The newly built Essa Academy

At the beginning of December I had accepted an invite to visit the newly built Essa Academy in Bolton as a guest of both the academy and Meru Networks and so it was a week later I found myself taking a short trip down the M61 to visit them.

The academy is a BSF build and has only been open for 6 weeks at this point, but it was clear a lot of work had already gone into ensuring everything was ready for the off. The academy is home to 854 pupils and 136 staff out of which 71 are teachers and one of the main reasons I was so eager to visit is that Essa is one of only a few schools in the UK to run almost solely on Apple devices and equipment. And not is a small way either. Below is the list of equipment the academy has deployed to give you an idea of the scale of the project:

• 400 iPads
  
• 1000 iPod touch devices
  
• 150 iPad telephony
  
• 60 Apple TV's
  
• 40 40" Sony Wi-Fi enabled screens
  
• 3D Holodeck
  
• 12 screen Sony Ziris wall (with 12 backend play stations)
  
• 45 60" Sony WIFI/SKYPE enabled LED displays
  
• 100 MacBook Airs
  
• 300 MacBook pros
  
• 65 iMacs
  
• 12 iPhones PLUS ANY GUEST DEVICES
  

 

The impressive 12 screen Sony Ziris display

I have to admit at this point that I was very skeptical – and at the same time very impressed by the Sony Ziris wall which greets you as you make you way beyond the reception area - as past experience has shown me that simply having a large amount of equipment does not exactly mean it has been deployed or utilized very well, but within half an hour of being in the main building we began to pick up on certain things. Mark Howell of Meru was the first to notice something when he pointed out that none of the pupils had a book bag or indeed any books at all. And it’s true, beyond bags containing PE kit the pupils get their coursework and information either from the cloud (coursework is stored via individual Dropbox accounts that each pupils sets up themselves and is responsible for) or delivered via email or from the academies Wikiserver.

Then we noticed the staff, all of who had iPads and MacBook’s, and were using them voraciously, when we mentioned this observation to Andy Peet, one of the schools directors, he told us how he now simply could not work without his iPad. It was his primary means of communicating and managing his day with SIMs and Email (via Exchange). The staffroom provided more confirmation, I was taken there by Abdul Chohan, the IT director and prime mover in the roll out and integration of the Apple systems within the academy, and it was full of teachers using their MacBook’s and iPads (not a paper based book in sight!) to develop their teaching resources and lessons. One music teacher took great joy in showing us an e-book she was working on that taught pupils how to play the piano with embedded video she had shot herself.

It all seemed to be working extremely well indeed, but even the biggest skeptic can notice that forced used of a device does not exactly mean it is filling a role successfully. This is where the whole school integration issue comes into it.

They chose Apple, not out of any desire to look ‘shiny’, but because if the integration features Apple builds into its products. This Apple system does not exclude Microsoft though as all of the academies user accounts are handled via Active Directory in a ‘golden triangle’ setup.

These integration features are barely noticeable by many when using them as standalone devices, however Essa have integrated their systems so that, for example, with the addition of the Apple TV‘s combined with the whole school wireless - provided by a network of 83 Meru access points - any teacher can go into any room and connect automatically to any display or projector wirelessly (the few displays not connected directly to an Apple TV device can utilize RDP!). Pupils too have this functionality.

Each pupil has been ‘issued’ with an iPod Touch. This iPod is essentially theirs for the duration of their time at the academy and as part of a dedicated setup day they create a personal iTunes account for it as well as the aforementioned personal Dropbox. The Touch is used for almost all school communication from email, dairies and coursework and for the creation of videos and multimedia coursework.

I shall hopefully be returning in the near future and will write up a more in-depth technical feature to let you know how they did it, and if any of you want me to ask them specific questions please post them below. But seeing as much as I did that day, it proves that with a bit of thought and planning Apple kit can work at all levels in a modern school. And I’ll tell you all about the very impressive Holodeck!

Everyone here at EduGeek would like to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year and thank you all for your continued support.

So, before you all disappear to enjoy (in no particular order), vast quantities of food, chocolate, beer/wine/spirits, gadgets, games and, oh yes! families, let us here at Edugeek pass on our best wishes to our members, sponsors and those companies who help us out in the background and never ask for any thanks.​

So, we hope you all have a great Christmas and we'll hopefully see as many of you as possible at BETT in January. We're on stand G89 and in the usual place so feel free to drop by for a chat.

Cheers!

All of us @ EduGeek

You can find further information here: http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_live/b/windowslive/archive/2011/11/29/skydrive-gets-simple-app-centric-sharing-for-office-powerful-file-management-html5-upload-other-updates.aspx

- James.

Many of the above are free ... well, when I say free I really mean that they are paid for by people and schools using their own time for the benefit of others because they get the same sort of response back, or it is a bit of educational philanthropy on the part of others. This is brilliant in many ways, but can make it difficult to plan for sustainability. Also, there is nothing wrong with paying for advice, guidance, ideas, expertise, etc. There is often a saying used, "you get what you pay for!" and this is very true. People forget that the payment is not always cold, hard cash, but time and your own expertise ... and when time, expertise, capacity and ideas are running short then people face the reality that paying for something is almost inevitable.

And this is one of the areas where I think some schools do it wrong. It shouldn't be that paying for something in cash is the last option, it should be considered an option from the very beginning when you are planning what you need, what your goals are, how your school will develop / deliver things like CPD, technical support, parental engagement, etc.

Technical Support is a perfect example of where failing to plan can result in staff in the school, both techie and teacher, having to scrabble around to find information and guidance. I have been preparing a number of reports around the use of Framework for ICT Technical Support (FITS) within Northamptonshire schools and conversations with schools who have staff trained and accredited against FITS has shown what a difference planning makes. Except that it doesn't just stop at the school gates. A number of schools are actively involved in supporting other schools. This will range from Lodge Park Technology College being actively engaged with the ICT Register - DEFUNCT and Microsoft's Partners In Learning, Sir Christopher Hatton School providing support on Microsoft training courses and technical support to local schools, Wrenn School providing technical support to local schools and staff being active in online communities such as EduGeek.net, and both The Duston School and Southfield School for Girls providing staff time and expertise to chair local working groups such as the Schools Broadband Working Group and NetworkNorthants (the local IT Community for technical staff in schools and school support providers). Some of this is for free (i.e. no charge to others) but some of it does have a cost and is well worth it.

Having another school cover your tech support or provide advice around it has some major benefits. This can range from educational understanding and expertise, through to experience of deploying some education specific technologies. Couple this with easy access for teachers to talk with teachers, SLT to talk with SLT, you can having a winning combination.

So I was please to see, over the weekend, a tweet from a friend on the south coast. Tim Dalton is the IT Consultant at The Wildern School, the school which runs its own TV Studio (BBC Schools Report), has previously run YouTube style services for other schools, has developed advice and guidance on using media technologies in schools ... and much more. Tim put a tweet out letting his PLN know that they are doing it again, taking their expertise and bundling it up for others. This time it is is punnet; a support, development and advisory service for other schools. Whether it is hands-on, regular tech support, development of software and applications for schools or advice and guidance around classroom use of technology and school strategy, Wildern hopes to be able to cater for your needs.

Yet another example of By Schools, For Schools ...

Do you have more examples? Are you involved in similar to the folk at punnet or the other schools mentioned? Have you spoken with other schools to share ideas, expertise, tools and goals? Go on ... now is your chance.

