Koldov

I think maybe it all started from the reboot of the cab and that the 3750 'Member' booted first and upon not sensing the master decided to take that title for itself... I guess if the master is no longer the master something along the line breaks down and the rest don't get whatever they need... Just clutching at straws because I don't know if that's the case!

Unfortunately here the DHCP is run from the switches! I know it's unusual, but it's never caused any major headaches that I know of, but it does mean I'm not really skilled enough as Cicio ios and command line to go through the logs... Sorry, not really got any idea. Following the cables from the WLC, it appears there are 2 going to the 3750 (Member 1) which deals with the WAPs (so at least that makes some kind of sense to me). I don't know know what happened to Master 1! We used to run the network for the school next to us (long story), but since that stopped I've only pulled their WLC out of the cab. I always thought it was just a labelling/config error and Member has got '1' and Master got '2'...? I'm not a network engineer and I didn't put the stuff in, so why thing got labelled as they did, I have no idea... It does bug me, but I've always ignored it as I'm not sure if it's relevant, we have other switches (Cisco 2960s) and one of those is '02' and another '08' but there certainly isn't 03 - 07 anywhere in the building. I can't imaging they're set to DHCP (especially considering they are Gateways/DHCP servers themselves) although they could be 'preferred' somewhere they've never changed IP. We've also had the whole network re-IP'd and re-VLan'd a few years ago when changing to LGfL so I'd image all stray bits in the configs were tidied up then, I certainly don't see anything

No, it's not a Monty Python sketch... Should the order of switches booting up from say a power-cut, (definitely not from me turning them off to move the UPS into the cab, oh no) matter...? I have zero networking knowledge so I'm not sure 'exactly' how ours are configured, but I will try to explain and what I think happened in lay-man's terms. We have: 1 x Cisco 5508 WLC 1 x Cisco 3750 PoE (labelled Member 1) - This seems to be dedicated to the WAPs 1 x Cisco 3750 (labelled Master 2) - This seems to be dedicated to the wired network The 2 x Cisco 3750s are 'joined' I believe (?) with a 'Stackwise' cable. After the erm... power loss today, I got a call saying the Wi-Fi didn't seem to be working. Although I watched everything come back up and all the lights were on... I went through all my paperwork, network diagrams, spreadsheets.... did all the pings and tried to connect to the 5508 WLC web page but couldn't! So, back to the switch room and verified all the lights were on and as it was 'obviously' Wi-Fi related, I then did a reboot of the 5508 WLC.... nothing changed. Checked all the cables to see if I'd dislodged anything, but nothing was obviously wrong. However... looking at the other switches, the 3750 that was labelled 'Member' had a tiny little light on the 'mode' display next to 'Master'. Well, this had to be the problem! So I turned it off and rebooted the other 3750 which then lit up the 'Master' light, so I booted the other 3750 (Member) which obviously didn't get the 'Master' light aned finally rebooted the 5508 WLC... A few minutes later the Wi-Fi came back up and everything was back to normal! I mean it's not world-ending stuff and as long as I remember next time that this is what I have to do it doesn't 'really' matter, but the question is (bearing in mind my limited networking skills) is there anything simple I can do to stop this happening in future? If anyone feels like giving a more technical explanation (and obviously feel free to go wild with suggestions of re-stacking/splitting/fail-over solutions) just bear in mind I won't be doing anything like that... Edit: Probably should have posted in Wired Networks' but initially when I started this thread I though it was just a 'wireless' issue...

After doing some cleaning up on my server I'm left with a bit of an issue which has me going round in circles and flip-flopping on which is the best approach... To move forward I need to make some more space in the Hyper-V partition, unfortunately the partition to the right is massive and full of file share data that will be a major pain to move (plus I have nowhere to move it to easily)! However, the D:\ partition to the left (which used to hold SIMS) can now be deleted and once the Hyper-V partition is large enough I plan to create a VM to hold the file shares data from the partition on the right (then I can delete it and expand to the right, however I can't do that until I expand the Hyper-V partition, so for now it has to be to the left), sounds a bit more complicated in theory than it should be, but I can't do the second part until I do the first... Once the D:\ partition has been deleted, if I then use GParted to deal with the partitions, will it let me resize ('expand') to the left (and will it have to move the data to the start of the new bigger partition), if not do I have to 'move' the partition to the left (which will move the data anyway then expand to the right - which I would probably just do in Windows Disk Management to get the server back up ASAP)? EDIT: After a bit more research in-between writing this post I think I will have to 'move' the partition to the left and then expand right (which means all the data having to be moved and the file index having to be re-written) something about the file map recording the start of a file from the beginning (starting sector) of the disk or partition (which will have changed)...? This would mean filling up the new space on the left and then having to eventually write over the data on the right (and this can apparently take a very long time)... hopefully GParted just moves blocks to the beginning of the new from the beginning of the old? Other options could be deleting the Hyper-V disks so there's less data to move and relying on backups to restore them after, or exporting/importing, or deleting everything and recreating the whole partition and recreating Hyper-V folder/file permissions, then Hyper-V machines and disks from backups etc...? The other consideration is that there's a DC in the Hyper-Vs (one of two in the Domain) and it's the PDC, so I'd rather just have it 'down' for a few hours rather than restoring it from a previous backup (it's only really backed up for DR) unless I took them both down as soon as a backup was done...?

