tonyd

I'm hoping this is the right place to post, the SEGfL site seems to imply that Kent is part of their network. If this is not the right place, then I guess I'll be needing a seperate KCN forum. Anyway, NAT. KCN supply the school with a /30 (1022 addresses) IP range. This is insufficient for our needs, we have over 1000 devices on the network already. So, we have in place a PIX firewall that is performing NAT for our VLANed network, but both the school and EIS are considering it's removal. I read that they will now supply us with a Cisco 2811 that they can configure to do NAT (?), but have not yet managed, after over a week of waiting, to speak to anyone at EIS on this subject. My prefered soultion is normally to use ISA 2006 in firewall mode to do NAT, firewall the network, cache and filter web traffic, and publish web servers. KCN on the other hand, already supply us with one ISA 2004 (WebSense) that is caching & filtering web traffic, and are suggesting we install another ISA box, in single NIC mode, to simply be used for re-directing and publishing our internal servers onto the web. I would like to know if: - any other schools are running the KCN Cisco 2811 as a gateway to VLAN'ed network. - or if you've got more than the standard /30 address space from them - come up with other solutions that EIS have allowed you to implement (or managed to implement without their help!)

Quite agree with you, I always prefer to use an ISA box to do NAT & secure my networks, as well as for publishing internal servers. But, which port (and IP) address are you using on the Synetrix supplied switch? As I recall, the top left is normally configured for admin networks, and the bottom left for curriculum.

I'm guessing you're using the Admin port of the Synetric router to run your combined or curric network. The Admin side is typically left a lot more open and may explain why they're allowing access...

I'm not sure I'd virtualise the terminal servers, from what I've heard performance is a major issue. Think of this in terms of running a virtualised enviroment within a virutalised environment, just like trying to run an emulator within another emulator you cannot exect it to perform as well as on native hardware.

For emails to parents etc. why not try a mail merge in word with CSV's of addresses and names exported from SIMS?

Assuming you're machines get their IP's from a DHCP server, you should be able to access and export a list of the MAC addresses from there. If you need to change formats then you could simply use a search / replace in wordpad to change ':' to '-' or remove spaces....

It's well worth spending the time in a specialist running shop. They will have equipment and knowledge that will help you in selecting the right pair of shoes. I had no idea about pronation and over pronation before visiting one (I think this is to do with your foot rolling to the inside or outside). With the right gear they can see how you run and what type of support is needed. I must have spent over 1/2 hour trying out different pairs with the help of an assistant who watched me run 30 meters in each pair! So, find and support your local specialist - they know what they're talking about. Runners World's site has details on good pairs of shoes - Runner's World International Shoe Awards - Runner's World Shoes Oh, and to anwser you question specifically, I've currently got a pair of Brooks that I'm very impressed with, and in the past have had a couple of pairs of New Balance. All bought from specialist running shops...

Hmm, can't tell you - but why not try FreeCiv (Main Page - Freeciv.org) and aviod any licensing and CD worries?

I've just got the 8Mb service from Sky, no complaints regarding speed at all normally get close to the 8Mb in fact. Only small drawback seems to be a locked down router with no access to finding the account details that would allow you to swap for another router (e.g. draft N), or setup to point to use the OpenDNS servers.

Using 802.11b or g, you should only use channels 1, 6 and 11 normally. Here in the UK you could optionally try 1, 7 and 13 but I think it best to stick to the first set as these are the options you will normally see selected on other, interfering, access points.

Have you had a look at VMware Converter - Download VMware Converter (Starter Edition) - VMware. I've used it several times to take backups of servers that are being decommisioned.

I'll second openDNS. See OpenDNS > Home Network > Solutions > Parental Controls for details of filters. All you need to do is create a free account with them, register your IP, set your machine or router to user openDNS DNS servers, then any requests from you will be filtered according to your preferences. Not bad for a free service!

Although not a free solution, I've had some good experiences with SpinRite (GRC|Hard drive data recovery software) being able to fix hard disks that seem otherwise dead. Plug the faulty drive into another PC (not RAIDed), boot up SpinRite, select option 4 to repair, leave it until complete, then re-connect to the array and cross fingers!

Have you selected the option to store the background in the users temp folder, instead of the default of c:\windows? These settings are on the Bitmap menu, under Location.

Have you had a look at OpManager Free Edition? (ManageEngine OpManager - Free Small Network Edition & Professional Trial Edition Feature Comparison) This lets you monitor upto 10 devices, with HP Servers it has builtin SNMP details for temperature, when things reach a critical point you can schedule emails and running of scripts. Uisng this I've been able to ask remote sites to check aircon when it's failed before things have gone too far since my crack-berry has alterted me to problems.

Try looking in the BIOS for the option to 'disable AHCI mode' - this should give a more comaptible disk interface.

I'd guess it's a bit like ghosting... if (fog = free opensource ghost) then fogging ~= ghosting

This site does the calculations on power to money for you - Electricity Running Cost Calculator from UK Power. Based on it using about the same energy as a 400W lightbulb, and running for 720 hours per month, then it will cost £28.80 a month - if you pay the same for electricity as they do! A server like this, http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=803368, will cut cost dramatically, given it's power consumption of just 29W, it will cost a little over £2 a month...

If you're talking about an SSO for authenticating websites via AD then ISA 2006 might just do the job. As far as I can tell you should not need client licenses for this since you're providing access for your own (internal?) users. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb794722(TechNet.10).aspx for details

Start appying for other jobs! (and ask for time off for interviews) When they realsie they may loose you it could be the incentive required to get you the pay rise... From experience this has worked for me in the past.

Don't do it! The deprciation on new cars is horrible, I know, I lost far too much on my last one. Nearly new offers most of the benifits, but with the initial deprciation already gone. I'd only contemplate it for a car that was being offered at a heavy discount. As for 0%, I think you'd be very lucky to find deals like that in the current finanial climate.

I'm fairly sure that these devices operate as single shared network segment, so will be OK for low bandwidth situations, but rather a lot like a step back to the dark ages of hubs and ethernet 10base-x where all devices connected to a single backbone (I guess I've been doing this too long as I rememeber putting in 10 base-5 and 10 base-2 (thick and thin ethernet) networks ;0) ) You're NEVER going to get anything like the same throughput as a well configured switched enviroment. I've a couple of 54Mb home network devices at home, and even then am surprised how often the collision light is lit...

I think the general consensus of opinion here is that you should have two DC's. Just one is normally seen as a high risk, if this goes down, you loose all ability to authenticate on the other servers until you are able to rebuild it (assuming the AD backups can be restored). For the simplicity of an easy rebuild, these DC’s normally have a minimum of 3rd party software installed. I would consider looking into getting an additional DC’s. Once you have a couple of these in place, then it should be fairly simple to demote the existing DC to simple becoming a member server.

That cable sounds a lot like the one I've been using (Scan Computers UK: 3m Scan HDMI to DVI-D Male Cable (v1.3) Gold Plated Male to Male (CDLDV-303)) to link a DVI PC upto a HDMI LCD TV. Running Vista it just works, no problems at all. Sadly you have to link the Audio up another way since the PC cannot output it the HDMI cable ;-( Has anyone seen an adaptor to do this? Not a problem for me as I use a separate amp for sound though... Re. resoultion, I believe most 32" LCD screens run at 1366 x 768, so you will NOT be getting a full 1080 HD picture. If you do encounter issues with HiDef playback then AnyDVD (http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html) can be use to 'work around' any HDCP problems.

Another blue hammer for me too:(