(originally published on GrumbleDook.org)

NOTE REGARDING ICT Register:

ICT Register is now defunct and its url has been purchased by a different company. Please see http://www.ssatuk.co.uk/ssat/news/ict-register-website/ regarding the issue with its old url.

This is why you need a network monitoring tool. These, when configured correctly will give you the low down on what is on your network, what state it is in and, where possible, alert you to problems before they become major issues.

Now, you should not confuse monitoring tools with management tools. Management tools are a whole different beast and they allow you to perform a variety of management tasks directly on computers and hardware as well as providing some, or in the case of more costly commercial products quite a bit, of monitoring functionality. Monitoring tools do just what they say. They keep an eye on your network for you and tell you when things aren’t right.

There are some things you should note however, if you currently do not have any such software installed:

1. They can often require (more than) a bit of technical knowledge to setup and configure.
   
2. You may need a server/virtual server of a specific operating system type to host the system on.
   
3. They are often time consuming to get configured and working correctly (offset by the amount of time and work it may actually save you in the future!).
   
4. You will often have to configure your network equipment (from desktop PC’s, laptops, switches etc.) to work correctly with the monitoring system when configuring SNMP on local devices or install a dedicated client directly on to the operating system to provide more in-depth reporting.
   

To ensure I picked the right programs to cover I set up the following criteria:

1. The program must be able to detect and report on any network attached equipment and read SNMP traps as required.
   
2. Server monitoring tools will not be listed as they are mainly focussed on reporting services/web/network usage and will not give information on external devices such as printers etc.
   
3. They must be free and not trial/nag-ware or have restricted functionality. All packages listed are ‘full’ in that no features are restricted.
   

You should also note that these are not authoritative or in depth reviews. I’m not going to dig into every nook and cranny of each package, and given the size and complexity of many of these apps it would take an age to do so and generate many, many hundreds of words that will largely go ignored and if I have missed a feature or not performed a task correctly and reported that something is at fault then the fault is all mine, so please feel free to correct me later, but what we hope to achieve is to produce a list of apps that you can investigate further so as to better find out what it is you wish to achieve, and what you find most usable. So without further ado let’s dig in.

(To go to the next page click the drop down to the right below here or at the top right of the article)

[PAGE]The Dude[/PAGE]

The Dude

The Dude from Mikrotik has been a long-time favourite of Windows based network managers for quite some time now, and its benefits far outweigh its shortcomings. Its tiny download size of 3.5MB hides a veritable powerhouse of an application, and its simple installation process that requires no additional files, services, databases or web packages allow you to be up and monitoring your network in minutes with a simple click of the ‘Discover’ button. You can even install The Dude on your desktop PC if you so wish. And once your network clients have had their SNMP settings configured correctly The Dude is capable of displaying a myriad of information and statistics as well as providing email reporting facilities when set criteria are met.

The Dude's working area.

The way The Dude displays and gives access to information is a great step as well. As the information is displayed from an application console and not via a web GUI you are freed from having masses of links and pages through which you have to trawl to perform even the simplest tasks. With The Dude it is all in front of you, and its map/icon based visual reporting system is so easy to use that you can see faulting clients and drill down to the information you require in seconds, and its deceptively basic layout hides the real power within.

Network devices and computers are easy to arrange in a logical order.

As with most network monitoring tools, it isn’t perfect at detecting every device you have on your network, it somehow overlooked the main office switch on more than one occasion, but adding them manually a breeze. You simply click the ‘Add device’ button, fill out its IP and it will immediately add it to the local map. Further information can be added by double clicking its icon to bring up the settings menu and in here everything from the devices general information, SNMP data, device history and notification settings (audio, visual and email) can be set and configured. You can also manually create custom device types and add new icons. It also has the handy feature of allowing you to install a workstation client so that you can remotely manage The Dude if it is installed on another machine such as a server or other PC.

Hovering over a device will instantly give you the low-down on monitored services.

And now to the shortcomings, of which all packages have. The Dude is starting to look old. It still has the easy to get to grips with interface but it is looking tired now, but, seeing as The Dude is a handy and highly effective tool in its current format I don’t suppose the developers feel the need to spoil a design that works so well. Also of note is that it struggled with SNMP information from my Windows 7 and Server 2008 machines, whereas the XP based VM had no problems at all in sending its statistics. This may have been a quirk of my little office network, but it is pretty basic here with just a few devices (I had to add more to flesh out the tests!) going through a single switch.

Lots of monitoring options are available and easily applied.

These points aside, The Dude is perfect if you need to see what is on your network NOW, and creating usable live network maps in a very short space of time. It’s also good for when you are helping out on new sites if you take a laptop with it installed you can get a pretty good overview in little time simply by connecting to the network and running a scan.

Pros

• Very quick to get setup and running
  
• Easy to understand layout and interface
  
• No need for additional files or plugins
  
• Excellent live mapping facilities
  

Cons

• Does not always detect all network devices
  
• It had issues with Windows 7/Server 2008 SNMP info
  
• Beginning to look old
  

Operating systems: Windows, Linux (requires Wine)

Download from: http://www.mikrotik.com/thedude.php

[PAGE]ZenOSS Core[/PAGE]

ZenOSS Core

Zenoss Core is the open source version of the commercial Zenoss product and for the purpose of this review I’m running it from a preconfigured CentOS virtual machine I had downloaded from them to run on my Windows desktop. The main system however is only available to Linux and Mac users if you wish to create a ‘real’ instance of the software.

The ZenOSS login screen.

Setting up and logging onto the web based GUI for the first time was a doddle with a step-by-step wizard to hold your hand in creating a user account and telling ZenOSS to automatically discover any network devices it can find. Once completed you are then taken you to the main dashboard screen. This screen is configurable and once you get rid of the annoying Google Maps ‘portal’ with Its message telling you that you need a Google Maps API key to use it (and let’s face it, if you have a single site LAN to manage then the last thing you will require is a map of the entire planet) you can place other portals within it giving you the information you actually require. Unfortunately it didn’t quite give me the kind of information I would have wanted in many of these.

Monitoring a port on the office switch.

Once the automatic device discovery was complete, I once more had to manually add a few devices and was more than a bit dismayed to find that Netgear had no pre-defined entry as other hardware/software manufacturers had and so had to create one myself.

I also noted that the local network ‘map’ was not very configurable and it laid out all of the devices in a circle around a central network cloud which then would not allow me to lay them out in any kind of logical order. There is also an extensive library of ‘zenpacks’, plugins to cater for specific hardware, applications and operating systems, to expand the functionality of the system.

The ZenOSS network maps are quite basic.

All in all, ZenOSS Core contained all of the features I would expect to see in a well-developed network monitoring package, although it just didn’t have the kind of user friendly ‘flow’ and intuitiveness I would have liked to have seen in such a higher end open-source project and playing ‘hunt the feature’ every few minutes leads me to think it needs a tad more work to get the layout and work-flow right. It’s a good, fully featured and well written piece of software; just don’t expect to be able to use it without referring to the user guide or the ‘How-to’ videos which can be found on their homepage on a regular basis.

Pros

• Powerful
  
• Lots of configuration options
  
• Instructional videos on their web site
  

Cons

• Takes some learning and you still have to deal with Linux via a shell at times
  
• Lots of configuration to do
  
• Not all devices supported in default/initial configuration.
  

Operating systems: Linux, Mac

Download from: www.zenoss.org

Download VM: www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/155743

[PAGE]Spiceworks[/PAGE]

Spiceworks

Spiceworks is another favourite of Edugeek members and it’s easy to see why. The simple setup process installs all of the required files and has you up and logging in to the web based GUI in minutes. Once there it presents you with a ridiculously easy to use interface, and credit where credit’s due, it was the only system I tested where it detected all of the network devices I had running first time.

