FishCustard

Our CC3 server has the RMUsers structure on the H:\ drive, so it can be changed. I have no idea how you would do this though, as the CC3 installation was set up (long!) before I started here.

Have been a donor for a couple of years now - my next armful is due in August. 100% agree that you should donate if you can, you never know when you or someone you know might need it someday! I'd also strongly recommend getting put on the bone marrow register (ask when you go to donate blood, they take a sample from your donation and send it off).

Seems like I've cracked it - when it reboots and complains 'can't find domain', if you enter the FQDN (schoolname.internal or the like) in the box where it actually asks for the NetBIOS name, it works. This is rather odd, as I can join machines to the domain normally via the NetBIOS name. The Smartclient logs (I had to hack the VBS scripts that the process uses in order to get at these - fancy disabling KB/mouse drivers in Safe Mode... wutwut?) show that the script can't enumerate the list of DCs properly as it can't resolve the (NetBIOS) domain name. I can't get any more info than that though...

Assuming you'd use this for a high-end OS X-based server, how the hell would you mount it in a rack?! Even if you figure that one out, the positioning of the airflow and ports is hardly ideal...

Did he ever really have the plot to start with? What is the point of rebadging the grades?! Utter nonsense.

Nope, I even restarted the NetLogon service for good measure. I'll double check the time, but as I'm able to add the same machines to the domain without RM in the way, I doubt it's a sync issue.

Yep, I have that, I get that far, but it's once I've run that and rebooted that it fails. I've tried a couple of different machines, including a virtual machine running on ESXi and locally with VirtualBox, so a NIC issue seems unlikely.

Oh the wonders of RM CC3 in 2013... it's all going away in the summer, you'd think it could hold together for another half-term! *ahem* Right, so recently machines have been failing to join the domain during the RM Smartclient process. You put the name/domain/location in, it restarts and then says 'cannot find domain school.internal'. The DC is fine, we can access it before the process begins (how else would we get the commissioning tools?!), and we can join plain XP clients to the domain fine. Furthermore, the option to 'Rebuild Workstation' (any workstation) within the RMMC is greyed out. I've restarted the RMC3I service, no effect. I'm guessing something within one of the other RM services on the DC has gone up a certain creek, but have no idea where to start looking! Any ideas on what to do next? I plan to try a rebuild using a floppy tomorrow, but doubt that'll have an effect.

I'd be very interested in this as well, for the same reasons...

There - fixed that for you.

A server which is already a DC and SIMS server is somewhat unlikely to be able to handle Hyper-V anyway, regardless of whether it's a good idea or not! (Also: what AT said while I was writing! Ninja posts... )

If you're sure you want to get into IT professionally, an IT apprenticeship may well suit. You'll probably spend 4 days a week on the job, with one day at a college or training company (although this varies). You get the satisfaction and experience of a job, while being learning at the same time. Sometimes there's even a chance the company/school you're with will offer you a full time post at the end of your placement. You'll want to find one that teaches proper system administration (i.e. Windows/Linux server technologies & admin, networking, etc.) and not just 'user-level IT'. There's nothing wrong with going to University if you find a course that suits you, but equally there's no point going if you feel you won't learn anything of value, and have to pay for the privilege. What's more, there's absolutely nothing to stop you from going to Uni later in life when you're more sure of what you want to study.

Working now - had to get LGfL to use 'Capita-InTouch' rule on our firewall as opposed to just allowing traffic to one destination IP.

I'd advise against using SCCM 2012 R2 in such a small deployment unless you've got lots of experience already, as it's quite a complex thing to use for the benefits you get. I'd go for WSUS+Local Update Publisher for updates/apps, and MDT+WDS for deployment.

Email sent re: OVS-ES.

Reminds me of the time I had to carry various HP 4200-series and 3000-series (EDIT: oh, and a 4700n!) up three flights of stairs at a previous school. What could possibly go wrong...?

There's no proxy config involved (LGfL proxy is transparent), the LEA say the ports are open, although I'm getting them to double-check that tomorrow. As for a persistent route, as the SIMS server is only on one network, I doubt that will change anything. However, I'm not feeling 100% today, so please correct me if I'm talking piffle. Thanks for replying, btw!

Hi guys, We've been having some problem getting our OpenVPN connection to the hosted SLG systems to work - I get a 'TLS negotiation error' or words to that effect. I believe that boils down to the fact that cannot contact the remote server (on port 1194). Capita say it's something to do with our firewall/ISP filtering - we're with LGfL 2.0, and they assure me that the relevant port is open for the appropriate source and destination IPs. My question is this: has anyone else had this problem, and what did it turn out to be? Am I on the right track with the firewall, or is there anything else I should be trying? Thanks!

Ah, so it's a slot-loading drive? That is a more difficult proposition than a tray-loading one. I'd recommend tweezers and/or a paperclip for fishing about!

Your filtering is handled by RM?! I feel for you - we 'only' have to contend with CC3. Whether the LGfL filtering is any better would be debatable however...

'Weird' here having the meaning of 'awesome'. Some of the things I've found/been listening to lately: Ievan Polka - Loituma (a Finnish folk song made somewhat Internet-famous by a spinning leek) The whole OST for Neon Genesis Evangelion, but specifically the opening theme and this. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya themes and associated songs. Pretty much anything by 'Weird Al' Yankovic (this one is particularly appropriate!)

No probs, feel free to ask!

You wouldn't need another LGfL firewall at all. Consider the case that you were adding a new building to your existing site. You would simply create a link between a switch in the new building and your core switch, plug in client PCs to this new switch, and off you go. All you're doing here is making the link longer. Packets will travel from the client PCs at the new site, to the new site's edge switch, over the fiber link (or wireless link) to the main site, to the core switch and then to wherever they're going. If it's out to the Internet, they'll go through the main site's router. As for the VLANs, you'll just need to make sure that the link between the two sites is set up to use VLAN trunking protocol (this is configured on the switches at either end of the link), so that both the admin and curriculum VLANs can be seen at the new site. Hope this makes sense...

Ultimately a fiber downlink/high-bandwidth wireless link (like AirFiber) to the new site is all you'd need. Computers can authenticate against the DC at your site over the fiber line. If all the services they'll be accessing will be at your site, you may not need another DC at the branch location (if the fiber goes down, yeah with a replica DC the clients will be able to log on, but what else could they do if all the files are at the other site?). However, to reduce latency, I'd get a (read-only?) DC put in at the site if you have a suitable server lying around or can source one cheap. Also, I know this is going beyond the scope of the question, but I thought I'd ask anyway - is there a need to have two separate domains? Having one simplifies lots of things, and adding this site to your network may be the perfect incentive to get rid of the split-domain system if you want to!

Some of you may well have seen this, as it's (fairly) famous in IT circles, but for those who haven't: 'The Website Is Down'. The first video, 'Sales Guy vs. Web Dude' is by far the best IMO, but they're all good for a chuckle.