robknowles

Hello, Yes, the computers are small form factor with a micro atx motherboard. Thanks, Rob

Hello, Thanks for the PM @clywedog, I will send you an email in a short while @Jasbo we are based in Sutton Coldfield, just north of Birmingham @Trapper, yes that's fine. I can hold 10 back until Monday. Thanks, Rob

Just an update with also now have the following available: 1 x J9028b (gigabit). £10. 2 x J9624a (24 Port PWR). £50 each. 7 x J8762a (8 PWR). £25 each. 6 x J9086a (24 Port with 12 Ports PWR). £30 each. 10 x J4858c (Transceivers - Short Range). £18 each. Thanks, Rob

Hello, We have a good number of desktops for sale now that they have been replaced. Specifications are: - Stone built machines - Intel Core 2 Duo Processors - 2.13GHz, 2.4GHz and a few a bit faster - 2GB Ram - Either 250GB or 320GB SATA HDD - Intel vPro Motherboard with onboard sound, 1Gbits/s NIC, firewire plus USB 2 - models are either one of these three - Intel DQ45CB, DQ965GF or SQ35JO - Came with Windows XP Pro COA - however, these may have come off over the years - Dedicated Video Card - 128MB or 256MB ATI or nVidia option Sold with no warranty, keyboard, mouse or OS installation. At least 100 available for collection only. £25 each with the possibility of a reduction for bulk purchases. Thanks, Rob

Hello, We have recently completed replacing our switches across the site. Therefore we have the following available: 10 x HP J4900A (2626 - 24 Port Switch with 2 Gigabit/Mini GBIC Uplinks). £10 each. 10 x HP J4900B (2626 - 24 Port Switch with 2 Gigabit/Mini GBIC Uplinks). £10 each 4 x HP J4900C (2626 - 24 Port Switch with 2 Gigabit/Mini GBIC Uplinks). £15 each. 1 x HP J9085A (E2610 - 24 Port Switch with 2 Gigabit/Mini GBIC Uplinks). £30. 23 x HP J4858A Transceivers - Short Range GBic Modules. £10 each. 3 x HP J4858B Transceivers - Short Range GBic Modules. £15 each. Collection only on the switches, will post the Transceivers out. I'm happy to look at discounts for a bulk purchase. Thanks, Rob

Hello, Like yourself, we use FROG and previously used the FROG/GOOGLE SSO option but was limited by its lack of support for GDrive etc. Anyway, I installed and configured the DirSync and Password Sync tools and killed the link within FROG for the generation of user accounts this way. Seems to work very well this way and we get the full functionality of everything. Thanks, Rob

Hello, Apparently, according to the GAMME documentation, migrations can be stopped and then restarted again and it will continue from where it was stopped. Has anybody done this? Is it a simple as clicking cancel, and then at a later date simply choosing to start it again. Assuming that I want to split the csv file with the users I wish to import (i.e. I'm thinking of running more instances, each in their own VM, to speed up the process) will it be clever enough to not duplicate previously imported emails? Thanks, Rob

Hello, We did use FROG with Google Apps, using the KB article above and it worked and auto-created new users and signed them in automatically. We have now stopped using SSO with FROG. Basically because most web-services, such as using the Google Drive client wouldn't work - the FROG Sign in page always presented an error. We now use the Google tool to sync our AD to Google Apps. Thanks, Rob

@TheCrust When we original had FrogOS installed the implementation team said we needed 12GB Ram from the outset. We have 4 x 2GB sticks to compliment the existing 2 x 2GB sticks we had.

