Academies Merging

[Gibson335]

We are on the brink of merging with another academy. The goal will be for a single, seamless network across two sites separated by probably a couple of miles; one of the existing networks integrating into the other; a single AD; a shared Broadband service. Has anyone on here been through a merge, and if so would you mind listing a few pitfalls/less obvious considerations. Obviously I've been going through it all myself, but the devil is in the detail and I want as little to fall through the cracks as possible when I put the project plan together.

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[featured_spectre]

First question, how do you intend on linking the sites?

[Gibson335]

Leased ethernet terminated circuit.

[FN-GM]

I have been through a merger identical to yours. What speed is the link?

 

Will you be wanting a server farm on each side?

[twin--turbo]

We are 3 schools merged to 2,

 

2 new builds 5 miles appart.

 

1Gb SHDS between the sites.

Internet and Telco breakout at main site.

 

One Domain,

Some staff and students move between sites

Follow me print, catering, Etc...

 

So more or less where your going.

 

Rob

[twin--turbo]

Who's doing the install?

 

 

Rob

[nicholab]

What about Ubiquiti airFiber 24 GHz Point-to-Point radio also this give you the opportunity to do DR fall over between sites. Edited December 10, 2012 by nicholab

[localzuk]

I didn't go through a merger as such, but I did work in a school which had 'merged' its networks with 3 other schools, so they became a single campus.

 

Some of the issues we had to deal with:-

 

Different expectations of how things are done. What you're used to in your school might not be what they're used to in theirs and visa-versa, so the change needs to be managed well in order to allow for an easy transition.

 

Flexibility is both a good thing and a problem. We had different needs in different schools on the network, meaning we ended up with over 150 active group policies (compared to about 10 in the school I'm in now). So, you need to draw lines in the sand early, to make sure you don't get it all up and running and then get inundated with complaints that $x is different or they can't do $y.

 

What are you going to be allowing across the connection between the schools? Is it going to be just AD and internet? Or are you going to be storing everything centrally? Obviously, the size of that line will be a major consideration.

 

What about continuity? Will both schools be able to continue as normal should a digger come along and dig its way through the line?

 

Licensing. Many site-licenses are just that, site-licensed. So, you may need to look at what you've got licensed and if you can use it across 2 sites or if you need another license etc...

[twin--turbo]

What about Ubiquiti airFiber 24 GHz Point-to-Point radio also this give you the opportunity to do DR fall over between sites.

 

I thought about doing that, but the link planner was not hopeful in our situation.

 

Rob

[Gibson335]

OK - so we currently have 100Mbps link, which we'll be looking to expand, size depending on where we end up storing everything - centrally or virtuals at each end...have considered the radio link and may still go down that route but initial survey wasn't promising...as for continuity, well that may come down to funding and how much redundancy we can build in...I have to say at this stage we are in very early talks, so none of this has been decided and I am trying to see it from all angles. Ideally I think we'd like to store centrally, but I'm aware of the bandwidth pull and the continuity, so we may end up with data stores at both ends. Concern centres around the practical rather than the technical, as the staff-related issues and the politics and sensitivities are not only beyond my control but also potential barriers to meeting deadlines.

[FN-GM]

If you want to store files at both ends i will would personally go down the route of DFS.

[twin--turbo]

We have a independant server room at each site. 1Gb but it hardly gets stretched.

 

Our backups run across the link so we have offsite backups that take place 3 times a day.

 

 

 

Is there 2 I.T. Teams?

 

We had to go from 3 to 1 , but the first two schools merged in 2k8 and the second merger was 2k11 .

 

You need to work together, we started 12 months before the 1st deadline and before anything formal was set up.

 

Rob

[Gibson335]

We have a independant server room at each site. 1Gb but it hardly gets stretched.

 

Our backups run across the link so we have offsite backups that take place 3 times a day.

 

 

 

Is there 2 I.T. Teams?