Just wanted to say thanks to @CrusaderAV for helping me get this issue resolved.

Yeah, imho you're overthinking... But personally I take this part of a description of department - "dealing with a specific area of activity" rather than 'activity in a specific area', although a lot of times it's the same thing! I guess you are talking about someone like a DT/Art/Science technician who only works within a certain confine/set of rooms but I would still say we work in the IT 'department' even though our role requires us to do our work wherever. Although I know what you mean, if you're sent to the Geography/History/English or Art department, you go to a certain set of rooms... I'm the sole IT person but I'd like to think I'm the 'IT department' lol... now I'm not sure...

Yeah, I've got a Veeam backup of the server OS drive that I test as a VM, so that part is OK I guess... The SIMS part is on a separate drive, but I think for now I'll Robocopy it off to archive. It's just the program uninstallation that's bothering me... I've got a test server that I purely use for backup testing with just Veeam and SQL installed and (although it's SQL 2016) the Add/Remove Programs shows that between them they've installed plenty of 'old' stuff I'd initially presume wouldn't have been needed anymore...

We use the Crusader AV 'almost unbreakable' headphones and if your children are breaking those, I don't hold out much hope for anything less... I cable tie one end of the cord to the computer base and as they are detachable the headphones are always put back in their storage container but I do know what you mean about the cables being left trailing all over the desk, maybe I should let them plug and unplug the cord so they can put that away too (oh my $deity no... what am I thinking?). I like the coiled cable idea (not sure if the children would take it as a challenge to stretch them out as far as they can though) but then that just leaves the headphones needing somewhere to be put on the desk when they aren't being used (prone to being damaged by idle hands/ poorly supervised children)... Maybe just change the cables to something like this (expensive example, but the first one I found - not an endorsement or advertisement): https://www.amazon.co.uk/2-Pack-Coiled-Headphone-Degree-Stereo/dp/B07KTZW9YP

Also, is there ANYTHING that you would keep from the old SIMS server, if it might not have come over in the migration, just in case it's ever needed for historic records... I guess this is why the last time it was migrated the CAPITA engineer just copied the whole S:\ drive... but I wanted a reasonably fresh start and a smaller VM without 10 years of extraneous crud/updates/installs/logs/setup files... Now it's 'crunch' time, I'm worried that wasn't such a good idea...

Well, it's been a few months since I moved SIMS to a VM, so I thought I might be brave and remove all the old SIMS files from the server... The old server is a physical server that has gone from being the only server with all the roles, DC, plus SIMS, plus file shares, plus well... everything, to being pretty much a VM host (still a work in progress and I need to get those pesky file shares off though)... I've been wary of getting rid of SIMS for some reason (wasn't sure if the VM would work out, needed a fall back/disaster solution etc.) as I guess at a pinch the SIMS infrastructure could need updating, then just getting the database back in there. But anyway unless anyone has a good reason to the contrary I'm going to pull the trigger... However, as it's been chugging away for nearly 10 years, with all sorts of software and roles having been installed and uninstalled, and being an ex-SIMS server, ex-DC and having been in-place upgraded, when I look at Add/Remove Programs there's a lot of old stuff in there.... It also runs Veeam and as it was installing, I seem to remember something like what I thought was an 'old' versions of a Redistributable/Runtime/SDK/Native Client came up, could be wrong though... So the question is, how do I know if any of it is being used by any other program or anything, or has dependencies...? Just an example of the first page...