Hello, @Gibbo the part number is HP PN J4858A Thanks, Rob

Hi, We had FROG OS installed just before Easter, as we are one of their Champion Schools. We did have a ram upgrade - now running with 12GB. Works great in Chrome but also Internet Explorer as well. We have also tested it on iPADs (not much though) and it works perfectly fine on those as well, where-as FROG v3 was hit and miss in terms of mobile devices. Much quicker and slicker than v3 and has some nice features. Completely redefined interface. I must admit does leave pretty much every other VLE I've seen behind. From what I can gather schools can request to be upgraded, although I believe there's a big queue so it may be a few weeks as they are slowly rolling it out to schools so it's done properly. Cheers, Rob

Hi, I'm looking at setting up VRRP. I have an existing, older switch/router that supports this so was thinking about using it as a backup for our core router. My understanding is this: - Each Router has all of the VLANs & Routing tables etc setup, each with its own unique IP for each VLAN/Subnet defined. - VRRP is enabled and is associated with a Virtual VRRP IP Address for each VLAN/subnet - this is the address that clients use as the default gateway. - I specify a master router (i.e. our current core router by specifying a value, such as 255 - highest priority) and enable this. - I will then setup the secondary router. - All our satellite/edge switches must be connected to both switches. STP will be enabled to disable the uplink to the backup router until the main link goes off. - If the core router goes offline then within a few seconds the backup router assumes the role as the router for the school and STP will allow the backup link to be used - If a fibre transceiver goes down on a edge switch then STP will allow data to be transmitted to the backup switch which transmit it to the core switch. Is my understanding correct? So in my case, I will need to rename IPs used on the current core router, such as 172.16.0.1 becoming 172.16.0.2, setup the backup router to have 172.16.0.3 and then also setup VRRP to then re-use 172.16.0.1 (as clients already point to this as the default gateway). Any thoughts appreciated. I should add I have Dell PowerConnect Switches - using a 8000 (Master) and 7000 (Backup) series router Cheers, Rob

Hello, We have 10 at present. Thanks, Rob

Hello, Switches: We have available some 2nd hand HP ProCurve 2626 Switches - 24 Port J4900A (and a couple of B revisions as well) (HP ProCurve Switch 2600 Series) All support VLANs but no proper Layer 3 routing. Looking for £10 each collection. We can arrange delivery but that will be extra depending on the quantity and delivery location. GBIC Modules: We also have some of the SX-LC GBIC Modules as well (HP ProCurve Mini-GBICs - World Wide QuickSpecs). Looking for £15 each collection. Can post these out as well. Dell Server: Dell PowerEdge 2900 - 5U Rack Mount Server. Has 2 x Quad Core Xeon 5345 Processor (2.66 GHz), with 32GB Ram, 2 x Dual Port Intel NICs and 2 x Onboard NIC (all Gigabit) , iDRAC Enterprise and RAID controller with 256MB Battery backed cache. Will have 6 x HDD Caddy Bays (no HDDs though - supports SAS and if you purchase a Dell interposer SATA as well). Dual Power Redundant PSU. Runs vSphere 5.1 fine. Looking for £250 for collection. I should be able to negotiate pricing if you take a few items. Thanks, Rob

Hi, There is a pretty indepth review on the AnandTech site. AnandTech | The next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina Display Review That particular page has all of the SSD Benchmark figures. Cheers, Rob

Hello, We are looking at getting a few new fibre optic cables installed at our Academy. We've had a quote from a company named CS Comms (CS COMMS - Telephone Systems, Networking, VOIP, Broadband Provision). I just wondered if anybody has used them and thoughts on their service, whether good or bad. Thanks, Rob

Hello, We have a Dell MD3220i plus MD1220 Shelf with 48 x 600GB 10K SAS - I think the only difference between the 3620 is the inclusion of 10Gbits/s Ethernet or 8GB Fibre connectors instead of 1Gbits/s Ethernet on ours. I think everything else is the same - management console is nice and intuitive. Performance seems to hold well, I haven't had any issues with it really. I've never touched IBM kit so I can't comment. We have are similar size school to yourselves. Likewise we have Dell Servers, again no issues with these. Thanks, Rob

Hi, Do you have Impero? There's a policy that can be set on this to mute audio/adjust sound levels. Cheers, Rob

Hi, When I login to the Management Interface on the Autoloader library it doesn't specify anywhere to change the IDs. Under Drives it specifically states that there are no user adjustable SAS settings. Thanks, Rob

