any point on the first day I'd cancel the order and go elsewhere. It's amazing how other companies can pull something out the bag when they know they're stealing business from another company! Did exactly that at my school when I first started, the company was taking an age just to quote for a job we needed doing, so I went elsewhere for a quote in the end, even thou the school had a long standing relationship with this company. I got an engineer visit the same day, quote was e-mailed to me the next day, and the work was booked in to be done the week after, I now use that contractor for all my cabling work as they are reliable and do a good job! Other company lost out because they were sloppy. Remember when booking contractors, you are effectively the boss, they are working for you, if you're not happy then you can put your business elsewhere.

 

Mike.

Edited August 13, 2008 by maniac

[Ric_]

Right... where to start:

• [Most of] my new servers turned up on the first day of the holidays - 2 days late but not complaining because ALL my summer work revolves around the virtualising of the majority of my existing servers
  
• No SAS HBAs and incorrect part numbers on two boxes leaves me 2 processors (out of 4) for each server down and the inability to plug in the hard disks
  
• Spin forward a week - still no HBAs, etc. - 40 monitors arrive so I and my apprentice unpack 28 monitors and PCs for a new IT suite, make patch cables and configure all the terminals (admittedly this bit took 5 mins)
  
• Apprentice spends the rest of his time doing auditing - I'm a nice boss
  
• Still no HBAs, etc. so a bit more tootling shuffling PCs around painters (who have still to put the blinds back up so that I can re-isntall the terminals under the 4(!) windows and there's a room I can't even get back into yet to put the PCs back!
  
• Eventually my HBAs turn up - covered in stickers saying that they should be held at the depot until the 5th August despite arriving there on 27th July (fuming? this is a whole other story and this is neither the time or the place)
  
• Get one of my new servers into the rack (minus half the processors and RAM - so currently only 8 cores and 16GB RAM ) and start to make some virtual machines
  
• Still making virtual machines, with sporadic periods of shouting at the distributor (who will remain nameless for now) who has still not swapped these incorrectly delivered parts
  

 

Anyway, the upshot of all this is that I am approx. 3 weeks behind schedule.

 

My thanks go to Westwood Associates who have kept me very informed about the lack of work done by a certain nameless Sun distributor - not buck passing as you may think... I'm now shouting directly at the distributor too! The story of this shall be told once a resolution has been reached!

[dezt]

i've got a major problem, no power for the first 3 weeks of the holidays, which means that i've been able to do nothing. The power should be back on next week, i hope, i have 36 PC's to install and get working, and i've only got 2 weeks to do it all as i'm moving house in the last week of the holidays.

 

Not to mention the laptop trolley i need to get setup in the art room, and so far i don't have the wireless points to set them up, then there's the cabling to the wireless points I have to do.

 

So much to do and so little time, personally I don't think everything will be done as there is only me to do it all.

[Gatt]

Well thats one more ICT Suite ready to be imaged tomorrow morning..

• Tomorrow will be spent oving desks in the remaining suites and connecting up the PCs.. should be able to image them on monday...
  
• Tuesday and Wednesday will then be spent bug testing, reimaging and keeping an eye on sims ready for...
  
• Thursday - make sure all exam results get downloaded and reports can be run off..
  
• Thursday 12pm- Go Home..
  
• Friday - Get married
  
• Saturday - 2 weeks honeymoon in a remote part of wales so no f*cker can bug me about work
  
• Come back to hell on september 8th...
  

[wizzard]

Well thats one more ICT Suite ready to be imaged tomorrow morning..

• Saturday - 2 weeks honeymoon in a remote part of wales so no f*cker can bug me about work
  

 

They will always find a way of contacting you, ever heard of pony express and pigeon post?

[googlemad]

Most of the new classroom machines have been pushed out, gonna get the juniors to do cable ties and good luck to them!

 

Staff machines ain't even had a chance to look at, although can probably push them out over a few Fridays in September when their cars have magically left the car park by 2pm

 

...Although the refurb staff machines have been pushed out nicely!

 

Still got some imaging to do, hopefully it will eliminate lots of problems!

 

Just don't mention Promissor...