Info Request - Pros for Merging Admin/Curric domains

[CHR1S]

As per title, I have been asked to provide proof that merging the two domains will not only be beneficial but also just as secure if not more than separate domains. I also need to put this in Head/Governor speak

 

So far I have -

 

• Better Redundancy
  
• Improved DFS
  
• Easier to manage
  
• Improved load management
  
• Frees up more PCs for Admin or Curric use
  
• Apps available everywhere
  

 

What else could be added?

 

Thanks

 

Chris

Edited May 14, 2010 by CHR1S

[witch]

We are merging ours because of the requirements for putting student data where parents can see it - on the VLE, which is on the Curriculum network. Currently it is on the Admin network and we can't get to it - ditto electronic registration etc

Probably doesnt help.

Our admin support comes from the LA and it isn't fast or effective, and I don't believe that updates etc are carried out properly - If the network is one, you can react more quickly to faults and get them sorted

[36Degrees]

Depends on your current set up. Before we did this we had problems with machines on Admin domain in staff room only being used at reporting times but curriculum machines being in short supply. Once we merged the domains we could use our infrastructure more efficiently and also use the ICT suites for staff training on any of the admin apps whenever we wanted.

[sparkeh]

We merged ours for a few reasons, among others:

-To allow teachers access to pupil data without having to bug the office all the time

-Allowing teachers to manage the assessment data for the pupils in their class = no more endless data entry for the office staff for returns to LA, up to date assessment info for SMT etc

-Electronic registration = immediate and accurate attendance info

 

In terms of security I believe our security is now better than before. In the past the admin machines were LA maintained peer to peer machines **removed as I probably shouldn't divulge this vulnerablilty, however** now access to admin docs is restricted to certain staff members. Access to the MIS is controlled by only giving start menu shortcut to staff members and responsible password security by the staff.

Edited May 14, 2010 by sparkeh
removing possible sensitive info

[CHR1S]

At the moment I have shares between the 2 domains for staff areas etc so there is already a large degree of convergence, I think just making it one for my sake is justification enough.

 

Keep them coming if you have more?

 

Thanks

[36Degrees]

In terms of security I believe our security is now better than before. In the past the admin machines were LA maintained

 

We also previously had the admin machines maintained by the LA and as I've mentioned before, any staff could install any software as well as browse to and subsequently view any person's documents including the Head Teacher's.

 

Access to the MIS is controlled by only giving start menu shortcut to staff members and responsible password security by the staff.

 

Same again here, plus we don't use the single sign-on option in SIMS in case the member of staff haven't logged off but have closed SIMS.

[Hightower]

When you say 'merged', do you mean a trust between the domains, or actually transfer the admin stuff onto your curriculum domain?

[5tu]

I once asked BECTA this question before we merged our networks. I got the following helpful response...

 

Our Functional Specification for Institutional Infrastructure specifies in section 2.2.2 ...

 

“Learners and educators shall be able to access appropriate curriculum resources and administration data from all computers in the institution and from all learning spaces within the institution”

 

In order for staff and students to access their personal data at all appropriate times, all computers need to be part of the institution’s network (whether connected via wires or wirelessly). In this way, staff or students can access any appropriate resource or data from any computer. It is highly recommended that an institution therefore combine the two functions on a single LAN.

 

There are many advantages to doing this; it reduces the burden of support; allows users to access the relevant part of the network from any terminal (in the process simplifying user access) and reduces the necessary spend on equipment.

[CHR1S]

When you say 'merged', do you mean a trust between the domains, or actually transfer the admin stuff onto your curriculum domain?

 

Ye transfer admin to curric domain.

[36Degrees]

Ye transfer admin to curric domain.

 

That reminds me - our admin domain also had a small range of IP addresses (126 from 25 bit SNM) and every device had a static IP but there was no record we were aware of that detailed which device had which IP address.

[Hightower]

Ye transfer admin to curric domain.

 

If that's the case, some of the things listed by others are already available if your admin is seperate yet trusted. Our admin network is joined to curric with a trust at the moment, which allows the curric network to use the MIS software. So we can do electronic marks, assessment and stuff already. If we moved it fully onto our curric we wouldn't gain any of those things as we already have them.

[Rydra]

I am looking to do this in the near future, largely so I can have central management of logins and access rights across the whole network.

 

We already have seperate VLANS's for admin and curriculum, which we will do again when I combine the two domains.

 

What does adding a trust in between 2 domains ADD, and what extra functions would be added by physically combining instead of adding the trust?