Hello, I've got a support contract but I'm not sure whether it's a Symantec issue - like I said originally it doesn't show in Windows Device Manager either. A few things I've tried is: - Firmware Update on both the Library and Tape Drives themselves - Disabled the SCSI Card (via the BIOS) - the one that connects to the existing Dell 124T AutoLoader - Changed the Control Path between both Drives on the autoloader and also tried it with both enabled - Changed from Random to sequential to Random (mode). - Tried connecting it to a Dell H800 SAS Card (from the Adaptec 1045 Cards currently connected to). Only shows the Tape Drives still and not the Library. - Tried various config options on the Adaptec Controller - And lots of reboots! Still don't have a clue. Might look at a different SAS Card and see if that helps, although like I said before I've had it connected to two different models and still no luck. One thing I notice is that on a server reboot I go into the BIOS options for the Adaptec SAS Cards themselves and can see the Tape Drive and Library itself listed, so the card can see the unit. It's just that Windows can't see the library. I'm considering a complete install of Windows Server perhaps and see if that helps. Server only runs Backup Exec so not a major problem. Thanks, Rob

Hello, VMware View - 4 x Dell R710 Servers (2 x Quad Core with 72GB Ram) - iSCSI Connected to a Datacore SAN (runs onto of Windows) with 3 x PCIe 960GB SSDs. Each server handles about 30-40 users depending on the software being used. Citrix XenDesktop - 8 Nodes (Intel E3 - Quad Core with 32GB Ram along with a single SSD - 240GB, no RAID). Each node handles 12 desktops fine. Originally we used Windows Terminal Services - this wasn't too popular. VMware View was originally used for Remote Access, which is popular. We decided to migrate Windows TS to Virtual Desktops, however, View was too expensive hence why we got Citrix. It also saved a lot on backend SAN Storage etc. Means that usability is similiar to a traditional desktop - just to slowness of older Thin Clients that are an issue now! Thanks, Rob

Hi, 1) Yes, it's on the HCL 2) Tried both IBM and Symantec Drivers. On the server boot up when it comes to the Adaptec SCSI Adaptor it can see both a tape library and tape drive attached. Thanks, Rob

They are certainly coming down in price. I've seen the OCZ RevoDrive 960GB PCIe for around £800 in a couple of places recently (can't remember where though). Compared to SAS Drives they are still move expensive which is perfectly fine for file storage, but in a few years time I will definitely consider it.

Hi all, I've had a new IBM TS3100 AutoLoader arrive today with 2 x LTO6 SAS Drives. I'm currently trying to configure it to work with the Server. I've applied the latest firmware to both the library and both tape drives, as well as downloading the latest Tape Drives. I can't seem to get Symantec to see it as an Autoloader but it can see both Tape Drives. Windows Device Manager shows both Tape Drives but doesn't show the Media Changer Device, which I would expect to see (I have a Dell 124T AutoLoader with LTO3 SCSI Device and can see this). On the library management interface it's set to Random mode, so the application should control the Tape Library. Any ideas? Any one else got a IBM TS3100 (or TS3200) SAS Drive (not necessarily LTO6) that have resolved similar issues? Cheers, Rob

We have SSDs only for Virtual Desktops at the moment. We have a Dell R710 Server running Datacore (on top of Windows 2008 R2) with 3 x 960GB OCZ RevoDrive X2 Cards (loved the performance indications that @jamesfed videos gave from his Hyper-V/VDI In A Box demo), running VMware View Images. Our ESXi Hosts connect to this via iSCSI. Very very quick - makes VDI Usable now, where-as lots of 15K RPM Disks didn't!! In fact I had to upgrade to 10Gbits/s Cards just to get the performance from it and even then there's probably more needed. Our new Citrix based setup (XenDesktop VDI Edition on top of XenServer) runs on a Supermicro Cloud Chasis (8 Nodes within 3U) - each node has a single SSD Card (were OCZ Vertex - 5 out of the original 8 died within two months - now replaced with Intel SSD). Work lovely and fast!! Reminds me I must post about this some day. Probably will look at SSDs for other Servers (SQL predominately) and userprofiles/software shares, but that's it. For normal documents it's too expensive at present. Cheers, Rob