The Spiceworks dashboard.

The work that has clearly gone into Spiceworks is plain to see, and every action or task you need to carry out is intuitive and easy to locate from within the web based GUI and not once did I feel the need to resort to online help or do a search as to how to carry out a task. Spiceworks also includes a very handy, customisable, helpdesk system that, whilst not as thorough as other dedicated helpdesk systems provides just the kind of features that small one and two person support teams on a single site require, although if you want more from a helpdesk system I suggest you look elsewhere.

Detected devices being monitored.

Licence management via Spiceworks is also a breeze, although, like many license management systems you do have to spend quite some time configuring it such as telling it not to register Adobe Reader or 7-Zip, and inputting the licences you do wish to keep tables on.

The overall layout of the Spiceworks working area is a joy to use, really it is, and almost every page is customisable allowing you to add or remove information boxes as required, and the only thing that spoils the overall effect Is the adverts displayed on the right hand side (used to keep the system free of charge, so we can’t really complain there) and the occasional box promoting various aspects of Spiceworks and the Spiceworks community although these too are removable.

The full screen, complete with adverts.

The features for device tracking and maintenance are also very good with options for Serial numbers, asset tags, purchase date/price allowing you to build up a good database of the what, where and how much of each device you have which is great, especially if you have a large network and sometimes lose track of warranties and which hardware requires upgrading. Throw in the ability to create custom alerts and you have a system that will fulfil almost your every need.

There are some shortcomings though. I found the lack of a single display showing all clients + their status makes keeping an easy eye on things a little bit harder than it needs to be. Also when you install Spiceworks or configure a new feature you receive emails from Spiceworks informing you of this, which can get a tad annoying. Using Spiceworks to successfully scan Macs also proved a challenge with the need to create custom scan rules (one per client if each Mac has a different admin login) to accommodate them successfully within Spiceworks. I also encountered a couple of confusing shortcuts that I thought were going to take to feature configuration options but then took me off to the ‘How to’ website. It’s not a big issue, but just something you should be aware of. Finally, Spiceworks also suffers from the lack of a decent method of laying out network maps with no facility to include your own background maps to layout the systems on top of.

All-in-all though, Spiceworks contains almost everything you need to monitor and manage your network and does it with for more usability and features than the more industrial free packages out there. If you want an easy and quick setup and a feature list to drool over then Spiceworks is the way to go.

Pros

• Silly easy to install and get up and running
  
• Great workflow and intuitive to use
  
• Excellent feature list
  
• Built in helpdesk
  
• Excellent device detection
  

Cons

• Creating custom maps is still a pain without being able to import a logical background
  
• Limited to 1000 clients, after this there is a performance hit (from Spiceworks own website)
  
• If you have Macs you will need to do some work to get it to work correctly with them
  
• Windows installer only
  
• Advert panels (I shouldn’t complain, but they do spoil the look and feel. Still, they keep it free of charge)
  
• Emails from Spiceworks
  

Operating system: Windows

Download from: www.spiceworks.com

[PAGE]Zabbix[/PAGE]

Zabbix

I have to admit that Zabbix was a new one to me, and like several other open source monitoring setups require quite a bit of Linux know how to get up and running correctly, but thankfully there is a readily available virtual machine (VMWare format) you can download to try it out, or even run it full time from should you choose to (see bottom of article for download link), so, given the time I had to look over the system this was the option I chose.

Zabbix has been around for almost 6 years now and follows the pattern of most *nix based network monitoring solutions in that it is run via a web GUI. It supports detection and monitoring via SNMP, TCP (ping) and ICMP. The VM was very easy to setup and configure and once up and running you are faced with a rather industrial interface, which, it must be said it rather non-intuitive, and it’s default dashboard page in the fresh install shows only the stats from the local Zabbix installation itself. Clicking on the ‘discovery’ tab underneath the ‘Monitoring’ link revealed nothing at first, and so a quick trip to ‘Configuration’ was in order I thought. Within here was a tab marked ‘Hosts’ and I thought this would probably be the best place for me to start. This is where the little niggly problems with Zabbix started to come to light. I was presented with a page listing no hosts and it took me a while to find the ‘Add host’ button. It was hidden under the status updates that appear on the right hand side of the screen.

Once found I was on my way. Now, you can have Zabbix auto-discover clients on your network (although I never once got this feature to work) or you can create them manually, as I was pushed for time and wanted the configuration done correctly I chose the manual option. Creating a host is quite simple. Give it a name, add it to a group if you wish (I chose ‘Discovered hosts’ by default), DNS name, IP address and then you can link it to a template. This is where the bells and whistles are added. Temples are preconfigured monitoring rules and save a lot of time and effort as they will automatically configure your client within Zabbix. For example, if I were to create a Windows host I would then add the Template_Windows template as part of the setup and then Zabbix would know exactly what to scan the host for as part of its jobs. You can also fill out a profile for the machine containing its MAC address, serial number and other details. Using this method it didn’t take me long to list the meagre resources of the Edugeek office LAN with Zabbix. You can also install a Zabbix client to Windows and Linux/Unix clients by creating a configuration file and installing it as a service via command line, however as I was just getting an overview of the system and it utilises SNMP this was all the information I was currently requiring.

The Edugeek office devices being monitored by Zabbix.

It was after I had completed all of these steps and saw information coming into Zabbix that I began to lose patience with it. It wasn’t just that it could ‘see’ my clients, but not show them on the network map until I found that I had to manually add each client to a map and configure it (a very time consuming process), or that trying to create custom screens/graphs and reports sometimes leads you to dead ends, or that it was at one point reporting an error that too many users were connected to the Zabbix server (myself and 9 client devices!?) it is simply let down by a lack of usability and ease of workflow.

Applying a template to a host (monitored device).

Yes, you can sit down and read through the readily available documentation, but for many of the tasks you want to do you shouldn’t have to, but it is quite apparent that Zabbix, due to its scale needs quite a bit of configuring by the end user to get working correctly, and given that many newer network monitoring packages out there do not I found myself wanting to shy away from it. By all means do not discount it as a choice as it does work, and very well once configured, but given the size of networks we manage there are better choices given the amount of time you would have to spend getting Zabbix up and running.

Creating a network map in Zabbix.

Pros

• Lots of configuration options
  
• Not as fiddly as some Linux based monitoring systems to setup
  

Cons

• Takes a lot of work setting up devices to be monitored
  
• Clients required for more in depth monitoring of servers/computers
  

Download from: www.zabbix.com

Download VM from: www.zabbix.com/download.php

[PAGE]Nagios/Centreon[/PAGE]

Nagios/Centreon

Nagios is one of the big names in network monitoring, and a very industrial package it is too, however given the time I had to do this article and the amount of ‘real’ time it takes to setup and configure Nagios (if you don’t know Linux, and don’t have a spare couple of weeks to understand the basics of how Nagios works then you’re in trouble) I was sure there had to be a better way. And I found one in Centreon.

The Centreon hosts monitoring screen.

Centreon is a monitoring system that uses Nagios at its core and with easy to follow setup instructions I had a fully working and ready to roll Nagios install in 30 minutes from the CentOS download iso which contains all of the files you need from the off, it was that easy I didn’t even have to download a working virtual machine! Once installed the initial configuration instructions were illustrated, simple and to the point, which came as a bit of a relief given some of the software I have been looking at during the course of writing this article.

