localzuk

Grabbed (based on today's Miley Cyrus news).

One thing everyone should take into account is that pricing is very much dependent on location. We are in the most expensive zone AFAIK vs, I suspect, @Sephiroth is likely in the cheapest zone.

I have a query - is the free version of ActivInspire allowed to be used in schools? Only the Ts and Cs don't seem to say so. I emailed the company but have had no response after a week or so.

Yeah, seeing packet loss is indicative of something being wrong.

We looked at 500MB on 1GB here originally, and the difference in price was very minimal to just going the full 1GB. I mean a few hundred quid a year difference.

Depends on the contract and what they change. Most now include a "we can increase prices by X measure of inflation" to cover price increases (which is usually fine). A lot of these contract changes have never been tested in court to be honest, as most companies back down or settle before getting there.

1Gbit leased line £14935pa (covers 6 schools though). Firewall/filtering/PTP lines to the other schools separate.

Reader, as we use electronic signatures in PDF forms for HR stuff.

Its a fairly simple thing - c# front end and admin tool, MSSQL database. Runs on a couple of touchscreen Very PC devices in the kitchen. Been running it for a good 7 years now. Little service that runs periodically pulling data from SIMS to update the users etc... Another service that works with ParentMail to sync with them (getting that right was a bit of a faff but its been pretty solid).

My own one. Written for the job.

Our future plans might be: Moving our internally hosted web stuff to Moving our AD to it, so it isn't on-site Potentially hosting SIMS (but this would be a bodge, so it isn't my favoured solution) SSO for AD users with Google Apps etc... The thing is, as schools/trusts, we don't really look at Azure for its SaaS stuff - we look at products that do. So, we wouldn't look at their Queues and Azure database stuff and think "ah, yes, that'll help". We buy a library system or whatever that is hosted on Azure and uses those things. As end users, our direct uses for Azure are more in the PaaS realm I'd say.

I think that may be a miniature model, rather than full size? Kinda looks it. Interesting design though - they've focused on the fact that for most of its life it'll be flying forward, which makes a lot of sense.

We currently use Azure for: 1. Blob storage for offsite DR backups 2. DNS for all our external facing domains 3. Hosting a "status" website We will likely end up growing this use over time, as we are planning on going "onsite serverless" over the next 2 years.

Legally? I'm not sure they can. Well, not if someone decided to challenge it. One side of a contract cannot unilaterally change the contract to the detriment of the other side without their agreement. Doing so allows for the harmed side to end the contract from the moment the new "terms" come into effect. Its why, when some mobile phone providers decided to change their terms, loads of people ended their contract on the spot because they can't be held to it. Loads of companies have tried stuff like this and have lost when they've been challenged on it.

The Edge series are more of a traditional switch - not web managed/cloudy type. So CLI managed etc...

I have a Huawei Watch GT. Not quite as "smart" as other smart watches, more of an exercise watch with notifications to be honest. BUT, the big advantage of it is that the battery lasts 2 weeks. Only thing I wish it had on top was Android pay/contactless payment built in.

We use that switch as our aggregation switch here - works flawlessly. Note, you'll need a unifi controller if you want unifi switches. You can either do this in software on a machine, or get one of their "Cloud Key" devices.

Ah, I didn't face any of that - cameras were adopted straight away, updates worked (we use a transparent proxy), and we use Google Chrome anyway. Seems like you had a rough experience. It isn't enterprise, that's definitely true. Its SMB class really.

Indeed, but now you're running 2 computers... The iPad and the PC.

£40 for an adapter is ridiculous. All my Windows devices have HDMI built in. A micro USB to HDMI lead is a fiver for Android devices etc... When schools have their sites set up, we have to justify change. I simply cannot see how moving to a more expensive device with less functionally than our existing Windows devices is an improvement... Apple have even recognised their devices are too limited, which is why they're forking iOS, and adding mouse support and a proper file manager.

Connecting to any of the millions of non-wireless connected displays in the country eg. HDMI or VGA. The vast majority of schools do not have wireless screens to connect to. We'd have to completely rethink how we set up classrooms if we switched to iPad Pro devices.

Their top level AP is a 3x3 design with only wave 1 802.11ac, so they can't be that good - they're behind the times with their tech. In comparison, Ruckus go up to an 8x8 design with wave 2 ac. Hell, they're even still selling 802.11n APs! Their main business seems to be PTP/PTMP stuff, with the enterprise wi-fi as an afterthought.

How so? Took us about 15 mins to get ours set up - plug the cameras in, plug the NVR in, adopt the cameras on the NVR, done... What issues did you have?

Cheap systems are generally not great quality. Personally, I'd recommend you look at the Ubiquiti Unifi CCTV stuff. 30fps 1080p IP camera is £110, with weather proof, 4k options too etc... Unifi NVR with 2TB disk that can handle up to 20 cameras is £300. Cheaper than big name stuff, but better than the cheapo stuff. We have put it in to 2 of our schools now. Hikvision have a cheaper range too, the HiWatch stuff. 4MP dome is £53. Appears to be limited to 8 channels per NVR though.

I just can't see who the market is for the Mac Pro. Need power for rendering stuff? Professionals use GPU server farms now (either their own or rented time in commercial ones). The components in the thing don't add up to even half the price they're charging. Really is a Mac tax. Also, $1000 for a stand!?