Hahah, yeah just one or two important things... I know how hard it is to be succinct enough so that people don't have to read through pages of waffle, but still try to put all the relevant info into a post (and then you get all the replies with things you've already thought about that won't work and all the helpful suggestions about doing things that aren't actually possible for your situation)... Just out of interest, you mention being pushed for time (which is the worst situation to be in when having to make decisions you might regret later on - PPP... and all that), is that because of the unsupported 2012R2/Ranger situation, or for some other reason (lack of support time or new role taken over - which would explain the state it's in, etc.)? Yeah and so all that puts it safely well over my head, so imma stay subscribed, grab my popcorn and wish you luck!

EDIT: Beaten to it, but yeah... basically this... I would be less inclined to start afresh (but that's just me)... I was in a similar situation a while ago (although I wasn't fortunate enough to have a new server purchased) although I still have a few bits to do. And if that had been the case (new server) I would have set it up and joined it to the original Domain, not remove the old one, have the new one running beside it and transfer everything over at your leisure. Then backup, backup, backup and in-place the 2012R2 to 2019, so that's at least the 'unsupported OS' problem dealt with and you have a 'spare' server.

Also, this... "Important: Source and matched string are displayed when available. Gmail makes a best effort to display the rule associated with a message, but some messages may not display a rule."

Just in my own honest personal opinion... I have no idea what the LA advises, I've never had any contact with them in over a decade working here (since they decided to withdraw IT support and I got employed). Anyway, I'll be the first to admit we're not there yet (we do have staff accessing email on their personal devices - mostly phones), but ideally I'd want any school data to only be accessed from a device that: Has policies in place to stop malicious code being run Can be wiped/disabled remotely Has the latest OS updates Has Anti-Malware/Anti-Virus Uses only approved software (and cannot have any other software installed) The user is only a 'user' not an Admin Etc... We do give our teachers laptops for the reasons above (and because we don't have desktops) and it's surprising how many of them say they don't have a personal laptop at home anyway... editing a Word document/PowerPoint/Excel spreadsheet on a phone (whilst not impossible) is going to make planning tomorrow's lesson difficult... I get your point of just creating/editing content on a purely cloud basis (and although we 'have' Google, uptake is slow and most prefer the installed copy of Microsoft Office on their laptops), but they can also download these documents (or upload content to the platform). I know you can probably stop this (or possibly stop this happening from $device), so I guess they could then email themselves content and then open that on any device... but in the main, most people will take the easy way out and if they have a device provided, will use it.

Hahaha! Yeah depth is ok, it's a big old beast but funny you mention that.... I thought I'd get a proper look so started taking off the doors and sides to get the bottom few switches and patch panels moved up... then I noticed a huge bunch (60+) of Cat6 cables that the installers pulled through under the rear of the frame at the bottom of the cab... which is of course how it should be done, but they haven't put them up through along the side, they've put them in the middle (I suppose it was easier as the bunch is pretty thick) and it means I can't push them back or to the side out of the way and that means a full depth tray/shelf can't go on the bottom... New plan is to put the 2 UPS (which are currently sitting on top) in the rack and the 2 towers on the top... what could go wrong...?

I have no idea what I'm talking about as I've never used this, but what does this reg key do? It may be a funny Microsoft quirk, or just bad english/syntax (or just the way I'm reading it)... But setting it to '1' reads to me like this would disable the image, so you only see a blank, coloured background. "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System DWORD DisableLogonBackgroundImage 0 or delete = enable 1 = disable" https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/9108-enable-disable-sign-screen-background-image-windows-10-a.html

Thanks, great find! Seems like a lot of hassle compared to just stuffing it on a shelf... I wonder if there's any benefits other than space saving (of course rack mounting on rails would be the ultimate goal, but I can't see me ever needing that)? Taking some quick measurements I'd need roughly 20"+/- to lie each one on a separate shelf, but only about 17"+/- to stand them up on the floor of the cab.

There's 2: DELL T420 DELL T610 They're old and they are both monsters to be fair, a brief search suggests not rack mountable - I'd be happy with a shelf (on rails would be ideal but at around possibly up to 60Kg I might be pushing it) I don't need access to them very often if at all. There's very little room in there, the core cab takes up about a quarter of it already on one wall, plus one wall has a door and one wall has the distribution boards!