Monitoring the office NAS box.

Centreon also wins points in its layout and execution with none of the raw text file editing that Nagios thrives on just to get some simple tasks done. All tasks are carried out in the web GUI, and backend scripting takes care of the tasks that Nagios would have you doing in a Linux shell session; this is clearly evident when adding a new host for instance where once you have filled out the relevant details and clicked ‘save’, you find yourself then visiting the ‘Nagios’ tab to tick some boxes to import the data to Nagios and restart the relevant services automatically.

Manually creating a network host.

That said, it’s still not perfect, although far easier to manage than a raw Nagios install, and getting certain features to work or report correctly (such as SNMP traps) still require much head scratching and digging through documentation. Also of note with Centreon is the lack of a network map feature, although you can purchase commercial plugins for this. If you want Nagios, but do not have the required skills or time to set it up then I can highly recommend Centreon as the way to go.

Pros

• Easy to setup
  
• Easier than native Nagios to manage and configure
  
• Well written documentation
  
• Nagios that does not take two weeks to get up and running!
  

Cons

• You still have to do a ‘little’ Linux shell stuff
  
• Features that would be standard on some packages have to be purchased as commercial add-ons
  

Operating System: Linux (CentOS included as part of the ISO download)

Download from: www.centreon.com

[PAGE]Conclusion[/PAGE]

Conclusion

Writing this article has been quite a tough journey over the past few weeks with my having to dig out some long unused skills, particularly when it came to Linux, and some things have become apparent. Mainly that there are now two kinds of free network monitoring tools which have come about over the past few years:

1. ‘Traditional’ Linux based versions which have a long history, but are stuck with a lot of legacy baggage in the way that they are configured and operated. Whilst many of these are exactly as they proclaim themselves to be; reliable, scalable and with the capability to monitoring masses of information they are now becoming unwieldy, time consuming and awkward to manage and for these packages to move on a complete re-write would probably be required which would alienate much of their existing customer base. In short, they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
   
2. Newer systems which often have Windows versions and are infinitely easier to setup and configure but lack the kind of in depth monitoring features of their more mature counterparts, but if all you want is a system that will tell you if a device is alive and reporting on basic services then often this is all that you would require.
   

In the end though, it all comes down to what it is you want to monitor. Nagios and Zabbix are great for keeping an eye on servers (particularly Linux/*nix), their processes and services, but are let down by the quite high levels of knowledge they required to get setup and running beyond the basic levels. If all you want to do is keep any eye on what is on your network and monitor SNMP functions then The Dude is ideal. If you want to manage those devices (serial numbers, asset tags and other data that need to record) then Spiceworks would be an excellent choice, but, if you want more features, better design, support and ease of use then I highly recommend you begin to look at commercial offerings which seem to have addressed many of the shortcomings of the free products and ensured that, for the most part, those problems are no longer an issue.

To finish, I suggest you take note of the following factors in making your choice when it comes to the setup and operation of a monitoring package:

1. Knowledge – Do you have the skills to setup and configure a particular package, and especially, does anyone else around you have these skills should you not be around for them?
   
2. Time – Do you have the time (often quite a considerable amount of hourly investment is required) to set it up and configure/maintain it? Remember, it should be there for you, not you for it.
   
3. Purpose – What is it you actually want it to do? You could spend several weeks installing a pretty system with lots of nice graphs that you don’t actually need or will ever look at again when all you wanted it to do was alert you when a computer/device stops responding.
   
4. Features – As with some of the points above, do you really need it to tell you what processor cores are being loaded the heaviest, or the size of a swap file? You may find you can create a mass of work for yourself for no reason. Stick to a package with the features you will actually use rather than something that looks really shiny (yes, it’s hard, I know).
   
5. Ease of use. If you install a system that then has you spending a considerable amount of time just figuring out how to do something, or has so many dependencies’ that require constant tweaking and maintenance then look elsewhere. Network management tools are supposed to save you time. Not swallow it up.
   

I also noted that almost all of the systems I tested displayed 'error' messages on some network devices/computers by default even though I had not yet configured them. You can see these reported errors on several of the screen grabs I have included. This I think is an unnecessary 'feature' and can consume quite a bit of time when digging down to find out what the supposed problem is (often nothing at all), especially if you have setup the system to email you of any issues and suddenly find your inbox flooded, so please be aware of this and ensure that any error reporting options are configured correctly when you setup each network host to be monitored.

We at Edugeek hope you have enjoyed this article and found it useful. If you think we have missed out a system, or have been a bit unfair to a particular package, please feel free to post it up. When posting however please at least tell us where you think we went wrong and what steps in a package need to be taken to achieve something. Simply saying ‘You’re wrong’ does not help anybody, which, in the end, is what we are all here for.

We have written a guide on getting started with LastPass here to help aid password management and EduGeek will be giving away some LastPass Premium 1 year subscriptions via a raffle/draw for members, details will follow soon in a new article.

This article will be updated soon with information about what we have found and what we have done to prevent similar things happening again.

Installation

1. Open a web browser and visit www.lastpass.com

2. Click on ‘Download LastPass’

3. Choose the client for your computer. The correct client should already be highlighted

4. Once downloaded double click the installation file to begin installing LastPass

At the first screen click ‘Next’

5. Check the options for all of the browsers you have installed then click ‘Next’

6. Allow LastPass to close any open browsers for you by clicking ‘Close Programs’

7. Click ‘I do not have a LastPass account, create one for me’ then click ‘Next’

8. Fill out your registration details and check all three boxes before clicking ‘Next’

9. Re-enter your LastPass password then click ‘Save’ *Please keep a note of your password as LastPass do not store it for you!*

10. If you want to have LastPass scan your computer for stored and cached passwords (recommended) check ‘Yes, let me choose which items I want to import into LastPass’ and click ‘Next’

11. You will then be presented with a list of passwords that have been found on your computer from any of the browsers you have installed. If you wish LastPass to store these leave them checked and click ‘Next’

12. LastPass will then give you the option to delete all of the unsecured passwords it has found. If you are happy to have LastPass store them for you check the ‘Remove all items’ option or one of the others if you wish to manually select some or all of the passwords you wish to keep on your computer

13. Installation and setup is complete. Select the options you wish LastPass to do and click ‘Next’

14. Open your web browser. Please note that you will have to manually authorise the installation of the LastPass add-on. If you see a message like those shown below please allow LastPass to install the browser add-on

15. Once your browser is opened, look for the LastPass icon at the top of your browser. If the icon is grey you are not currently logged on to LastPass. If it is red you are. LastPass should not be logged on the first time you open your browser after installation

16. Click the icon to open the logon dialog box and enter your password then click ‘Login’. Please note that if your computer or laptop has a fingerprint reader you may be invited to use this as your method of authenticating against LastPass instead of manually inputting your password. Follow the onscreen instructions to set this up

17. You will then be presented with the list of passwords (if any) that LastPass detected as part of the setup procedure in your browser which are now stored securely on your computer. Feel free to close this browser window

[h=1]Using LastPass to Generate or Change Passwords[/h]

LastPass has the ability to generate, insert and store high strength passwords for you as well as detecting and automatically filling out password fields for you when either joining a new site requiring password access or changing an existing online password. This short tutorial will show you how to use this rather handy feature. In this example I have chosen to create an account on avforums.com. This method will work on any site requiring you to fill out a new password field.

