djones

What size cabinet (width/depth) would be needed for a Dell R510 server? I take it that it should also need a mesh door rather than a solid type? It will also have the switches etc and a rack mount UPS - are there any issues with this?

Genius! There is a support folder with a languages folder containing the language MSIs. Putting the Support folder with the MSI and MST solved the issue. Thank you! Didn't have to do this with v10.6.

Out of interest, if the OS is x64 and Office 2010 is x86, what version of VS 2010 runtime tools should be installed?

Testing on a new Win 7 x64 build with just Office 2010, .NET4 and VS2010 tools. This is in a virtual environment (hyper-v) at the moment before rolling it out to physical machines once working properly. Flash v11 is installed via GPO too and before the SMART Notebook v11 GPO.

Yup, v11.something plus all other prerequisites.

Has anyone else run into issues deploying this via the MSI and MST created with the SMART Installer tool? From GPO or manually kicking off the MSI everything appears to go ok until the end when it just says the installation was interrupted and nothing is installed. No obvious (useful) errors in logs. Running the downloadable exe installs fine. SMART technical support not very helpful so far apart from different people asking the same inane questions.

It was more hypothetical really as I'm just trying to clarify a few things in my head. However, considering a small Ruckus install into an existing network with one managed (LA owned) and another unmanaged switch. If I wanted to upgrade to 10/100/1000 and also wanted to be able to utilise a guest SSID which gets internet access but not access to the rest of the school's network, how would I go about it? Would the only way be to upgrade the core managed switch or could I simply add an unmanaged 10/100/1000 switch and plug key devices into that? I'm not sure how Ruckus handles the guest SSID bit.

Can anyone tell me what the difference is (in real life, easy to understand terms!) between the HP ProCurve 1410-24G and HP ProCurve 2510G-24 switches? Besides about £200, obviously! I guess I don't really understand the difference between managed and unmanaged. If an existing network has 2 switches (one managed, one unmanaged both 10/100) and the server(s) is plugged into the managed switch but there is a need (or simply desire!) to upgrade to 10/100/1000. What would the drawbacks be in adding a 10/100/1000 unmanaged switch into the mix and simply moving the server(s) and key clients to that switch?

Excellent, thanks everyone - I'll get playing.

I have a working WDS installation for deploying WinXP images. I want to deploy Win7 and fancy using MDT to help. Am I ok to install MDT on my working WDS server? I would snapshot the VM beforehand anyway just to be on the safe side. Thanks, Dave

Just out of curiosity (I'm about to roll out W7 to all shortly), why would you not automatically make redirected folders available offline?

Fairly clear consensus so far then!! ;-)

Here's a question for you all... would you spec laptops (for staff use, mostly admin/web work but with some video/audio editing) with i3 and SSD or i5 and HDD?

Was in a similar position 5 or so years ago and just embarking on another new (primary) school now - I'm a teacher but with a high level of technical knowledge - for a teacher! . No problems with laptops for teachers if setup correctly in the first place - restricted user accounts, redirected files, offline files, server re-imaging with WDS if/when something goes wrong to avoid a techie spending hours troubleshooting, server deployed apps, updates, anti-virus, etc. Just works. We went for (and will be going for in the new build) three/four desktop PCs in each classroom (best spec we can get for £500 inc 3yr warranty - I've found this is the most cost effective length so far). Kitted out half the school in first year and then the rest in the 2nd-3rd year to start to build in some kind of rolling hardware replacement down the line to avoid everything becoming obsolete at the same time. Good quality, site wide managed wireless and sets of 15 curriculum laptops (best spec for £600) housed in LapSafe trolleys (capable of holding 20) - these are expensive but definitely more robust and worth it. Again, buy these in stages (when your NOR is up a bit!). Sorry, just read again that you've already got the WiFi sorted and will have a suite. Rack mount server (you'll need to ensure a tall and deep (42u 600x1000mm?) data cabinet is specified as part of the build/cabling) that in the first few years won't need to store huge amounts of data (read: photos!). In five years, you can replace this with another (newer, shinier) server and use the original one as a backup, etc. Some sort of NAS to enable archiving and backup would be a good idea. Go for EES licensing from Microsoft and buy software as and when you've evaluated what you really want/need to fit in with your curriculum. Full fat clients rather than thin. I'm not yet convinced that thin client or Multipoint Server is the way to go in terms of cost savings, etc. As far as technical support goes. Approach the local secondary as others have mentioned, perhaps the LA have a decent service? We began very small in terms of support hours and gradually increased as we introduced more hardware. My overall advice would be to take things slowly and once open, begin to expand gradually. As you appoint more staff, you can actively look for someone (possibly a TA as suggested earlier) with a higher level of technical knowledge or even a part time tech. I hope this helps, Dave.