Honestly 99% of our kids are very good, the computers in the ICT suite have been there about 11 years and I've only had to replace one mouse (and that wasn't due to any obvious damage), so it's actually really disappointing. Although judging by your reply and some other posts on here it shouldn't really have even warranted mentioning (although it was more about whether they're fixable). I guess these are a kind of 'disposable' item for a lot of schools? I've heard the 'buy cheap and throw away' mantra mentioned once or twice (or even the 'supply your own' one) but we're a really small school and the kids are quite young. Actually from what I've heard/seen it's probably the best age of kids to look after ICT equipment for - young enough to be a bit worried about getting into 'trouble', but not too young so they're poking biscuits into CD drives or fingers into potentially dangerous holes. Old enough to know right/wrong, but not old enough to be malicious or vandalise, take things apart, try to 'hack the server' etc. Of course that's pretty broad brush strokes and there's always exceptions...

Very long story (cut about as short as I can). A few years ago, I moved our servers from a dedicated room (large cupboard really, but with a locking door and air-con, power, network, etc.) into the main electricity supply/plant room. Lots of reasons such as better network connectivity, freeing up a storage space, one less air-con running 24/7/365, so it just made sense as the original 'room' was networked into a 10/100 switch (thanks BSF) and now at least they sit on a Gig at the core (don't judge - it's a small Primary School). This room also houses the main core switch, WLC, patch panels, etc. (in a large cab) and has air-con, locking door etc. There's no boilers or anything, just the main distribution boards, however a few times now when electrical contractors have been in they've been told to mind the servers and don't tread on them to use them as steps (as unfortunately they are in front of one of the distribution board panels). The last couple of times it's been an issue as the electricians said they shouldn't be there as the access needed meant they had to stand there (and possibly needed reporting it as an H+S issue) so I've had to switch the severs off and manually move them out of the room... Okay so that's the background.... my solution is to move them into the large Core Cab... Technically there's enough room, but would mean bunching up the Core, associated switches and patch panels, losing a few cable management slots and sitting the tower servers in the bottom of the cab, meaning any possible future access to them would be more complicated (although how often do you open up a server?). Also the increased heat/reduced airflow (to the switches and the servers) might be an issue... Anything I should be aware of? Any other 'sensible' suggestions/solutions?

Obviously the answer above should get you where you need to be, but on this point... IIRC you can push out a file associations XML in a GPO to all machines if you have your staff computers set-up in a Domain/AD environment (?) https://woshub.com/managing-default-file-associations-in-windows-10/ Not an endorsement or advertisement for that website, just an example from a quick internet search on a way to do it.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!1 I don't think @Dos_Box was referring to himself as being so old he needed 'accessibility options'!

Just a follow up and possibly an answer of sorts... https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/Workspace-Q-A/Why-am-I-unable-to-see-the-specific-rule-that-triggered-an-email/m-p/429092 It's from a while ago, so Google obviously didn't 'fix' it or even see it as broken... but at least I know now it isn't something I've done (or am not doing)... Something about, if it matches one of the basic/default 'Safety Features' rather than a particular 'rule' maybe (as we don't have any 'rules' set-up) there isn't any rule description to report a match to?

We have had a class set of these 'unbreakable' headphones in our ICT suite for a couple of years now: https://crusaderav.co.uk/collections/classroom-sets/products/classroom-headphone-set-24-unbreakable-4-pole-black A teacher has just brought me a pair saying the audio cable (which are all cable-tied to the computers) is the wrong sort as it doesn't fit... On inspection the 3.5mm jack has been pushed down into the body of the 'speaker' surround/ear cover part. Before I go prising them apart with a screwdriver and potentially destroying them even further, has anybody fixed a similar issue before or just know how these type of headphones come apart (if at all)? I am also toying with the idea of sending an email to Crusader AV and taking them to task about advertising them as 'unbreakable'... we all know that is not an actual thing (especially where children are involved) but in that case they shouldn't really be advertising them as such - although they do renege on that 'headline' claim further down in the description "Our almost unbreakable kids headphones" - my bold...

Apologies if this is well known or has been covered previously... but I wanted to post this before I forgot all about it. I just got off the phone from Wonde support (they called me) as we have not sent them any data since we did the SIMS Autumn update (7.214.21) yesterday (yes I know we're late but if you know SIMS you'll know why)... Apparently when SIMS does an update it fails to close a particular service and after the update the service is still running obviously, but has not updated. You can check this by trying to open a SIMS.Net instance on the server (if you install it) as it will fail to open. Sorted out by a reboot of the server no less (I did ask if they knew the service name and I could just restart it but they weren't forthcoming - apparently they'd been told by CAPITA/ESS to advise a reboot)! Fair play to Wonde for being proactive, it's a well known issue according to them and happens on every major update... I know some of you always reboot after a SIMS update and I guess I will start doing that too from now on but we had to schedule ours for during the school day (as we didn't have a training day due afterwards)!