Roberto

We’re using Azure SSPR. You can enable access to it from any Windows 10 computer on your network if it’s using a recent build, as per https://itsalwaysmyproblem.com/2018/08/23/tuning-up-intune-self-service-password-reset-from-the-login-screen/

I've recently had the tour of Stone's factory that included a detailed look at their disposal/recyling plant and processes, which look absolutely first class to me. We've used them before and I would already recommend them on that basis alone but in these modern GDPRd times, seeing the precision of their processes and procedures for managing equipment disposal really does give them an edge I'd say.

Have to agree with this. I suppose you can say it's a matter of deciding what the risk is to you and making a choice based on that rather than doing it based on dogma, but for our environment this would be very bad indeed.

Never change, Microsoft. Never change.

We've got a call out to our account manager to see what the verdict is on this.

We're running about 114 GPOs here (some of which are legacy and kept for reference) for about 7500 users. To be honest, we probably need to do some tidying up here as I don't think they're as efficient as they could be - which is a comment about some of the legacy stuff we're still using, not about the number we have. But priorities being what they are, that's a problem for tomorrow (or more likely 2019) Roberto.

Annoying, isn't it?

I don't think there's one true "normal number" of GPOs. It rather depends on what they're trying to do and the philosophy of the people implementing it. If they're creating lots of "thin" GPOs with just one or two settings in each because they need flexibility to apply different combinations of settings to different situations that's quite ok. If someone didn't realise that you could apply the same GPO at different places in the GPO tree and there are therefore lots of repeated settings that need to be changed in more than one place,then yeah that's a problem... but with how things are being done rather than the specific number of GPOs.

I'm looking forward to seeing this, critics notwithstanding. I'm not even saying the critics are wrong to have concerns, but I'm a big enough fan to want to see the film anyway. As Freddy was one of the first of my "boyhood heroes" to die, along with David Rocastle, and I cried like a baby at the time, I suspect there will be tears in the movie for me.

Agreed. If Microsoft want to move fast on releases, why not a "Tick/Tock" approach - "New features" release then "Stability release" each year.

IT Support Technician (Full Time, Full Year)Working 37 hours per week Monday to Friday between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm, full year, with flexibility required. You will manage the College’s IT Support functions, including both online and physical helpdesks, including: Assisting in the support of staff and students using College IT equipment and services Assisting in the maintenance of computers, related hardware, software, service request data and other departmental records We are looking for a candidate who: Has experience of working in a help desk environment in a Windows networked environment. Has knowledge and experience of supporting and maintaining PCs and core office software Sixth Form Colleges’ Support Staff Pay Spine 20, £17,700 rising to point 23, £19,094 with annual increments based on service and performance related criteria Start Date: As soon as possibleClosing date for completed application forms: Monday 22nd October 2018 For more details and to apply see: https://www.fejobs.com/job/it-support-technician-1009447?lang=en-GB&frmsrh=Y

We've recently done this. We use ADFS 4.0 and from AD Connect v 1.1.819.0 onwards, it's crazy simple to enable Hybrid Azure AD Join for devices. AD Connect will allow you to do all this from within the AD Connect connection wizard and it will take care of service point config and ADFS configuration if needed. In terms of value of doing it, you can then use the results to apply intune policies to devices and users, to make SSPR from the Windows 10 login screen, store for education, deliver always-on VPN. There's quite a few things that Microsoft really would prefer us all to be doing with "Modern Management" these days and are therefore easier to do from intune. Super-easy to set up, works really well.

What are you trying to do with this? In Sharepoint Online you have the option in the properties of a document or library to easily share documents within the org (and outside for that matter). In the Office apps themselves you can work with sharing documents from the office app's own "file" menu. You can also use things like Flow to save attachments to Sharepoint Online: https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/galleries/public/templates/f7a46809e53c42108034e56acf83bb79/save-my-email-attachments-to-a-sharepoint-document-library/ We've implemented OneDrive Mapper to map everyone's ODfB for them on login but this is sort of hinky to me and we need to be encouraging people to think about these things in new ways and work "natively" within Office 365 (or gapps or whatever) instead of using hacks like webdav drive mappers as a hedge against the day that no longer works, or for that matter, the day they're miles away on a 'guest' computer trying to give a presentation and need to know how to reach their document in O365 without custom drive mappers!