 

We had to go from 3 to 1 , but the first two schools merged in 2k8 and the second merger was 2k11 .

 

You need to work together, we started 12 months before the 1st deadline and before anything formal was set up.

 

Rob

 

There are 2 x support teams, and we're starting well ahead of time...we just need to set the ground rules for the development, and that may take longer than the actual work!! I think we're likely to end up with something similar, with a data store at each end...but ideally we'd want to work with a single AD.

[featured_spectre]

Have a federated AD and file structure. Allows for individual Active Directories and user areas at both sites, but they replicate at both ends should any children or staff switch location, they can still access their info

[FN-GM]

There are 2 x support teams, and we're starting well ahead of time...we just need to set the ground rules for the development, and that may take longer than the actual work!! I think we're likely to end up with something similar, with a data store at each end...but ideally we'd want to work with a single AD.

 

Looking at what you have i can't see any problems having a single AD.

[twin--turbo]

We managed to work very well together, even though we had Primarily Novell on one site and W2k3 on the other. Our interim solutions for our temporary site used many aspects of Novell whilst planning the full migration off to windows.

 

We had to go through procurement for our two builds and the interim solution. If we had the luxury of time we would have liked to have done much of it ourself, but due to the amount of money we were not allowed to do that.

 

Single AD is not a problem.

 

 

we have 2 offices, and cover support calls for both sites from either office so long as no physical presence is needed. It works well. Lots of advantages but both teams do need to work well and the management may seek some "Slimming" as time goes on. Our 3 schools had 8 staff in total, we are down to 4 covering the 2 new schools.

 

Rob

[localzuk]

I have to say - some of the design decisions will come down to politics normally. Depending just how 'merged' things are will indicate what you might end up with.

 

If they're 2 schools under one trust but are still lead individually, then a federated design may be the way you go - as it'll make the head at the other school still feel 'in control' of their end. If it is a full on 'we're basically one school now' merge, then a single domain may be dictated to you (i've seen this elsewhere where things were dictated based on how they want things to appear to staff).

[Gibson335]

I think staff will remain the same, but the roles are likely to change - mind you I am having to make assumptions at this stage, which is dangerous.

 

This is 'supposed' to be a full on merge, forming a single academy with a new name - and as such my ideal would be to treat it very much as a single academy that just happens to be split into two sites. However, a whole lot of politics and sensitivities to wade through like treacle if we're to end up there.

 

Many thanks for comments thus far.

[elsiegee40]

We're hitting a variation on this problem at the school where I'm a governor... the two schools involved are 20 miles apart.

[twin--turbo]

We're hitting a variation on this problem at the school where I'm a governor... the two schools involved are 20 miles apart.

 

Makes little odds, you can get a MPLS circuit that is as good as a full leased line.

 

Rob

[Gibson335]

For those who have been through the process - what did you do about user naming conventions? Did you change them all to meet one standard, did you keep them as they were, or did one standard get changed to reflect another?

[localzuk]

At my last school, everything was named under a single domain, and then devices were named according to location or purpose. So, a single naming scheme across them. Then differentiation came in at AD level via OUs.

[Gibson335]

At my last school, everything was named under a single domain, and then devices were named according to location or purpose. So, a single naming scheme across them. Then differentiation came in at AD level via OUs.

 

I'm thinking specifically of student user names...

[localzuk]

I'm thinking specifically of student user names...

 

We had a secondary, primary and SEN school as well as a PRU in the trust, so we had different naming conventions for the kids.

 

Namely:

 

Primary - class logins

Secondary - constructed from their year of entry and names

PRU same as secondary

SEN - depended on the ability of the individual child. If capable, they had a name as in Secondary, if not, there was a general use account.

 

If it were more than one secondary, it would have been a single naming convention across them.

[Gibson335]

I will be finding out more shortly, but if - as I fear is the case - they have the same convention as us, which is the construct from year of intake plus name, then it makes it awkward because when combined the year of entry will relate to two different age ranges?!?!