Jamman960

I've always gone for 2 per classroom but would probably flood wire if we had a new classroom block built. If the specification says 1 pc per classroom I'd allow for 50% expansion(I've always been tought to include 50% as standard) and maybe recommend that due to the changing requirements of schools and colleges that more than 100% expansion could occur in the next 10 years so additional points could be required

I'd go to a reading(or midlands) conference, I've always ended up with too much on during the summer half term to get away from here for 2+ days for the preston conference

Using DBAttach you can run backups while the database is in use, I currently backup the database daily, compress the file and upload it to our backup server. You also need to backup the DocStorage folder, I just compress and upload daily. del d:\SIMSBackup\today\*.rar "D:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.\MSSQL\Binn\DbAttach.exe" /BACKUP /SERVER="\" /USER="sa" /PASSWORD="passwordhere" /DATABASE="sims" /AUTO /PATH="d:\SIMSBackup\today\sims.bak" "D:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.\MSSQL\Binn\DbAttach.exe" /BACKUP /SERVER="\" /USER="sa" /PASSWORD="passwordhere" /DATABASE="fms" /AUTO /PATH="d:\SIMSBackup\today\fms.bak" "c:\program files\winrar\rar.exe" a d:\SIMSBackup\today\databasebackup.rar -ri1 -mt2 -ag[yyyy-mm-dd] -p -rv10 -m5 d:\SIMSBackup\today\*.bak "c:\program files\winrar\rar.exe" a d:\SIMSBackup\today\Docstoragebackup.rar -ri1 -mt2 -ag[yyyy-mm-dd] -p -rv10 -m5 d:\docstorage copy d:\simsbackup\today\*.rar \\\share\wherever del d:\SIMSBackup\today\sims.bak del d:\SIMSBackup\today\fms.bak The above script creates the backups, compresses them into a date stamped & passworded rar files and then uploads to wherever your backups are. James

What if the exams were based on a bank of 1000+ questions? then there would be less of a need for the entire country to sit the exams at exactly the same time and would allow for smaller groups to sit the exams at different times I can't see it working at all without changes to the exam format.

Take a look at the Sony Bravia KDL32EX403U(& becareful, the KDL32EX401 is exactly the same but without Freeview HD) - it hasn't got recording functions but it does come with Freeview HD and Bravia Internet Video - Iplayer, Youtube, Lovefilm along with DLNA once it has a wireless adapter/usb dongle attached - edit: forgot to mention the USB Spotted it last night and had to buy one Both Argos and John Lewis are doing it for £299... its 5p cheaper at JL and comes with a 5 year warrantee Picking it up on monday, if your interested I'll post a quick review on monday evening although I have no idea whether this is a short term special offer or what.

It all depends on what that single server is actually doing... if its overworked then spread out some of the tasks. non critical workloads/things that could be easily replaced such as AV distribution, printers, WSUS, WDS/RIS could be pushed on to it. It'd be a pain to be without any of those but going without for a day or two or having to restore to a month old backup really wouldn't be the end of the world

We're a small(~360 pupil) prep/preprep running Sims.net & previously Hebron. We make use of the Assessments, Fees Billing, NovaT, Profiles, Attendance and Admissions modules of Sims with great success. We had many initial teething problems and find that sometimes things aren't as intuitive as we'd like but on the whole its been accepted by both Office and Teaching staff. Edit - I believe we are paying around £8k/yr for this along with FMS/Earnie32

Using nagios to monitor a site with a single server is probably overkill, I'd stick with The Dude for smaller sites and Nagios for the bigger ones

I don't get how someone who'd been sacked after 20 years for "Child protection concerns" would get a job in a nursary where the kids would be more vunerable than at any other age

Booked/requested a place on the first session also, good to see real progress on this at last, if I remember correctly this was supposed to be in field trials last summer but never made it

