AlanD

Have you asked capita? We don't use SIMS, but what we use has an Audit trail....and I'd be surprised (possibly even shocked) if SIMs didn't have something similar - with the very purpose of following up on things like that...and to help undo mistakes.

So...you have set up G suite with GAPs and GADs or whatever to synchronise the user accounts with your AD? You can do this in advance, and check it all seems OK.) Then you can change MX records so mail comes into google. Then I would allow users access to both O365 and Google and allow them to copy across what they like (give them a crib sheet), telling them then O365 will go off line in a month or something.

Most (all?) smartboards are connected via USB to the computer - and do not need any support from the projector. You may choose to feed the USB through the projector if it has USB, but I'm guessing you will just use VGA for the projector. I have forgotten where the USB connector is on this type of board - but you should be able to find it.

Yep, management generally don't have a clue about IT issues. Its just switch on an go. If it doesn't go buy another one. Comes as a real shock when they discover exactly how much as to be maintained to deliver the services that just seem automatic to them.

Exactly which Netgear switches are you using? Do they have fibre modules - or are the fibre connections built in? Are they 100MB/s or 1Gb/s links? When you say unmanaged, do you mean you are choosing not to manage them - or that they can't be managed? If built in - I think there should be another pair of fibre connectors on the switch - have you tried those? Is the problem always at the remote end? DHCP continues to work OK at other end? If you leave a PC on at the remote end - does it continue to ping stuff across the link after DHCP stops working? And when DHCP has failed - can you still ping devices/PCs on the same remote end (- in other words does the switch continue to work) Switches do fail from time to time - and branded fibre modules are particularly prone to failing. Somehow, this doesn't sound like a failed switch. I think you need to diagnose a bit more carefully before you simply waste money just chucking in a replacement.

Yes - you never want more than 4. In fact I would be trying to keep it down to a single SSID. If you read the tech descriptions - you will be amazed at how much "airspace" is taken up by the AP simply advertising these SSIDs. You can - for some APs stretch the time period between these broadcasts, but it remains really poor practice. I would use Enterprise authentication (from AD) and allocate access permissions depending on groups (rather than which SSID they used) . And I'd include guests in this too, but if I had to give them a second SSID I might relent.

...printer driver issue? (will it print OK to a PDF?)

As well as drivers - there is firmware - and its worth making sure you have the latest firmware. Its worth using the "reset" switch on the controller to make a clean start with orientation. There are also different versions of the controller itself. Sometimes getting the latest one fixes an issue. (I used to swap them round - and if the problem moved - change the controller). Check how tightly the bottom of the board is screwed to the wall. Sometimes - the screws just force a small distortion in the back of the board by attempting lift the board a little. Check by removing the screws nd see if the problem remains. There is (or used to be) a load of things on Smartboard web sight to help with orientation issues and its worth working through them. Nothing of course - will fix a board that has been physically damaged.

I wouldn't bother with RM unify for this unless you had some other good reason to use it....the G suite and Office 365 sync tools work just fine - and don't cost a penny.

Yes; you can do full HTTPS inspection/decryption....but loads of apps then fail to work because they detect the presence of the intermediate certificate being used. ...perhaps Industry should be pushing back...

In house. Its not exactly rocket science...and you get to put it up robustly and properly the way you want it, rather than the way they want to do it, with the correct length leads...and sound cabled so the remote control turns volume up and down via the projector...and network to the projector is working etc. Some charge as much as £250 which is ridiculous.

It may well be - that on device filtering will be the only method available in the future. Certificate pining and other techniques deployed by Android and iOS to supposedly to make your apps/browser more private increasingly make https interception and authentication difficult if not impossible to deploy and the list of exceptions and special cases that you need to add to filters such as smoothwall grows by the day (...can never understand why smoothwall doesn't automatically include and update them for the majority of common apps). Under such circumstances - software that sits in the device - and possibly replaces the browser - and checks on what is being typed has the possibility of being more comprehensive (although I agree - its not easy to enforce with BYOD) Still think the government should do more to mandate social media to allow parents and school better monitoring...for 4G and personal devices.