Ensure LastPass is logged in (see steps 16-17 above)

1. On a website registration page once you click on the password field you will get a browser toolbar appear asking whether you would like LastPass to generate a secure password. Click ‘Generate’

2. Once you have clicked ‘Generate’ a box will appear with a random, secure password shown in the dropdown box. If you are not happy with this password you can click ‘Generate’ and a new password will be generated. If you click ‘Accept’ the password will then be entered into all relevant fields and stored in your password vault

This procedure also works when changing an existing password on web sites. Once you click on a box to enter a new password LastPass will open a browser bar asking whether you would like it to generate a password for you and the steps are identical to those shown in the previous example.

Other Features

To access the other features that LastPass has to offer such as automatic online form completion, credit/debit card details and many others simply click on the simply click on the LastPass Icon in your browser window.

KB2530309 - Internet Explorer Group Policy Preferences do not apply to Internet Explorer 9 in a Windows Server 2008 R2 domain environment

SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario on a Windows 7-based or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computer:

• You have a domain server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2.
  
• You use the Group Policy Administration Tools for Windows Server 2008 R2.
  

In this scenario, in the domain in which you are using Internet Explorer Group Policy Preferences, you encounter the following problems.

 

Problem 1

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, Windows Internet Explorer 7, and Windows Internet Explorer 8 Group Policy Preference items do not apply to users who are running Windows Internet Explorer 9.

 

Group Policy Preferences logging shows the following...

Nonworking scenario

yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] {683F7AD7-E782-4232-8A6D-F22431F12DB5}
[b][color=#FF0000]yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] Starting class <IE8> - Internet Explorer 8.[/color][/b]
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] Starting filter [AND FilterFile].
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] Adding child elements to RSOP.
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] Set user security context.
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] apmGetFileVersionEx
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] apmCompareVersionTokens [sUCCEEDED(S_FALSE)]
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] Set system security context.
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] Failed hidden filter [FilterFile].
[b][color=#FF0000]yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] Filters not passed.[/color][/b]
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] Completed class <IE8> - Internet Explorer 8.
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x3a0,tid=0xb18] Completed class <InternetSettings>.

Working scenario

yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] {683F7AD7-E782-4232-8A6D-F22431F12DB5}
[b][color=#FF0000]yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] Starting class <IE8> - Internet Explorer 8.[/color][/b]
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] Starting filter [AND FilterFile].
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] Adding child elements to RSOP.
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] Set user security context.
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] apmGetFileVersionEx
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] apmCompareVersionTokens
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] Set system security context.
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] Passed hidden filter [FilterFile].
[b][color=#FF0000]yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ms [pid=0x398,tid=0x29c] Filters passed.[/color][/b]

Mr Ritchie was arguably one of the most influential figures in the early days of computing and laid the foundations for many of today's technologies before they were even conceived. If you use a computer today, chances are you are using something built on his ideas from decades ago.

Visit our Dennis Ritchie thread here.

A thread regarding Mr Jobs' passing is available here.

This is great news for us all as not only is your advice and opinion being read by an ever expanding global audience, but we can see schools in Africa, Asia and the Middle East all now joining in and receiving the kind of helpful support and advice that many can only dream of at a local level. You should all be very proud of yourselves

So, if the mood takes you, go out, get some Edu HobNobs, make a nice cup of tea/coffee and bask in the knowledge that you are helping techies throughout the world become a lot less stressed and a lot more productive.

Karmas great, isn't it?

And here you all are*

 



 

*Actually, this map only shows about 50% of visitors on the site at any time for one technical reason or another

Microsoft recently held their Build Windows conference in Anaheim, CA from September 13^th to 16^th. Here they gave an in-depth look at their much anticipated new operating system, Windows 8. We wanted to know what consumers are talking about in regards to Windows 8, particularly their overall impressions, how they feel the operating system will work on different hardware, how it stacks up against competitors, and what features they are most anticipating. We listened to 65,968 opinions to come to some interesting conclusions.

Source: http://mashwork.com/blog/?p=1241

Mozilla appears to have pushed the final build of Firefox 7 although autoupdate and the website have not been updated yet.

Initial Changelog:

• Vastly improved memory usage (up to 50% better) and increased speed
  
• Added a new rendering backend to speed up Canvas operations on Windows systems
  
• Bookmark and password changes now sync almost instantly when using Firefox Sync
  
• Added support for text-overflow: ellipsis
  
• Added support for the Web Timing specification
  
• Added an opt-in system for users to send performance data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Firefox. This can be enabled by installing an add-on
  
• Fixed several stability issues
  

Download Links:

Windows (13.4MB):

• EN-GB: http://download02.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/7.0/win32/en-GB/Firefox Setup 7.0.exe
  
• EN-US: http://download02.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/7.0/win32/en-US/Firefox Setup 7.0.exe
  

OSX (28.2MB):

• EN-GB: http://download02.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/7.0/mac/en-GB/Firefox 7.0.dmg
  
• EN-US: http://download02.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/7.0/mac/en-US/Firefox 7.0.dmg
  

Linux (14.5MB):

• EN-GB: http://download02.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/7.0/linux-i686/en-GB/firefox-7.0.tar.bz2
  
• EN-US: http://download02.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/7.0/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-7.0.tar.bz2
  

Override the existing install and you will have Firefox 7.

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Online storage often comes under attack over IPR of images, concerns about control, heated rants about how company x is making use of *our* files / photos to generate revenue on a free service, etc … and we only have ourselves to blame for not reading the T&Cs fully, for not keeping abreast of changes to the T&Cs (though some companies make life extremely difficult to find the changes or contribute to those changes) and for not accepting that if we take part in a free service then there are likely to be limitations and issues. We take on that risk ourselves and we need to accept some responsibility for that. Whether we are talking about LinkedIn using profile photos of members in their marketing by default, changes to FaceBook privacy options, changes in security / ownership when companies merge products… there have been so many times when the masses rise up indignantly to protest and then rush around making changes and, in the worse cases, swap services … and yes, I have been there, expressing my frustration too.

This is increasingly important if we are asking children to make use of these tools as we are being trusted in our judgement and selection of these tools … after all not all children, across the broad age range we have using these tools, are emotionally, intellectually or perhaps even legally in a position to make some of these choices on their own … but that is a discussion for another time probably.

But discussions today centred around online storage, and in particular the growing use of DropBox to remove the need for USB memory devices. For those who have not come across DropBox.com, it is a an online storage system which will synchronise selected folders from one or multiple devices to an online repository. Folders or sub-folders can be shared for automated synching with other users, making it a fantastic tool for collaborative sharing of files and materials. There are a number of other tools like this ranging from Microsoft’s SkyDrive, shared document libraries in Sharepoint, Moxy, Box.net, ADrive and many more. DropBox and SkyDrive are both free so that is why you will see them in heavy use … especially in education. Free comes with limits though and sometimes that can be the amount of space, sometimes the SLA doesn’t really exist and sometimes there is a lack of control over certain aspects of functionality or how it changes.

When it comes to DropBox though, my main concern is that users are significantly at risk of breaching the Data Protection Act and they don’t even know it. This is especially important right now as it is being recommended to NQTs who might not know any better … let’s face it, there is not that much about Copyright law, Data Protection and IPR within teacher training and, from what I have seen and been told, there is a presumption that this is covered within schools by school policies … and we all know how wonderful many schools are for having decent Data Protection policies and explaining them to *all* staff.

I know that my blog is read by a wide range of people so I just need to go back a little to cover an aspect or two of the Data Protection Act. The DPA has 8 principles, which are pretty self explanatory and the 2 most important principles to look at for this conversation are 7 & 8.

