Michael

The definition of 'cloud' whatever you're hosting is quite simple really - Other than a browser (as the local application), there should be no other requirements - - No VPN client or similar - No Plugin or similar - No Citrix client or similar - No Remote Desktop Client or similar - Optional - Downloadable content, into a localised application such as MS Office/Open Office Accessibility - - Multi-browser compatible - Yes - IE, Edge, Chrome, FireFox, Safari - Multi-platform compatible - Yes - Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux As per the example of SIMS.net (as some have commented), the hosting charges are probably high, simply because the System Requirements on a localised server are also high. Migrating the service, or part of the service to a remote or cloud location does not optimise or change how it operates. If it requires 16GB+ of memory locally, it'll still require the same or possibly more in the cloud (due to other delivery services). A natively written, highly scalable and adaptable cloud platform is what schools require; not just a migration exercise to tick a box.

Yes and they have an awesome shop in Minworth

Maybe it is, thanks for the heads up!

Whether you still need AD is entirely up to you, but AD gives a lot of control to services beyond your local domain, such as linking to Azure for example as your authoritative directory. I'm not saying there aren't other ways, but then the overhead to run a DC is small, even on a PC that's 10 years old. As to whether you can get rid of all file servers - it depends on your environment - but realistically I'd say a high percentage yes I would agree with you. For example (as far as I'm aware) there's no way to implement Folder Redirection with a cloud drive, as typically this authenticates after your initial logon. Microsoft Libraries are relatively simple for users to navigate and manage files and folders, rather than everything in a single directory. Other examples are Scan to File from a local MFP - Scan to Email is the obvious solution, but Scan to Cloud drive doesn't really exist yet, but probably will in future.

Can you be server-less? Almost. It still makes some sense to have your AD role holder in house, but then replicate this out to services such as Azure. The question should really be "Can we get rid of our file servers and go cloud based?" And the answer is really yes and no to be honest.

You just need to allocate Full Control to the following directory for MIS users in your domain: C:\Program Files (x86)\SIMS Doing it for the whole local C:\ drive is old/outdated practice to be honest.

With Files on Demand and SharePoint, you can click 'Sync' in the web interface and then you have another 'share' appear in Explorer, but it's all too manual for my liking. Google FS is much more streamlined, faster and more automated than Microsoft's OneDrive. The other aspect I worry about is Microsoft linking improvements to OneDrive to whole OS upgrades, rather than just a separate application like Google FS which works on Windows 7, 8 and 10, as well as other systems. As others have pointed out, buying in a third party solution really defeats the objective. If you have many users, it could cost more in software licenses than a server just to 'map' a resource, when Microsoft should have made a proper client like Google FS. Mapping to OneDrive uses WebDAV which reports the local volume size, whereas Google FS reports 1EB (Exabyte), regardless of my local volume size. I've basically come to the conclusion lately that MS Exchange (O365) is still king vs. GMail, but Google have Microsoft over a barrel when it comes to file collaboration, but more to the point, how your end users access these cloud resources or drives.

The difference being it has 'proper' HP firmware installed, so will display its status in iLo most likely.

The HP website is normally quite informative with specific models of network adapters (in this case). Sometimes you need to check what BIOS version you're using, but other than that it should be straight forward. I think HP also offer 10GbE adapters, but I'd always recommend an SFP+ adapter, straight into your switch.

You probably want something like a 665249-B21 which is a 2 x SFP+ adapter.

This topic has been well discussed on Edugeek previously, but I also deploy LTSB 1607. There's also LTSB 1507, based on the original RTM version of Windows 10 but I wouldn't recommend this. 1607 is also equivalent to Windows Server 2016 also. The general consensus from my observations is that deploying Windows 10 Edu for example, many choose to remove Apps as part of the process. This puts it more in line with LTSB versions, but with more bells and whistles, which arguably you'll probably turn off anyway such as 'People' on the Taskbar. The other main difference of course is the Support Cycle - LTSB is 10 years and matches the likes of Windows 7, whereas all other versions are supported for approx. 18 months where you're forced to upgrade to a newer build. It gets even more complicated when Microsoft have added an additional 6 months support for 1607, 1703 and 1709 versions for Education/Enterprise customers, so definitely mixed messages coming from Microsoft.

