bossman

@beeswax: We have live reports through our VLE which report on everything you have mentioned above plus homework which they have read access to so they can actively engage with their child if they feel inclined to do so. Its not Frog BTW

@MrWu: Have you got any visualisers? Great to use around the whole school and pretty simple for the teachers to use. I know they are just a webcam on a stick but its a thought

@TechSupp: This might help you: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-7/77769-laptop-wireless-setup-through-gpo.html let me know

You have been employed as a network manager not a data cable engineer, there is a subtle difference, now if the school want to send you on a data engineering course for cabling and fixings that is a different matter. Stand your ground on this as they will then expect you to do other things which you have not been trained to do. Teachers wouldn't think twice of doing anything outside their remit if they hadn't had the appropriate training first. Its all about H&S and this could be construed as dangerous if not completed correctly. Good Luck

@FN-GM: Your very welcome, its always good to help out. Have a good day

@Andie: I have been using this for a couple of years now and it works a treat! http://www.inputdirector.com/ It also has support for wireless keyboard and mouse. Plus its free!!! Regards Bossman

Ditto Raid-1 for what you require

@Serenastra: I have PM'd you

I have set it up on 1 workstation with the keys stored on the Sims server and the usual Examin/out folders mapped through the A2C software. As has been mentioned I also have the program shortcut delivered to a group through program set so if the Exams officer is off sick then another member of staff can run the program. I cannot see a reason for having it installed on more than one workstation as I feel that is the way it has been designed to run for security reasons but that is just my interpretation of software and it's instructions.

@JJanisch: Be warned about Mediacore in that it will only allow file sizes up to 300mb fro the free version, we had it running and tested but threw errors when the file size was above 300mb. Fantastic piece of sofware for free though. I think you can purchase it although it maybe hosted by a third party.

@pritchardavid: Your welcome

@pritchardavid: I dont get an error page I get this: It seems that you have got it right

@FN-GM: My bad, didn't read your post link Let me know how it goes with the manual schema extention.

@FN-GM: Also found this: Microsoft System Center Product Blog Manually update the Schema. Good luck

@FN-GM: Could it be that the container that DPM requires access to doesnot have the required permissions? Try this workaround: Configuring end user recovery involves extending the schema and granting the DPM server permissions to the container. Based on the error message you are receiving, it appears that the latter step may be failing. 1. Open the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in from Administrative tools and select the Advanced Features is selected in the View menu. 2. Expand the domain, and then expand System. 3. Right-click MS-ShareMapConfiguration, and then click Properties. 4. On the Security tab, add the grant the DPM machine account full control permissions. Ex: If your machine is called MyDPMServer, you need to grant full control permissions to MyDPMServer$ 5. Now open the DPM UI and enable End user recovery. Let me know if it was successful

@SYNACK: My core switch is an old 3550 12G which has been superb throughout its life, all the edge switches are either 3550 catalyst 48 port with 2 Gbic upload to the core or 3560 catalyst 48 port all have the enhanced IOS which gives access to all the Cisco protocol goodies which deliver great service. Coupled with OM3 fibre it has even allowed us to hang our 30 CCTV cameras off it (At a cost of 10Mb bandwith) but with no detriment to the LAN. Great kit but I do feel the future for our school is Juniper.

Its totally "sub zero" its that cool

@Vi7ER: I would also have a look at Aerohive Wi-Fi and wired network access for branch office and headquarters @Soulfish has it at his academy and has had good results.

@john; I have experience of Cisco for the past 10 years and it just works wonderfully well, saying that I too would move to Juniper infrastructure for the future of our school. Get the design right and the infrastructure should last for years without changing. Financial restraints keeps schools from having the best equipment available to make them cutting edge and sometimes, only in a few instances do you find that finance has not been a factor and the design has been slightly overkill in some respects for the nature of the business. You pays your money and you takes your choice

ICT staff deal with headphones in the ICT suites, each set has the students name on and is individually boxed, it is about ownership as the students have been given the criteria of "These first pair are free, if you damage them wilfully then your parents or you will have to replace them" this has been really adhered to and to date we have only had one set of headphones wilfully damaged and they were replaced by the student. Classroom management not IT support staff remit

@DT2: Although our paths never crossed I wish you all the very best life can offer, don't forget to write hehe!

@Gatt: Me too! Just too much work on at the moment

Normal usage means that I can wring on average 2 days off my Blackberry Bold 9900. I have been reading of the University of Sheffield that they have developed a fluid battery which will be further developed which holds a larger and longer charge although this will be another 10 years in development. It does seem that until a battery can be developed which can last longer than a few days that we will all be tethered to the power lines, what would be cool is while we were connected to the ISP that they could charge through the wireless connection, or even solar panels built into the shell of the unit. With future developments of software and the way in which the OS communicates with the hardware should allow apps to work without too much drain on the power.

@Duke: Xenserver 6.0 has automatic VM backups via snapshots as part of the advanced licensing which we purchased as part of the HA, had a very similar case except it was the Sims MIS VM, did exactly what you have done and recovered certain files which one of the SLT team deleted and didn't tell anyone. Absolutely magic Still have BE 2012 for the student work servers which also works very well but I am looking at Assure backups for virtual and physical all in one pane backups.

We have done this with our HP100 notebooks along with adding a 64GB SDD and they are just brilliant for what we need.