bossman

@Rooser: Bought CC4 early doors cheaply and stipulated my own hardware for the job, obviously its 2003R2 but it was a brand new commission. We have always used the printer credits and the print management tools which work very effectively due to our printing strategy which the SLT team backed and has seen our printing costs fall dramatically from 14k to 3.5k. Staff receive 200 printer credits every week and they are fastened down to printing off their own subject printers and non of the ICT suit printers so no one is using them as reprographics now like they used to. @webman built a great web app called student viewer which allows the staff to view the students work and mark it without having to print it off and they can access this from home which saves drastically on toner and paper costs. We have not looked back since migrating from our very rigid CC3 to our new CC4 which we did in 8 days, it has been a very successful migration. I know that we have the odd printer mapping problem but this will hopefully be resolved shortly, it is nothing that the staff and students cannot cope with as they really don't need to print that often because of the strategy and the student viewer app. We have now had 10 years of RM products and to be really honest it has been absolutely fantastic for our school and I hope it keeps evolving, we will see as I think they have learnt some very hard lessons of late but from this they have made a positive upgrade path from their earlier products. I have no objections to using a Vanilla product either may I add as I do think that Microsoft have made valuable steps in moving forward. I do feel that when windows 8 becomes a full product we will see some real intuative use of an OS especially with the different hardware scenorios, can't wait

@synaesthesia: As has been mentioned in an earlier post that STP sitewide could cause you more problems. I feel your problem lies in the fact that most of your edge switches are daisy chained instead of feeding directly back to your core switch. I have only one edge switch which is daisy chained and this did cause me a little problem at one time due to having STP enabled on both switches which were linked together. I enabled STP on just the linked port on the uploading switch which is connected directly via fibre OM3 back to the core switch, all other ports have portfast enabled and this has been the case for the last 8 years. Also because you have STP enabled this is probably the reason why your computer nics keep shutting down to 100 or 10Mbps as you should have auto negotiate turned on and STP turned off with portfast enabled on those ports which have only an end device on and those switch ports which have another switch linked in should have STP enabled. STP takes around 30 secs to allow the packets through and this is where the auto-negotiation between the switch ports and the nics fail so by default the ports tune down to the speed they can manage at that moment and usually this is 10Mbps. This can also affect both WOL and PXE build as the hosts or server cannot be reached in adequate time and so return a false to whichever requires a positive. Hope this is readable as it is late and I don't have my glasses on. Good luck anyway with whatever you decide to do, I personally would disconnect all edge switches and then start with one and test the workstations connected to that and work my way forward without daisy chaining any switches.

@itgeek: Only one way to know that your data is wiped and that is to destroy your HDDs yourself with a hammer and then weigh them in for scrap as prices are quite high now. As for companies that do this there are plenty online who will do the same and make money out of you.

Hi All, I would just like to mention that I am half way through my Movember stunt and would appreciate more sponsorship for this good cause, I promise I will not publish my photo on here if you sponsor me hehe! (Unless you wish to have a photo of me to keep the kids away from the fire) Just a couple of quid is all I ask, you can donate here Movember United Kingdom - Home Thank you all in advance

@taffwatts: Here is one that we are currently using: Lounge: moodlEZ : The new Moodle mobile app for iPad Seems to do what we want it too Ooh! BTW its not free but not expensive about £1.99 me thinks

I was just going to recommend Network Access Points, Routers, and Cloud-enabled Management Software and Services | Aerohive Networks have had good reports and am currently researching at the moment. Will PM you for details

Here is another Unimaginative one:

I had a case today of one of our ICT teachers telling me about "The Box in the Hall" meaning our media room (Granted its small but not a box) that the sound was not working? I sent one of our technicians down with her and when he came back 5 mins later I knew that it was nothing serious. The sound had been muted and was so clearly visibly (Red circle with line around the sound icon in the bottom right hand corner) I just had to laugh.

Awaiting our LA to release it to us via Solus 2 although I have Solus 3 installed but not using in earnest yet as we are awaiting to be converted to Academy. Will be an interesting few months ahead hehe! But I like a challenge

He will be Not quite, more like a stroke at my age hehe! but thanks for the concern young man Thats mighty kind of you my friend but nothing more than I would expect from such a kind person as yourself It is no more than I would do for you under the circumstances and have done in the past my friend

@Archibald: Recursive queries When a client system sends a recursive query to a local name server, that local name server must return the IP address for the friendly name entered, indicate that it can't find an address, or return an error saying that the requested address does not exist. Name servers do not refer the client system requesting a recursive query to other DNS servers. When answering recursive queries, the originating client does not receive address information directly from any DNS server other than the local name server. Typically, the local name server will first check DNS data from its own boot file, cache, database, or reverse lookup file. If the server is unsuccessful in obtaining the answer from those local sources, it may contact other DNS servers for assistance using iterative queries and then pass the information it receives back to the client that originated the name resolution request. Iterative queries: In iterative queries, name servers return the best information they have. Although a DNS server may not know the IP address for a given friendly name, it might know the IP address of another name server likely to have the IP address being sought, so it sends that information back. The response to an iterative query can be likened to a DNS server saying, "I don't have the IP address you seek, but the name server at 10.1.2.3 can tell you." Read more: Difference between dns recursive and interactive query

16/20 pretty decent for an old fart Well it is late and I don't have me glasses to hand (Neither reading nor drinking!)