If we start with DPA Principle 8 first … this about where data can be stored, moved through, processed, accessed, etc. And this is the first place we fall down with DrpoBox. There is an ongoing query that has never been fully answered about whether DropBox.com is compliant with this.

Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the EEA unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

Now, what this means is that if you use your online storage and sharing to move about or access anything that can be deemed ‘personal data’ (which for teachers can range from pictures of children, their personal details, information about their progress, medical information and so on) then you have to do it within the European Economic Area or other countries where we have set agreements. With the US this is called the U.S. – EU Safe Harbor and there is a list of companies who have been certified with this and across what aspects. It is important to remember that being certified is only part of this … the specifics of what has been agreed is equally as important and that will differ from company to company. I have previously commented about iCloud and Apple before to reflect this.

When you look at the list you will spot that DropBox.com is not there. When you dig through the T&Cs for DropBox you will find that they use Amazon for their storage facilities … which is good … Amazon *are* on the Safe Harbor list so that seems to tick the boxes … apart from they don’t say that they will only ever use Amazon and they don’t say how they use them, and what agreements they have in place. Ah … so we are back to square one then.

I have asked the question twice now of DropBox.com and not even had tickets opened. There is a discussion at the moment about this on the forums and still no definitive answer.

To deal with this I know some users of DropBox will make use of other security solutions to bolster how they deal with DropBox. This involves using an encryption tool to create a secure folder / file which is then synchronised via the only service. A common tool for this is TrueCrypt and that works fine at a technical level … meeting the criteria of DPA Principle 7, where you are taking suitable technical measures to ensure the security of data … but the principles are not pic and mix … you have to meet them all. Right now I use an encrypted folder on Dropbox for my non-sensitive files (so only I and others I trust can access them) and do not use it at all for sensitive items.

For sharing pictures for stimulus with others (teachers / children), for sharing videos, etc, especially cross-platform and when using apps on mobile devices, then I can see that it will be fine for use in UK schools … but for staff to share in general … no … not yet.

SkyDrive does meet the criteria as the data centre used is in Ireland, but I know that there are some who have issues about a tie in or lock in with Microsoft and what happens to Live@Edu and Office365. It is still worth thinking carefully about what you are sharing with others and how.

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Info about the Panel:

The goal of the panel is to try and ensure all the upcoming tweaks/changes to the site are actually to the benefit of all. The panel will also be asked questions about colour schemes and general thoughts on the future features to try and make sure we are heading down the correct path with EduGeek. Some of these ideas will go to public poll too if they are big issues but initially the panel will be able to give first thoughts.

While on the panel you will also get early access to new features for comment as well as site layout changes.

The panel will also be able to pitch ideas that they dont necessarily want to post in the public suggestions forum and I will try to answer all as I do already try with the suggestions forum.

Other things that will be introduced to the panel is access to the beta site as well as screen grabs of changes being tested in the future.

All discussions will in the dedicated forum area and should be considered Do Not Discuss outside the set forum which means please dont say "I was just asked if the introduction of a search elephant was a good idea"

Those that respond and contribute will be given a special title/rank on EduGeek as well as a few other things.

As the years rolled on and the NGfL project gained momentum and the newly arrived network managers began to exert better control over the planning, expansion and budgeting for these annual network upgrades. With the still high costs of ‘tier one’ vendors; no one could afford to buy HP or Dell, let alone justify buying more from Viglen or RM the smaller local companies began to get a slice of the pie in the supply of desktop computers and servers, often with mixed results. Some were affordable high quality units, others were not and the (usually) cheap components ensured high failure rates. It kept life for all of us old hands both interesting and frustrating in equal measure.

Then in 2003 the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) program was announced. The ambitious scheme to rebuild almost all UK high schools was both well received and criticised in equal measure, praised by politicians of all parties for its ambition to rebuild many older schools which were in a poor state of repair, but equally made many sceptical of just how this could be afforded.

In 2010 the project was officially scrapped by the new incoming UK government as unaffordable it still left some projects underway where contracts had reached ‘financial close’ i.e. all the agreements had been signed and legally work could not be cancelled. And it was to one of these schools, the Heritage High School in Chesterfield, that EduGeek found itself as a guest of Dell Computers (UK), the IT provider for not just Heritage but a cluster of local high schools including The Bolsover School and Springwell Community College, all built under BSF, to see what they had done in partnership with them and Derbyshire County Council to deliver cutting edge IT equipment, infrastructure and facilities to staff and pupils.

[h=2]Laying out the Ideas[/h]

The schools had started to liaise with Dell as early as 2008 and once the deal for the new build had been reached in 2009 they began to install and implement the infrastructure with a focus on 3 particular areas as Tim Beeby from Dell explained.

• Access to IT – IT should be available everywhere possible, not just in selected suites and classrooms.
  
• Quantity of IT – There should be enough computers available that pupils should be able to access IT wherever and whenever they need it.
  
• Teaching of IT – IT should be integrated into as many lessons as possible and through this method, IT is taught throughout the curriculum, not just via a specialist subject.
  

Judy Matkin, the BSF project manager for Derbyshire county council said that they wanted to ensure the new build networks had no legacy baggage from the older school networks they replaced and so they ensured that their priorities and the essential features of this new infrastructure were:

• Backbone - All networks were kitted out from scratch with Juniper switches working to the latest standards.
  
• Wireless - Wireless is hugely important and each school has complete coverage both inside the buildings and in selected outside areas via a managed Aruba wireless network.
  
• Security and integrated systems - All school systems are integrated. From security cameras, door control, printing, library management and canteen purchasing it’s all run using the same AD authentication.
  
• Single sign on - All staff and pupils can log onto any system in any school in this BSF cluster (some pupils move between sites for specialist courses) and access any resource with just a single identity, this includes web based services such as the individual schools’ VLEs and the use of proximity cards for room and resource access.
  
• Unified communications - All the schools have a UC solution for collaboration between schools and communication with the ‘outside world’.
  
• Any time, anywhere learning - As was mentioned by one of the heads present, this part of Derbyshire gets hit hard by the snow and ice in winter and it is important that even though children cannot get into schools, they can still access the curriculum online via their VLE’s.
  

With an allocated amount of £1450 per pupil to be spent on IT for each build, including staff training and an amount of this ‘top-sliced’ for specialist projects within each school, such as green screens in Heritage and Macs in Springwell College for example, the schools have gone a long way to ensure that things were done right the first time and not in need of ‘tweaking’ later.

[h=2]The Implementation[/h]

Tim Beeby also went on to explain that it took 84 weeks of discussion to make sure the schools’ exact needs were met for the period of the 10 year contract as existing IT support staff were TUPED (employment contacts transferred) across to Dell, teacher training on new systems was custom provided and equipment suitable for the task in hand was purchased - such as ruggedized netbooks and tablets for outdoor and school trip use and classrooms fitted with dual use whiteboards and projectors that use the eBeam system so they can be used both interactively and as traditional whiteboards with marker pens.

And it seems to work as Gordon Inglis, the headmaster of The Bolsover School which opened its doors in November 2010, told us they now have whiteboards and projectors in the PE department changing room to assists in discussing and explaining tactics before games which saves time on the pitch and the sports hall even has a screen which has helped them hold a real-time rowing race against a partner school in Texas.

From our point of view the whole setup at the Heritage school came as a pleasant surprise as a quick tour by headmaster Don Spencer showed us. The new BSF funded buildings are not architectural masterpieces with huge glass domes or flowing facades, but well thought out 2 story blocks that give a spacious and airy feel to the site and provide a bright learning environment to the school’s 950 pupils. The classrooms even have CO₂ detectors in them to automatically adjust the flow of fresh air to ensure pupils can keep attentive in lessons.