Messing around with the MSGina is pretty easy, just make sure the images are 256bit colour if I remember correctly. Also rather than overwriting the existing gina file always save it as something else then point to it via the registry. Also test it fully - after making some changes you may find that windows no longer boots(have a winpe disk with reg editing tools handy) The program you'll need to do the editing is Resource Hacker. James

I've gone for role based names ie prep-fsapps1, prep-ad01, prep-exch01 etc In order to differentiate between physical and virtual I've added zero's to virtual server names ie prep-ad1 would be physical while prep-ad01 would be virtual Originally our server names were win2k3srv, win2k3sims etc, I figured I really didn't need reminding what OS each server ran and it also made remembering names after upgrades a pain

Theoretically I suppose you could redirect to a local folder on each pc then have a script setup to copy all shortcuts accross and then delete/hide any dead shortcuts on boot... haven't looked into this at all though so it might take too long to process etc

It really does come down to wheather you can afford it and are willing to spend 2hrs+ on the road each day. Getting the train may also be worth looking into, atleast then you'd be able to relax on the way to/from work. If I remember correctly the A42 & M42 aren't too bad in general, if it were the M6 I'd probably think twice though - getting home on a friday really wouldn't be fun

sounds like a very nice haul!, wish I we could get those kind of freebies I'm not sure about state schools but our EYFS department somehow managed to get a free printer, laptop and some mice/keyboards free from the Borough(we're an independent so not sure why we'd be eligible for anything atall from the borough in general). From what I gather she recieved a letter along with a few other department heads last year, most ignored it however she requested a few bits and got them. I'm guessing there are other bits availible to state schools here and there. Our accounts manager manages to get a fair amount free from viking also, are you sure its all coming from the Borough? James

I did a South Park fansite while I was at school - around 98, I can't remember the url though and I'm pretty sure it was on one of the many freehosts that have since dissapeared and taken the horrors they hosted down with them lol I almost got suspended over that... the head of year didn't see the funny side

Haven't seen a proxy option anywhere on mine so far

Casio don't currently do a short throw version. I'm trying to get away from short throw setups although the ultra-short throw's aren't all that bad when fitted correctly(the ones that bolt to the wall directly) however the ones on booms never seem to be quite right, the image is always slightly off because the weight of the projector pulls the mount downwards. If I never saw another Promethean Activ+2 again I'd be very happy. Don't suppose you can just ignore the LEA?(thankfully we're an independent)

I tend to use CPLtd for most stuff and occasionally get quotes from elsewhere to make sure we're still getting a good deal, Theres no requirement for me to get more than 1 quote but I'm still expected to get good value for money at all times.

We've just this week replaced one with a PLC-WL2500 or atleast are in the process of doing so - the mount holes are entirely different so we've had to purchase an additional mount to bolt to the mount plate(1st Generation Promethean Activ+2). Looks like it'll work out perfectly. The projector will be lower than before and is much bigger than the XE-40 but its not low enough to affect visability or h&s James

for the first time in 3 years they've actually mailed me a pass...

Installing some faulty memory into a pc - enough to produce the dreaded 3 beeps could be a good one... see how quickly they start diagnosing ram issues I'd also throw in a few server practicals - setting up DHCP scopes maybe Turning down the contrast right down on a monitor can be a tricky one - some may declare the monitor as dead too quickly etc. not so easy on LCD screens though

Any particular reason for wanting to use 2d barcodes? surely the only info you really need to record on such a barcode is the asset number I'm not sure how suitable 2d barcodes would be for this, I know very little about them but I assume that if 10% of the barcode happens to wear off over time or be defaced by students you'd have very little chance of being able to scan it successfully whereas normal barcodes would probably stand up to wear and tear slightly better and any defacement would be more obvious James

Evaluation versions are availible from microsoft.com, I think they last between 60 and 180 days. Manual wise I'd either buy a certification/reference book or just use technet if you get stuck your probably better off using Virtual Server or Hyper-V depending on the hardware you have

Also is the support you recieve from the LEA not subsidised?