Forgive me if I'm being thick with FreePBX and Elastix (and others I assume) but are they are essentially a Linux distro installed on dedicated hardware (or VM like Hyper-V?) and presumably have a card installed with a number of ISDN/analogue phone lines plugged in? IP phones then plug into the network and communicate with the Elastix system which in turn routes internally or externally via the interface card and the external phone lines?

Ok, food for thought!

Max 7 phones I suppose. So, ISDN in (to avoid relying solely on internet connection) but an internal system that allows use of VOIP rather than traditional cabling? Would this allow use of internet based calling (presumably through a third party provider) as well or in the future?

Excellent thanks! So, where I currently am we have four (I think) incoming lines which I presume are ISDN. There is a controller in one of the data cabinets. Desktop phones plug into Cat5 wall sockets (with a dongle) which is connected into a separate patch panel which is then routed back to the controller thus totally separate from the main network. If we want a phone in another part of the building, we need to have a dongle, a free network socket, plug the relevant patch lead into the phone patch panel, pay lots to reconfigure the controller (unless replacing an existing phone) and finally hope for the best! What I'd like to be able to do is be working in another part of the building, plug a phone in and have it work without reconfiguring anything or better still, have a hands free phone (or an App on my smartphone) that could just connect to the school-wide WiFi and work! Or am I being overly optimistic?! I'm not sure I like the complete 'eggs in one basket' approach of just relying on the internet connection just yet though.

Thanks everyone, that's really helpful! I suppose, realistically, there would be no more than 100 devices connected at any one time when the school is at full capacity. Managed WiFi will be going in at the same time and is being specced separately with its own PoE switch. A phone system could tag along with that (although at the moment what has been quoted for that initially seems very similar to what I have seen installed in most primaries a century ago hence my other thread!). As far as connections between switches go, I haven't got a clue! Fibre modules I suppose are better but more expensive? I'd prefer 1Gbps to each point too.

As you might have worked out...new everything! New build (primary), blah blah...if you were spec-ing a phone system what would you put in? Future looking but not overkill. Again, this is an area I have (very) little knowledge in so any good guides/info you've come across would be helpful - if only to satisfy my annoying curiosity! Is ISDN the done thing nowadays or have things moved on?! I hear and read about VOIP but not sure if this is an extra to a conventional phone line or takes the place of one! Thanks again, Dave

I have little knowledge when it comes to switching so I'm looking for recommendations for suitable switches for a new build primary school (one form entry in the first instance but likely to increase in the future). Third parties will be using the site too so will need to be able to separate parts of the network as I guess many others do. HP switches have been quoted as part of the build but with the absence of model numbers on the paperwork (I've asked and currently waiting on more info), I'd like to be a little ahead of the game! What would you spec that would provide a good infrastructure for the future but not overkill in the money stakes? Cheers, Dave

That looks interesting. I've read a couple of people on here doing similar. I would have thought that we'd retain some form of separate local storage - even if only for archiving of non-critical data. Not sure about Hyper-V backups though? I plan on having 2x DCs but not sure how backups of VMs would work using online solutions?

If the internet was down, I'd hope it would only be for a day max and I'd hope we'd be able to cope missing a day of backups (assuming the incremental changes are all that are backup up each night). If disaster should strike during that same day, I would seriously doubt we'd have been able to restore fully in a day even with a working internet connection. Unless it is run in a hosted environment where backups are taken care off separately (I have no idea about this bit yet either!). In this case, without a working internet connection, the backups of pupil files, etc would be a lower priority anyway. Much appreciated from all!

I guess I was just hoping it would be a fairly straight forward alternative! I'm not sure what connection the school will have yet - everything seems a tad vague at present! There is money available, it is just that it seems a waste to have the capacity and not use it. Maybe I am thinking the wrong way around! Perhaps it would make more sense to buy a second server and put MS DPM on it - but then I'd still have to factor in offsite backup which is another reason for me looking at the online solutions.

Yeah, I had thought of this along with the possibility of using Google Docs/Email etc and storage with that but thinking longer term as well. As I say, I haven't really looked at this in great detail yet just trying to gather ideas and recommendations of people/companies to talk to. We have quotes for equipment already including the standard hard/software solutions and I'd like to be able to have a different approach to weigh in the balance seeing as we wouldn't potentially be using the full capacity, certainly in the short term. Thanks.