Each block is based around an open learning space on the ground floor - each one with tables and chairs for pupils to use as an independent study area. The introduction of individual toilet cubicles with sinks in the corridor, overlooked by CCTV, is also great way to prevent vandalism, bullying and absenteeism from lessons.

And does all of this technology work at a the sharp end where it matters? Well the pupils we spoke to tell us it does. In one classroom we visited pupils were busy taking notes on laptops, shared one between two, and they seemed very happy with the solution being offered to them telling us they liked using the laptops but didn’t get to use them as much as they would prefer, which is probably a good indicator of not just how integral IT has become to lessons, but as to a shift in how pupils think they should be doing schoolwork. The pupils we observed in several classes have also come up with an ingenious method of note taking. As the pupils email is provided via Outlook Web Access they take notes via email. Using this method they can easily share them with their classroom partner as soon as they finish the lesson. They tell us it is faster and easier than uploading it to their user areas, and (I don’t know if they realise this) has the added bonus of being searchable!

[h=2]The Solution[/h]

So, down to the nitty-gritty… how did Dell provide the solution?

Talking with Tim Beeby and Mike Rendall (Senior Consultant at Dell Services), Dell were keen to provide a solution built around Microsoft technologies and limiting the use of third-party tools or proprietry add-ons as much as possible. At the same time though, Dell were committed to ensure that the Microsoft systems had integration with all the other chosen systems – be they access control, printing, library management, etc.

There is essentially three parts to solution – Dell-hosted services, school-hosted services and endpoint devices. Each part is described in a little more detail below.

[h=3]Dell-hosted Services[/h]

In order to provide shared services between the schools, a number of services are hosted by Dell in a data centre. All these services rely heavily on Active directory (a single domain) and Forefront Identity Manager which uses data extracted from the management information systems (MIS) to poupulate the authentication data across all the services. Exchange 2010 and Lync Server 2010 are also hosted by Dell.

In addition to the authentication and unified communications servers, a number of System Center servers are deployed in the datacentre. These include System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) to manage client devices, System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) to monitor the solution and System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) to manage the virtualised workloads.

Dell also provides backup facilities using System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) for disk-disk-tape backup and archiving. An option was provided to schools to purchase a DPM server to provide disk backup which would then essentially ‘forward’ the backup to the data centre (disk-disk-tape).

Remote access solutions (VPN for staff and Remote Desktop Services for students) are also provided by the datacentre. Access to these is via Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) and Active Directory authentication.

[h=3]School-hosted Services[/h]

Although the majority of services are managed from the datacentre, several servers are also deployed locally at each school. These services include the following:

• 2-node Hyper-V cluster connected to iSCSI storage
  
• Virtual servers for Domain Controller, DHCP, DNS, file servers and SQL Server
  
• MIS server
  
• Lync Server with media gateway to connect to the local telephone exchange via ISDN30e
  
• SCCM server as a downstream node of the datacentre SCCM server
  
• Network Access Protection (NAP) server to prevent unauthorised devices being used on the network
  

The wired network infrastructure comprises of Juniper EX4200 and EX2200 switches with 2x 1Gbps links connecting each cabinet to the core. VLANS are then used to separate the traffic into logical networks.

The wireless network is provided by Aruba and comprises of 2 controllers (1 redundant for fault tolerance) and thin access points providing 802.11n coverage throught the inside of the buildings. At Heritage High School, they had additionally chosen to provide WiFi coverage in a covered courtyard to cater for outdoor lessons.

[h=3]Endpoint Devices[/h]

As endpoint devices, Dell provided a range of different hardware tailored towards the kind of usage and situations devices in schools encounter. These included desktops, workstations, laptops and netbooks as well as ruggedized netbooks and tablet computers for outdoor and school trip use.

Every teacher had a laptop which they could connect to the classroom projectors, boards and voting systems. This was also their main device for accessing the Lync communications system. Also notable was the inclusion of a docking station on each teacher’s desk enabling the teacher to have any laptop instantly connected to the projector to show off pupils work to the entire class. This is very handy for when pupils are working on something complex and needed to display their working.

The pupils have access to laptops and netbooks that are stored in network connected charging trolleys on each floor. The netbook charging solution was particularly clever with units sliding into a dock and clicking into place. Whichever solution, they also allowed for overnight patching and obviously included protection against over-charging.

[h=2]Conclusion[/h]

Our day at Heritage High School was certainly a very encouraging eye opener. Largely in part to the time and effort put in by the schools, Dell and Derbyshire County Council’s BSF team whose vision and long terms goals have played the deciding factor in the implementation and roll out of solutions and services that will see these schools having the kind of infrastructure, equipment levels and support many schools can only dream of.

These factors will ensure that in ten years’ time the school we visited will still be offering IT at the level many would expect of up to date high-tech private sector companies. With BSF now cancelled it does leave us wondering whether this kind of network could have become common place in UK schools rather than what may be considered a strange historical anomaly in the evolution of UK schools. It would also be a great shame if the kind of technologies offered in The Heritage High School, Bolsover School and Springwell Community College become the exception rather than the norm. Only time and the future planning and vision of individual schools will tell. All of us now live in an interconnected world, and our schools should reflect this.

.

While on the panel you will also get early access to new features for comment as well as site layout changes.

The panel will also be able to pitch ideas that they dont necessarily want to post in the public suggestions forum and I will try to answer all as I do already try with the suggestions forum.

Other things that will be introduced to the panel is access to the beta site as well as screen grabs of changes being tested in the future.

All discussions will in the dedicated forum area and should be considered Do Not Discuss outside the set forum which means please dont say "I was just asked if the introduction of a search elephant was a good idea"

Those that respond and contribute will be given a special title/rank on EduGeek as well as a few other things.

If you are interest then please click here and post any message into the reply box and submit. Your username will be entered and we will contact you when its ready to go.

NOTE: although we want the group to be large depending on how popular it is not all will necessarily get in the first wave, also please ensure you have been a member for 3 months before applying and those not from the UK are very very welcome

On the left side you should see a list of recent jobs but if you would like to be notified daily you can simply click here then select Daily Notifications then each day when new jobs are posted you will get an email with links to them all.

Companies that want to list their jobs must get in contact with us via this link as free listing is only for schools/educational places.

Yahoo is reporting that the agreement is paying a premium of 63% per share over the price they were trading at on Friday.Google are planning to run it as a separate business but one has to wonder what the next wave of Motorola handsets will be like when they are released.

This could also mean big changes for the tablets Motorola have been producing and certainly seems to explain why no Motorola Windows Phone 7 handsets appeared.

Will Google bring more to the table like the Nexus range which were very nice as Android phones go?

Also I wonder if Motorola is actually making the next Nexus not Samsung as rumoured now?

This also could make Google a direct target for litigation unlike before when Apple/MS sued the hardware companies for running Android rather then Google directly.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Google-to-Acquire-Motorola-bw-4079820793.html?x=0&.v=1

Download Links:

[b]Windows[/b]:  [url="ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/6.0/win32/en-GB/Firefox Setup 6.0.exe"]en-GB[/url] / [url="ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/6.0/win32/en-US/Firefox Setup 6.0.exe"]en-US[/url] / [url="ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/6.0/win32/"]Other Languages[/url]
[b]Mac OS X[/b]: [url="ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/6.0/mac/en-GB/Firefox 6.0.dmg"]en-GB[/url] / [url="ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/6.0/mac/en-US/Firefox 6.0.dmg"]en-US[/url] / [url="ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/6.0/mac/"]Other Languages[/url]

What's New

* about:permissions, a permissions manager.
The user can choose what information can be shared with other sites, e.g. passwords*
New tab scrolling feature*
Domain highlighting in address bar*
[url="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?resolution=FIXED&classification=Client Software&query_format=advanced&target_milestone=Firefox 6&product=Firefox"]133 bugs fixed[/url].

