Michael

Indeed good point, but this is all the press are focusing on; the battery. This is why I asked the question, because I thought I was missing the point! Use slightly older/working/consistent battery tech and move on.

What's unclear (as a Galaxy S5 owner), is to the best of my knowledge this hasn't been an issue before, so why can't they use old battery tech in a new phone? Is the new battery radically better (when it works) than older battery tech to justify stopping production completely?

Just checked VLSC and even downloaded the CSV with all keys, and nothing! I suspect it'll appear by the end of the week, or early next week.

But I suspect the likelihood is the majority of schools will still install with the GUI. Even if you reduce the number of updates, you'll no doubt still need to apply them monthly and still require a reboot, so the benefit in that respect is zero.

That's an excellent analogy 'if you can't run YouTube' makes perfect sense

So may I ask what is the issue? Changing the MIS altogether perhaps?

If you're part of a MAT, approaching multiple providers as a group will definitely make financial sense, but you already know this

Well seeing as you ask, I suppose both If you factor in your management time, database licenses, backing up the database, the server itself, running costs - it does soon start to add up. If you're paying £25K for servers (for example), fibre is achievable within these costs, even in rural locations. Other considerations are that many Assessment tools outside your current MIS are probably web based, but also your Staff will thank you if the whole MIS is accessible from home. I do see where you're coming from, but I guess it's just a differing of opinion. If designed natively, a cloud MIS should operate like any other web page, even on low bandwidth <2Mbps. Capita might charge more than others in terms of hosting, but then many other cloud MIS's will probably come in considerably lower. There's a lot of growing competition, (which is great for us managing schools), so again it very much is what you think is best for the school or MAT in question. I mean for example, you could argue running a local MS Exchange server is suitable for low bandwidth connectivity, but you could argue the server, MS Exchange, CALs etc... could go towards a faster internet connection for the benefit of all. And plus in the context of Education, standard O365 packages are free. Others may think less servers may mean less jobs, but again I disagree. The server and its service (whatever that may be), may be physically ran elsewhere, but managing a system still requires a great deal of skill.

This proves my point, it's like trying to win a losing battle. Trying to make a legacy system work over a WAN and/or a MAT, the costs soon start to spiral. This is why Capita and others are making a cloud system; but as I say, it's just unfortunate that it's not ready today when you need it.

It's one of the first things I educate about the differences between servers and workstations to apprentices - RAID, what it is and the many types available. I can imagine the hassle was huge!

I think my only initial 'criticism' of iSAMS (as quoted on their website), is most of their clients host it in-house? Why - if it's designed as a cloud based solution, it should be hosted in a proper datacentre. The total cost of ownership is going to be far less in the long-term when changing/updating servers on site. In a MAT configuration, that could be either one less server or VM per site, so it pays to get the decision right from the beginning.

Capita will in time, but as per usual they're very late. I seem to re-call SIMS.net was late too. The whole Academy/MAT idea is nothing new, but it's certainly growing in pace.

I agree, yet I'd expect the engineer to understand 'RAID' at least the most common forms.

There was a similar discussion last week - if you're a growing MAT, then you should look at a native web based product rather trying to make something legacy accessible over the web. And then presumably if the specs above are correct - 8 cores and 32GB of memory, (per SIMS instance) if you're required to replace your servers it really is a false economy. 32GB of memory isn't ridiculous these days, but to move the SIMS DB from one server to another, it's hardly a 5 minute job.

What doesn't make sense is why he/she removed/change two disks. If 2 x disk in a RAID5 config were faulty, you'd lose the array anyway. But also why were they able to do this without you there? It's something I'd be very wary of!

If you use a Safeguarding tool such as NetSupport DNA, it will show you reports pretty much in real time.

If only it took 10 minutes to replicate! It can take hours depending on the volume of information. You'd think that would be the first thing you'd question - RAID type and which disk is faulty, but also whether it's hot swap. Not all are!

You'd probably get away without Planning Permission, but it looks a relatively simple extension compared to some. As for knocking out load bearing walls, you definitely need to hire the expertise of a builder, plus you'd need a structural engineer to calculate the specification(s) required for your supports. I'd also consider a downstairs WC as it's always advantageous

As far as I can tell, this has worked with the RISO drivers too, same method

As for security, you're given a long string of numbers (unique to your device), as well as a strong password of your choice. The Wave itself connects to WiFi using WPA2 encryption. I suppose yes there's always a risk, but I am sure these companies go to great efforts to minimise risk.

I use a Worcester Wave - does the same thing and it's very good

If you right click any PDF in Explorer, select 'Open with' > Word 2016, you'll be prompted to convert. Depending on how it's compiled and how big it is, it can take minutes to open/process.

Microsoft don't need to include IE, they choose to?

Other considerations are no server or end user upgrades, no specific requirements, just a browser and an internet connection. Also consider in future the likes of Group Census's - being able to submit the Census for a group of schools in one go; it'll inevitably happen with a browser based MIS solution. It won't happen with a localised, standalone instance(s). That's just one example, but I am sure there are lots of others where the same applies.

I think the issue with SIMS is it's legacy - it was never designed to work across a WAN, hence why browser based MIS systems are becoming more common and more popular; plus to prove a point Capita themselves are making a browser based product as they also realise the full fat version of SIMS isn't the future. As to what you should do if you're a growing MAT now? You should research for browser based MIS systems and get all parties concerned to agree to a new system. It will function better, lower costs (one less physical server or VM per site) and no SQL licensing to worry about - it really is a no brainer in the context of MIS systems.