Well no, I didn't. If I had known what was implied then I wouldn't have said it made no sense.

That makes no sense. You can't "apply for copyright" on someone else's work.

I guess I have two concerns here: Firstly, the school should stop accepting "audits" from auditors who have a vested interest in selling you things. I appreciate that's easier said than done if they're getting in the ear of someone high up (I'm basing all this on the phrase "subjected" in your post btw), but there's an obvious conflict of interest if the same people who are identifying needs are the same people selling products to meet those needs... Secondly, what happened to the fibre? This would bother me, it shouldn't simply just fail. As dcwhitworth says, if its between two buildings then you should be using fibre, but in any case if this is a major run and you have no redundancy that's a worry. Beyond that, my only feeling is that future network expansion might be limited depending on what kind of copper you run there. It's possible to push 10Gbe over Cat 6a reasonably enough these days so that would be a reasonable change to make now with room for future expansion but I'd not be impressed if they were quoting Cat 5e.

We're running the properly expensive stuff - aruba - and we have something like 2 controllers and 150-ish APs. I think we pay around £8k a year licence and support so your costs there do seem expensive.

@Norphy and others raise good points about services that will need some kind of local management. Whether or not you need AD is open to interpretation - so many things "just assume you have it" these days that I would wonder. Other than that, I think we're certainly on the cusp of being able to go all-in on cloud. I do know that if I was designing a green-field infrastructure for a new college somewhere it would look quite different to what we have here which is designed about moving a "long tail" of on-site services to a balanced cloud/local setup. There's a risk with going cloudy sure, the whole "what happens if Gapps/O365 fails" concern and that's a risk that should be considered. However there needs to be an honest comparison of that risk to the risk of local services falling over too. I'm pretty good at Exchange, for example, I've supported it since Exchange 5.0 was brand new, I've been a Microsoft MVP for Exchange, I've played with the source code... but you know what, however good I think I am, however good I actually am... Microsoft themselves with Exchange Online in Office 365 are much much better. Microsoft themselves are running it on better infrastructure than the college could ever afford. Microsoft themselves are able to offer my users 100Gb mailboxes that I'm a long way from being able to do locally. Microsoft themselves can provide better experience for my remote users. Microsoft can offer my college a more consistent experience and continuity of service/support that doesn't rely on me never leaving. You'll need to think about things like dual internet connections and as I see people have made comments about "putting yourself out of a job", I'm not worried about that here as we move stuff to the cloud; instead my job and that of my infrastructure team is evolving and that's just fine.

I don't know. It would be too simple to just run a script that pinpointed the issue eh? To be honest, I had similar issues where I had an old legacy list that was originally created for Exchange 5.5 so I just ended up redoing it.

Have you checked the eligibility guide? https://support.office.com/en-us/article/upgrade-distribution-lists-to-office-365-groups-in-outlook-787d7a75-e201-46f3-a242-f698162ff09f#bkmk_which

If you are talking about just IIS logs in the locations specified then you can delete these without any worries. I would suggest that you should leave the current logs available unless you need to troubleshoot but you can dispose of IIS application logs if you want. I wouldn't recommend preventing the creation of logs either, again they can be invaluable for troubleshooting. I also find that applying NTFS compression to that folder will greatly reduce the space it needs but do this after you remove old logs. You don't need to stop IIS to remove old logs.

It's not normal these days to disable IPv6. There were some early issues where some apps didn't play nicely with a dual IP stack, and that's translated to cargo-cult "disable IPv6" advice more recently. There might be some specific situations where specific issues arise and this could in theory be one, but I don't really see what internal IP stack has to do with external (presumably, as you mention the ISP) web filtering.

I would second this. The 5400R range of switches are pretty darn good and makes a fantastic core for most schools or small colleges. We've been really pleased with the HP range of switches for both edge and core.

Absolutely. We're looking at changing away from "traditional" ideas of password expiry. It's counter-intuitive, but Microsoft have far better data on password use, vulnerability, etc. than we all do.

I'm not sure that throwing about offensive terms simply because others are more cautious than you is an effective way of making your point. I don't think there's any reason to condemn others for being cautious in the light of new and far reaching legislation, especially when stuff that should already be in place, e.g. safeguarding, could easily apply to the scenarios being discussed.