Here is a snippet with amusing video:

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While looking through my Twitter feed this morning over a quick coffee, I came across a great Tweet from Mark Reynolds, a member of the education team here at Microsoft, with a link to an interesting video presenting some of the key drivers around the concept of the consumerisation of IT.

http://youtu.be/RzJwaEiAays

Seemingly a ubiquitous term within the media and around the water cooler, consumerisation of IT is blurring the lines between how technology is used at home and within the workplace and the video does a nice job of presenting some of the current challenges faced by organisations and, more specifically, IT professionals in this rapidly changing IT landscape.

What about within the education sector, though? How is the impact of the consumerisation of IT changing the way that IT is offered and managed within schools, colleges and universities?

With the recent changes within the sector, such as budget cuts and the need for an increased focus on delivering superior student experience, making the call to embrace the consumerisation of IT louder than ever, how are you viewing this shift?

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Read the rest at Microsoft UK Schools Blog

It does make you curious about the future, will BYOT lead the way with everyone eventually using their own laptops/devices in the school system or will we see a hybrid approach?

Have you implemented BYOT and what challenges have you faced?

Are the savings there or are the savings as important as providing access for users own devices?

Discuss below

copied with permission from Microsoft

Firstly, our thanks go to the staff at the rather wonderful Westleigh Conference Centre and to the University of Central Lancashire’s network services people (thanks John!) who ensured that all of the access and facilities we required were met and exceeded; liaising with us for weeks before the event and helping to ensure that nothing was too much trouble.

Next to our speakers and their respective companies, who had all voluntarily given their time to come and address you on a whole myriad of subjects which this year really did cover a whole variety of subjects, both in the technical and policy spheres. So in no particular order let me thank:

• Rick Byers and CTI Group
  
• Jason Meers from One Planet Computing
  
• Tom Newton and SmoothWall
  
• Matt Eccles and Steve Burnard from Adobe
  
• Amber Williams from AEG
  
• The team from Lancaster University Network Services
  
• Garsham Roberson from Joskos, the Dell KACE team and especially Charlie Cochrane who bravely stood up with them and let us all know what it had done for his school
  

Also thanks to those companies who came to exhibit and help fund the event - even though space was getting tight!

• Adobe
  
• Net-Ctrl
  
• SmoothWall
  
• Lancaster University Networking Services
  
• Joskos/Dell
  
• ICT Direct
  
• Invictus/Zybert Computing
  
• Impero
  
• Siracom
  
• Schoolcomms
  

An an extra special mention goes to Shaun and Ric who both had to suffer a day working in the EduGeek office, finding out the only way you can fit three people in there is to sit on a wheelie chair in the corridor and wheel yourself in one at a time, and to Adobe who set us up with an instance of their Adobe Connect web conferencing system which allowed those of you around the world, who couldn’t physically be there, to make a contribution and see the action live online.

Finally but not least, thanks to those of you who took the time off work, travelling some rather large distances in some cases just to come and see us and each other. You really make these events more than a day at a conference… getting to meet, in the flesh, those who you speak to on a daily basis within the forums but are too far apart geographically to ever see in the real world.

All that remains is for me to say is that it really was a great day (albeit with a late start due to a technical hitch!) and hopefully we’ll be organising some events closer to home for some of you, so watch this space.

P.S. I think we’re going to need a bigger venue next year!!

New editor based on CKEditor

This has a whole host of benefits as well as working on much more browsers, a snippet of things to look for:

• Resizeable editor! you can now drag the editor using the bottom right to expand you text entry area! the system should save the size for further use too!

  
   
  

  
  

• Tables support! you can now insert tables into your posts

  
   
  

  
  

• Complete, intuitive “What You See is What You Get” content editing capability for “WebKit” browsers.

  
   
  

  
  

• Paste from Word! You can now paste Word documents into the vBulletin editor; the CKEditor will try to preserve as much of Word text formatting as possible.

  
   
  

  
  

• High Performance and Accessibility. The CKEditor offers full accessibility functionality, its fast loading and has awesome AJAX capabilities.

  
   
  

  
  

• Future Development and Maintenance. CKEditor is described as “the text editor for the internet”, it is maintained by a dedicated team of developers and as they continue improving and offering great new features the vBulletin customers will reap great benefits.

  
   
  

  
  

• Popularity. CKEditor is used by many top-brand companies, including IBM, Adobe, Oracle, and drum roll, vBulletin! (For full list, please visit here,

  http://ckeditor.com/who-is-using-ckeditor)
  

  
  

Changes tour:

Auto-Save

Now when you start typing a new bit of content in, be it a post or blog entry, vbulletin will automatically save your message every 30 seconds (currently) to a special database table.

If you happen to experience a browser crash all you need to do is hit the "Restore Auto-Save" button and your message should come back.

Dont like it?

You can currently disable the new editor by going to http://www.edugeek.net/profile.php?do=editoptions and selecting "Basic Editor" at the bottom of the page

I am looking into options of having the old and new editor but its not something vbulletin support yet.

Any Problems?

I would recommend you clear your browsers cache first initially as there were reports of some having caching issues which causes the editor not to appear.

Also if you hit the first button on the editor toolbar (looks like a/A) it allows you to read the source of the post

If that does not fix the issue please post in http://www.edugeek.net/forums/edugeek-net-site-problems/ with your browser/OS details and a screenshot ideally.

This is only a rough list of changes, to see vbulletins full blurb go to: https://www.vbulletin.com/forum/entry.php/2480-vBulletin-4.1.4-The-new-all-new-WYSIWYG-text-editor-powered-by-CKEditor

Changelog: https://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php/381438-vBulletin-4.1.4-now-available-for-download

Details: Mike Herrity and Dave Coleman will be presenting this webinar live on Wednesday 6th July at 7pm BST/2pm EDT

Sign up: Webinar: Creating A Learning Gateway For Education With SharePoint 2007 and 2010 | MetaVis

Many of you will have heard bits of the story of Twynham School and our creation of a well-established learning platform using SharePoint. Through various case studies and presentations at conferences around the world over the last 5 years we have been very fortunate to be able to show our work creating compelling custom applications and engaging students and teachers to gain high user adoption. We have had quite a break from presenting and writing up our work for nearly a year and so we thought it might be useful to put a free webinar on to show you some of the new and exciting things we have done with our learning platform, SharePoint 2010.

Well worth watching ... Dave has set up some nifty solutions and Mike has cracking advice about how to get the best educational use out of Sharepoint. Worth sharing with teachers and techies alike.

When you create a post there only you and our sponsors will see it and only sponsors will be able to respond, moderators can not see your posts currently. No other members of edugeek will be able to inspect your quotes.

The other requirement the forum has is a minimum of 1 posts before you can enter.

So now to create a quote request for our sponsors go to:

Quote Requests

We may change this back in the future based feedback but if we do we will let you know in advance.

If you have been contacted about a quote request on the forum by direct email/call please report any details you can to the Message the Admins to allow us to figure the size of the problem.

Well its a whole new type of spam anyway