@webman: Craig, ever since I met you as a student I saw what Sir Alex Ferguson must have seen in the young players he came into contact with. You were a scrawny bespectacled pimply youth (No change there then hehe!) who had raw talent for creating websites and some rather cute ways of finding backdoors (Ooerr! missus!) in the then ancient CC2.4 system that the school had at that time. I realised then that you were something different from the crowd and decided then that I would ask you if IT was something you wanted to get into and if you wanted to be a part of the IT support at the school even though you were still a student, I didn't have to ask twice your answer................Yes! Please! I had to fight the SLT and my line management right from the start to agree to take you on, even after you gave up the whole of your 6 weeks holidays to help me build our first ITsuite on a brand new CC3 network. One of the comments made to me by one of the senior members of the teaching staff (Not mentioning any names but you only managed a grade C in this teachers subject) was that I shouldn't think about taking you on after you finished school as you would be................too familiar with the teaching staff, well you could have knocked me down with a feather (What a Middle class comment from a total incompetent). As most people on here that know me that was like a red rag to a bull and I made my stand there and told them that they now required another technician as the network had grown too large for one person. I got my way on that one and then someone mentioned about me giving you a lift to and from work although I had your mothers consent. They decided that it was inappropriate for me to be giving a student a ride home, but your mother intervened and it was another winner. And so the die was cast, it was a case of Pinky and the Brain every day asking the question? "What we gonna do today" and the answer was always the same "The same thing we do everyday! Take over the world" Well my young padawan you are now a master of your own destiny, you fear nothing and no-one and that's how it should be. You have learnt well my young master Rodway and may the force be with you always wherever you may be! You will always remain a part of Bishop Barrington School and I am going to miss you very much but you have to go out into that big world yonder and make your presence felt and remember my retirement home in New Zealand hehe! Well done my lad I am so proud!!!

@BKGarry: Try this MediaCore: The Open Source Online Video CMS been looking at it myself even though we have a Windows media server working this is something worth looking at.

Hey teejay what do you know of little blue tablets? I used to pull all nighters at Wigan Casino many years ago!

@Jiser: Hope all goes well in your new role My very best to you young man

@sonofsanta: Certain managed wireless systems allow channels to be layered so that one channel can be used as a dirty network with a centralised mac filtering system which can be used in conjuction with transparent authentication on Smoothwall box for web filtering. RDP protocol can be used to access TS for curriculum files and resources without touching the school curriculum network with virus etc. This is the way we are looking which will also allow for other wireless devices to use the clean channels for curriculum use with IPads. IPods, android tablets, smartphones etc etc. All this after a risk analysis is looked at for every device. Although we already have certain parts of the school open to wireless APs under mac filtering and encrypted key access it will be a new managed system from one of the top suppliers after much deliberation and trials.

Skills like this are getting less and less, I do hope that this is passed on to the next generation as I remember my first home made "Donkey Engine" when I proudly finished making it in metalwork at school. You can actually buy the kits which are not that expensive and children of all age groups can have fun while learning about a fabulous era.

Its because they can and they will always keep on doing it as they feel a sense of purpose in doing so, I enjoyed the story though but then again I'm always a sucker for a happy ending

I have always known you have a kind heart my dear, I do enjoy our special moments and as they say "All is fair in love and war", I will enjoy every mouthful as that is one of my favourite tipples. I admire your candidness and wish you all you wish yourself my dear, cheers as they say "Bottoms up"

@FN-GM: @teejay: Seems your correct @teejay although I like the idea you first proposed @FN-GM, here is some information for you both:Sir Alexander Fleming Twice Saved Churchill's Life Its a lovely story all the same

@IKWeb: Yes that's how we have it, 3 x 1Gb nics and the speed of them is just great.

@IKWeb: We run 3 of these with 2 x 73Gb drives mirrored coupled to a Sun 7110 SAN for the VM's with 3 x 1Gb nics on each server one of them for redundancy and Xenserver as the hypervisor with HA running off an old NAS box. They are incredible!!!

@webman Here is one that we could also use for Teachers:

@pete: Look here: ActivPen for Promethean Activboard: ACTIVPEN - @cmssbrie Don't know if you can get them any cheaper than £10 a pen if you can then let me know Found them slightly cheaper here: http://www.crusaderstore.co.uk/categories/promethean-whiteboard-pen/c-1-3930/