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I've replied to your PM. I tried the UN and Pwd its asks for at the end of PDC setup and it worked this time. Dunno why, but there we go. Just quickly. How do you lock down your windows workstations. Is there something like group policy that you can apply? Mark

We only use SIMS for finance. Everything else is done on Facility, but i'll still hold off on upgrading the finance machines until I can get some testing done. I dont expect any problems as I've rolled it out to my entire curriculum network and nothing has broken.

Thanks for your input guys. I will probably settle with a mid to high end iMac. I just have to wait and see what the budget is. Storage isnt really an issue. Student data is stored an a 2Tb NAS instead of on a server.

So I wouldn't need to get Mac Pro's then. Mid to high end iMacs would do the job?

We a going to be starting a BTEC Media course in September. Students will be doing things like Video and Audio editing, animation, filming etc. Also I think they will be doing some Hi-Def stuff. I know macs are industry standard in the media world and was wondering what macs would be great for the job at hand, but will also last us at least three years. I havn't been told what the budget for this is yet.

I agree that the developers of Karoshi have done an amazing job and that its a great piece of software that could make everyones life so much easier, but I still think its a bit odd that you can't use the IP ranges and hostname you want right from the work go. Even if the developers can use their own ranges, most schools can't. But, I decided to crack on with Karoshi. I set it up as a PDC and now get to my next problem. I can't log in to the Network Manager or Technician parts of the system. I've tried using the username and password that I use to log onto the box itself, but I still can't get in. Any ideas?

Ok so Karoshi is off the list. Karoshi has a lot of potential, but it falls down on a couple major things for me. First is the lack of online support. Second is the fact that you can't change use your own IP ranges or hostnames without breaking other parts of the system. I can't believe anyone would design this type of software with such a flaw. Other than that its a really good peice of software with so much potential. Next on the list is Ubuntu Server and clients after that OpenSuse Server and clients.

Wow, I never expected an arguement to break out when I asked that question. Initially all I will be doing is setting up a test environment completly separated from my live networks. I think to start I will set up two severs. One will run DNS, DHCP and user auth. The other one will run LTSP and will be a file server. Then I will have two clients. One will be a thin client and one a fat client. Not sure what Distro to use though. Has anyone used Karoshi. I had a look at the demo and it seemed a bit flaky and the support doesnt seem all that good. I had thought of using OpenSuse for the servers, but I've ready that it can be a pain to set up. For the clients I was thinking of using either OpenSuse or Ubuntu. We run Facility on another network joined by a Router that only allows http traffic to cross the networks.

Hi Long story short. SLT at the school I work are fed up having to pay the stupid Microsoft licencing costs and want to look at the possibility of moving completly over to linux. Has anyone here done that. If so what distro did you use for the servers and clients. I'd like to set up a little test network to see where any problems may occur and to teach myself how everything works. If anyone could help I'd greatly apprieate it. MArk

Hi Does anyone here use or know of a good open source helpdesk. I have tried a few, but they weren't that good. I'm looking for something along the lines of DNA helpdesk, without the massive price tag. Thanks in advance Mark

No, it doesnt work like that. PDAs send a special header that informs a web server that it is being accessed by a PDA, similar to the way a mobile phone does. Because of this, you have to buy the PDA add on for facility so that it will let PDAs access ePortal. Our PE department use PDAs to register their kids. I never had any issues getting this to work, but our wireless network was already well established. The PDAs the we use are HP IPAQ rx1950.