NorthernSands

I'm having to migrate our DB to a new server this week or next, too. We have some strange problems that aren't the DB (SIMS crashes entering brand new addresses), and the current Setups folder won't accept the Spring 2011 update from SOLUS. I was hoping to use the Spring 2011 install CD, but it hasn't been released yet. Hopefully this week or next!

True, in terms of hardware. Not true in terms of licencing. I don't know the licence / maintenance model of the old mobile system, but if it's like pretty much anything else in SIMS, it's a steep licence cost, with a cheaper yearly maintenance charge. You don't replace your licence every 3 years.

Ha! You're right Vik. When I started writing it I didn't intend to make it like that, but got carried away! Must stop doing that. I should indeed migrate to the stickied thread and read that... But hey, if it went web based, then all those WinMo devices the school's have bought might still work!

I do feel for the schools that implemented it, but even two years ago, WinMo was a dated system, and weren't the requirements WinMo5? Regarding Emerge: why, oh why, is it just for idevices? Sure, they are popular devices, and for good reason, but they aren't a business tool (and I'm not saying Android is either) and do we really expect schools to stump up the cost of even an ipod? Or is the expectation that teachers will use their own personal devices? Who's going to provide support? Up-skill the technicians? IOS devices may have had greater market share, in terms of a single mobile OS / single manufacturer than any other single mobile OS / single manufacturer, but that market share was still way less than half the total, so not the most popular overall. And the writing has been on the wall for a good year with regards to the uptake of Android. Sure, they had to start developing this some time ago, but the choice they made to only support IOS lacked foresight. How are they going to support Android? A new native app? What about Windows Phone 7 (if it ever takes off)? Only developing for a single OS / manufacturer forces users down a specific route, or discriminates against those who won't (I also think this of forcing Windows use). Developing multiple native apps for multiple platforms is a waste of time and money when they can all share a common platform: web tech. All smartphones now have a decent browser and all support a lot of HTML5 and other modern web standards (CSS3 etc...). Surely that's the way forward? Pros: Develop once but use on multiple devices, automatic support for any new devices that appear in the future, better support for current low power devices that struggle with the current client (nettops etc...), if following the strict standards support becomes a browser issue (not Capita's), established encryption and security, better handling of different screen sizes / resolutions, Capita have already said they are heading for the cloud rather than specific native applications, schools can choose exactly which product to go for (nettops even those cheap Chinese Android tablets). Cons: er, Capita don't get that marketing buzzy crap about getting on the idevice band-wagon, they may have to provide a compatibility support list. Anyone else thinking this way? Or is it just me? Sorry, bit of a rant. I just get frustrated when companies listen to their marketing bozos rather than actually thinking it through. Please, Phil Neal, explain your reasoning and prove me wrong. PS.: Hope I haven't offended any idevice users!

Just running SIMSInst.exe on it's own will install everything that's needed. It calls the other files as and when. This will also install SQL 2008 Express during the process. Incidentally, I've had an 8GB SIMS DB running fine in SQL Express (just for me, though). If you're using a copy of your existing DB, then, as Matt40K says, produce an on the fly backup, then restore it once your new server is set up (i.e. don't attach the DB during the install process, nor set up a new one). If using your DB, I would run SIMS and import the latest reports so that the Doc Storage file structure is set up for you. Then paste in the copy of all your Doc Storage files and overwrite the reports that were just imported. It is often beneficial to use the latest install CD. As Matt40K alluded, SIMSInst can be a few years out of date on some servers.

I stand corrected.

Not fmsapplicationsetup.exe on it's own. I thought it was just simsinst.exe that your ran, and just tick the FMS option. This is what installs all the extras. Best thing to use is a copy of the setups folder from the SIMS server.

*cough*VPN*cough*

Fair point. It could well be 'environmental' then. As in, something about the server environment that's causing it. We currently have a problem where we can't add any new addresses for existing student's, staff, etc..., SIMS crashes. Take the DB and put it on my workstation; works fine. Try lifting a copy of the DB off and trying it on another 'server'. I would, however, try the Spring update first, as you say.

But might not Capita turn round and say "unsupported server OS"? Server 2008 R2 was only supported from the, just released, Spring update. I know FMS is very particular about how you update SQL, move the DB around etc. The common thing is for it to 'drop' the SQL logins. This sounds similar. @AlexTreadwell: Did you use the FMS DBAttach, or the SIMS DBAttach?