On the GPO (where you specify the intranet location of WSUS), make sure all three fields are populated (even if they're all the same) -

If you do decide to install Classic Shell, only install the Start Menu component. Do not install the Explorer or Update components and it works absolutely fine.

Classic Shell will allow you to do this and is well discussed on Edugeek

For everyone's reference, when running rendom /prepare each DC is contacted, however if it fails, you need to make sure Zone Transfers are enabled (on each DC). rendom /execute will then force each DC to restart for changes to take effect. Both netdom commands then need to be run on each DC in turn, then manually rebooted. That's it - other than that, it's straight forward, but I would advise testing this procedure before making the change in a live environment.

The controller has influence too of course, but yes the connections are all SATA/SAS.

This is what I meant, the role holder which is equivalent to the PDC (I am old school don't you know)!

I've tested this process and it does work on my test configuration. The only other query I have, will I need to run both netdom commands on just the PDC or on every DC?

That's good to know. So presumably if the command fails, I can delete the GPO and re-run until it's successful?

Hi all, I have a test setup comprising of a Windows Server 2016 server and a Windows 10 client. The existing domain is called apples.com to be renamed pears.com This is the procedure I've tested (multiple times), and everything appears OK, but want to make sure I'm doing things in the correct order: Create pears.com Primary Zone rendom /list (changing all entries from apples to pears and saving the file) rendom /showforest (displays pears.com) rendom /upload rendom /prepare rendom /execute (server prompts for a reboot) Login to new domain PEARS with existing administrator credentials. Test workstation also displays PEARS as the logon domain and works correctly. gpfixup /olddns:apples.com /newdns:pears.com (Updates Group Policy) gpfixup /oldnb:apples /newnb:pears (Updates Group Policy) netdom computername server.apples.com /add:server.pears.com netdom computername server.apples.com /makeprimary:server.pears.com (reboot server, so FQDN also updates to server.pears.com) Wait a week to allow all other devices to 'check in' to receive the domain name change. At this point resolving to share.apples.com and share.pears.com both resolve correctly. rendom /clean rendom /end Create new _msdcs.pears.com zone. Remove existing apples.com and _msdcs.apples.com zones. Job complete! Please let me know if you've done differently, thank you!

Office 365 ProPlus won't be possible on LTSC19, but Office 2019 will be. I can understand Microsoft's decision on this, keeping OS and ProPlus in sync, whereas Office 2019 will have a much longer support cycle.

I don't follow - the probability is hardware post 2019 will work absolutely fine on LTSB16 anyway, but if it doesn't then we can always install LTSC19. Not supported and won't work are two different considerations. I'm speculating Microsoft will probably backtrack (they normally do), given they want to continue to drive Windows 10. If you think about it in real terms, other than Files on Demand there isn't really anything revolutionary that's applicable to Education that you can't either buy or download a third party alternative. Even then Files on Demand solves some problems, but not others, which is why Azure File Sync makes more Enterprise sense. Upgrading twice a year in any large Enterprise or Education establishment is completely unrealistic. The LTSB/LTSC model offers 10 years worth of support (security updates), which is perfect and allows me to concentrate and focus on other projects/requirements. Microsoft don't seem to accept that the Windows 7 model (still used by some) works, as it's the same core OS, with only security updates and little enhancements. For years we've been downloading/installing third party applications to fulfil these requirements.

LTSB16 is valid for 10 years, with just security updates. Hardware post 2019 would of course be installed with the later LTSC19, but I don't consider this a problem. It's perfectly OK to manage two different versions of Windows in a domain. A lot of you are probably managing many versions of Windows in a domain (depending on how its managed). Of all the Apps in the Education version, how many are actually used? You'll find in practice it'll be school specific cloud services/subscriptions or legacy applications rather than Apps. Files on Demand won't be how things work long term (in my professional opinion). Take a look at Azure File Sync. Definitely an Enterprise/Education service and will work on any domain connected flavour of Windows 10; appearing as a mapped drive, just like any other.

Exact same reasons for us too.

1607 LTSB.