Mornin' all. Please see below the kind of Connect.ini you'll need to provide a drop down box in the SIMS login window to select multiple DBs. [sIMS_Server] and [Workstation_01] are the server names, [sIMS2008] is the instance name. You can reference multiple server / instance combinations. Just plonk this in your SIMS.Net folder on your workstation, overwriting the 'redirect' connect.ini, and you're good to go (after you've actually set up the DBs). My workstation also acts as a server for Green Abbey and Waters Edge when I'm out and about training in school with my laptop (which has the same connect.ini). [sIMSConnection] ServerName=SIMS_Server\SIMS2008 DatabaseName=SIMS DatabaseMode=OnLine [sIMSDatabases] FriendlyName0=Green Abbey Server0=Workstation_01\SIMS2008 DatabaseName0=EngGA DatabaseMode0=OnLine FriendlyName1=Water's Edge Server1=Workstation_01\SIMS2008 DatabaseName1=EngWE DatabaseMode1=OnLine FriendlyName2=School-Copy Server2=Workstation_01\SIMS_School DatabaseName2=SIMS DatabaseMode2=OnLine FriendlyName3=School Server3=SIMS_Server\SIMS2008 DatabaseName3=SIMS DatabaseMode3=OnLine [sIMSOffline] PreviousRedirect= PreviousServerName=SIMS_Server\SIMS2008 PreviousDatabaseName=SIMS PreviousDatabaseMode=OnLine HTH

I don't actually know what the letter of the licence says, but in my experience Capita don't seem to mind. It's not a live DB, they don't provide support, nor do they have to allocate a new DfEE number for SOLUS (you could use the DfEE number changer patch and use your LA one, or just run DBUpgrade after you've updated the live DB). However, YMMV with Capita.

I've also run numerous SIMS DBs on one machine. If you're running SQL Express, put the 2nd DB in a different instance. Full SQL doesn't matter. When I'm in work in the morning I'll document the modifications to the Connect.ini you'll need (unless someone beats me to it). Regarding the DB itself, you can use a blank DB (but there's a specific routine you have to run to set it up). You could also use the training DBs that Capita provide, if you access to them. Or just take a copy of your existing DB and use that (though you'll run into problems if you use trusted logins). If you use the last option, you may want to alter the school name and / or logo to help prevent you from getting confused! Been there, done that...

Just a few of things to think about: FMS is very sensitive to default printers (regardless if you're printing or not) Use IP addresses instead in all SIMS related .INI files Try not using FDS (create shortcuts) Re-install FMS whilst on the VPN RDP to a workstation / server in school instead HTH

Absolutely! The problems we had with them! Grrrr! To be fair, a lot of the schools that had these shoved them under desks and left them there for years, regardless if building work was going on around them or not! (sorry, overdoing the exclamation marks) They ran slowly at the best of times, but because dust blocked up the HSFs the CPUs would over-heat and then start throttling to keep running (90 degrees C or more for weeks on end), slowing them down even more. It could be some considerable time like that before it would overheat enough to shut down. Then we were called out. I'd get very strange looks from teachers as I stood outside in a grey cloud, blowing into Heat-sinks, fans, motherboards etc. I'd turn up in a nice clean suit, then leave completely covered in dust and dead spiders. We went through a fair amount of thermal paste and re-conditioned fans, too. The worst case had a colony of Silverfish living underneath! The nightmares! Sorry, a tad OT...

Well, the Checkpoint stuff, I'm assuming, is some kind of firewall / security solution (Check Point - Security Appliances, Security Gateways, Firewall, Security Management, Endpoint Security & Software Blades). Whether you need that or not purely depends on your network infrastructure. 4 hours at £210 doesn't sound that bad for the SIMS installation (depending on the number of workstations) and Curriculum - Admin link. Assuming a few things about your network, the 4 hours should include: Ensuring there's a network link between the two networks. Setting up a domain trust between the two domains. Setting up the permissions on the domains for the Curriculum staff. Configuring the DNS suffix search order list. Altering the login scripts on the Curriculum side to map the SIMS share for teachers. Install SIMS. Make sure it works. This will be the bare-minimum to get SIMS in the classroom and there are a boat load of things that can interfere with the plan. You'll also still need to know if the network can handle it, and that the SIMS server can handle it (specs of the SIMS box would still be useful). To give you an idea as to why the SIMS server needs looking at, 8 months ago I was still working in the UK, offering SIMS and network support to approx 150 schools in a large local authority. There were primary schools, with a lot more pupils than yours, running the SIMS server on the admin's workstation, with several other SIMS workstations in use. The 'server' was a single core P4 2.8GHz, 1GB RAM, single HDD, Server 2003 running on a 100Mb network, with tape backup. And they thought SIMS was just a clunky, slow mess. They didn't stop to consider the server specs, or the network. Hope this helps!

Thanks, guys. I've always wanted to test this out, but never had the time when I needed to work and I've erred on the side of caution! Always the way...

Other than what Vik has said, which is absolutely spot on, make sure you have a good backup before running any patch on the DB (I know it does a backup during the patching routine, but this can fail). Regular backups of the SIMS (and FMS) DB are vital. Some establishments (mine included) backup the DB more than once a day. SIMS is very good from a data-integrity point of view, but it can go wrong (not to mention what staff can achieve!).

I used to have individual reports that took an age and a day, but they had graphs in. As soon as I removed the graphs they were considerably quicker. Still, as Vik says, check to see what your workstation is doing when you run the reports. When something is running slow it's always useful to find the 'bottle-neck'. Bring up TaskManager and monitor the LAN, CPU and RAM usage over the time it takes to produce a few students' reports. If you can RDP to the SIMS server, bring the same up on there. If the RAM usage goes up to near max, also check for Page / Hard Faults for Winword or Pulsar. This means it's having to dive to the pagefile on the HDD to find stuff and that will be SLOOOOOW (the pagefile can be well over 100 times slower than RAM). You don't say what type of CPU, nor what OS you're running on the workstation. If a P4 based CPU running Windows 7, or Vista, then yes, I'd expect it to take that long. If I'm absolutley honest, 1GB of RAM is not enough regardless of OS or CPU. 2GB on Windows XP or 4GB on Vista / 7 is where you'll want to be, in an ideal world. Preventing programs using the pagefile is usually far more beneficial that a faster CPU (unless it's a P4 based CPU, then that should be in the bin IMHO). Let us know the results of the above tests.

That's certainly a possiblity. However, does the VLE support systems other than SIMS? And don't forget, while something like Scholarpack maybe be free in itself, there will be a cost in person-hours getting all the data moved across, and in re-training. Of course, rolling SIMS out into the class-room will also involve a certain level of training...

I agree with eean. Link the Admin and Cirruc networks. I've worked with numerous Primary Schools on just this kind of expansion. It will cost, but perhaps not as much as you think. I'm sure you'll already have the SIMS Attendence module, and that's all a primary / first school will need. I suspect what Capita demo'd will have been Lesson Monitor, which you simply won't need (and it's very expensive). So, if you link the two networks together (something I've done a few times), you can roll the SIMS client out to the teachers' PCs in the classroom, then they are able to take the register directly in SIMS, for the AM and PM registration periods. Once they've got used to that, you can roll out Assessment, Behaviour and Achievement collection, again in the classroom. Capita will not charge you any extra for this, you should already have the licence to have other people use SIMS on their PCs. Also consider having your other admin staff access it. Permissions can be specified for all users to keep everything secure. Reading into your post, it sounds as though the Senior Admin's workstation is also the SIMS server. In all likelyhood this might not be powerful enough to serve SIMS to more than, say, 5 other workstations (post spec's and we'll be able to tell you). You may want to consider moving SIMS onto a dedicated server. You'll also need to make sure that the link between the two networks is sufficient, a 100Mb link at the absolute minimum. A 1Gb link between the two would be ideal, with another 1Gb link to the SIMS server. Essentially creating a 1Gb 'backbone' with 100Mb feeding each workstation. This would future proof you for some time in a school of your size. You don't want teachers not using SIMS because they feel that it's too slow, you may as well not bother. There are some quirks you might run into, depending on how your two networks are set up and how they are linked. Again, post the current setup and we'll help. Hope this helps.

Thanks for that, Sivadam. I love FAQs about technical stuff, written by somebody who is either non-technical themselves, or doesn't know how to write techie stuff for non techies: 2 Gigabit? I'm sure that's actually meant to be 2GB (GigaByte, world of difference there), and I'm also sure that's refering to the amount of RAM that said PC/laptop needs, rather than, say, the HDD size. That answer raises more questions than it answers. Still, at least they've lowered the RAM required by half.

There are a few ways it can be done, but I would not recommend many of them for implementation half way through the year. You might find your best bet is to deliberately 'clash' a student's timetable. I.e. manually force the student into the intervention group _and_ En, then resolve each period manually. However, if you don't mind re-sheduling En entirely, and if you're just withdrawing students from 1 out of 4 En classes, this will work: Spilt the En block in NT6 into two blocks, one with 3 lessons, then 1 with 1 lesson. In the block with 1 lesson, add you intervention group to the end. Re-schedule the blocks, then import into SIMS. Re-allocate students to En. You will need to allocate a student to En twice; once for the 3 lessons, then once for the 1 lesson, with the option of putting them in the intervention group instead of the final En lesson. Alternatively, the recently released Spring update has got some 'alternative provision' stuff in it. No idea how it works, though, 'cause I haven't looked! Hope this helps.

I've been re-naming Aspects for years. You've mentioned one caveat: the column headers won't rename in existing templates. Another caveat is that you'll have to re-tag any Individual Reports. You're only going to run into problems if you're changing the Aspects use; i.e. English to English Language. It's not a problem for the data, but you have to remember what you've done when referencing old data. So, go ahead! Regarding the Reg Group names; changing the name to correct a spelling is fine, but changing the name completely is a no-no (because of historic data). You have to remove the group and add a new one.

Hi Vik. I've tried this script and it's saved me a HUGE amount of time! Thank you very much. It doesn't complete, however. I've only tried on a couple of templates, and it stopped early on both, after having done around the same number of changes. The worst case one has 176 columns, the last 4 of which are forumulae. After I stripped off the Student Details columns at the top (it doesn't like those if you tell the script to zoom all the way to the top, obviously!), I set it to go up 175 columns, then process 172 of them (data review columns, 1 result set down). It only manages to change approx 120 of them before stopping, usually with a column's details box still up. I suspect , despite having a fairly quick PC, that the software can't keep up with the button presses, but I'm not sure. Maybe inserting a Wait prior to each column would help. To finish off the templates, I just re-ran it with modified settings. SIMS Ver.: 7.136, no SLG All in all, truly mind-blowingly fantastic! I wonder how much time I would have saved myself over the year's I've been using SIMS if I'd had this...? Pete.