I'm pretty certain you should never be deleting such data. An employer might at some time in the future be asked - by tax office - or professional teacher bodies for example - whether or not someone had worked at the school - what dates, and other other information. It may be that such data should and couple be archived and possibly made accessible only via an additional password, but I wouldn't expect it to be possible to expunge their records.

RM has had a lot of bad press - and sometime deservedly so. And I always feel somewhat uncomfortable when I raise my head above the parapet to defend them. Letting even an experienced, capable and knowledgeable MCSE qualified manager loose on an RM system without a reasonably full understanding of how their system work is likely to end up with a very unsatisfactory user experience and a very frustrated manager who can't understand why adding this GPO or changing that script doesn't produce the result they expect. And yes, there are maddening limitations and shortcomings - but it is these same limitations which provide a relatively safe solution for schools. Too often, I see an inexperienced RM network manager doing their best to undo and remove the various lock downs because they want to get something to work - and they haven't bothered to find out how it should be done within the RM solution. Sometimes schools stop paying for RM support - although perversely still pay for MIS support, AV support, and a host of other support services - and there then surprised when things start to fall apart. There are various "selection" capabilities within RMMC console - such as search filters at the top of lists. I have always argued with RM that there should be a way to turn such a selection into a smart list. I'd also like a smart list to be dynamic - so it recreated itself each time its accessed (using the same selection rules). Smart lists are also only one level deep (on one field) - and are maddening limiting because of this. Looks great - but in the real world you often need something more complicated. I would recommend you start a support call to RM and ask them for a remote session so they can step you through the process.

Think its worth asking for an extra "fee" arranged at the job application to be paid if there is not sufficient documentation to make the hand over reasonably easy.

...which all goes to show that its REALLY important to document the system(s) you are working at....so that if something happens.. Ideally your current school should make this one of your priority tasks....

Didn't RM show you this as part of the training for CC4?

It would be difficult to make a case for sticking with Windows 7 after security updates stop appearing. With a focus on GDPR and the roasting the NHS got for still running unpatched and unsupported OS devices I wouldn't like to attempt to justify not moving to win10 - especially not with the excuse of not having enough money. Its been on the horizon for long enough to know its coming and budgets can ALWAYS be found for essential things....its just that doing so takes money away from something else you didn't want to take it away from.

Windows server backup (its free...just need to add it in). Works fine - well better than fine.

You may need to think about how devices/users are identified. Its not much use having a safety report the next day to say that a user repeatedly went to http://www.sex.com (or tied to) if you have no way to identify the user or device (dynamic IP). So for a school without AD, you might use google login for identification...I think RM Computers use a "free" cut down version of their Unify product for their filtered broadband service. Or you might simply log which user uses which device in a classroom... I'm not a fan of any "default" or guest network that has unfiltered access in a school. Either they load the certificate - or they don't use the network. And I certainly wouldn't allow externally (non school owned/locked down) brought in devices to connect to be "default" network in any shape or form.

https://www.mrslepre.com/how-to-use-google-forms-choice-eliminator/

You have nothing to loose buying a couple of relatively cheap Chinese modules and trying it. It may work fine... And if not you will have to dip your hand deeper into your pocket. The only poor modules we have purchased are the genuine badged ones. And ungraded fibre runs work for us well over the minimum distances. You are running a school network., not a bank network.

Remember the school may have routed connections to central administration and MIS systems... Nothing that doesn't and won't have solutions.. But it will seem like a lot of obstacles will be thrown in your path to freedom.

If students get relaxed restrictions then your network is at risk of being compromised... Certainly if the students are any good at it. Changing their ip address to be the as your gateway would probably cause some chaos... I'd want to understand exactly what they need to do educationally... Not simply they need access to command prompt. I would use...and did use a virtual pc for this.. Which had no Internet access only to itself. And it simply reset the image at the end of the session back to the original clean one. We kept that image on the local hard disk because it worked better... Tried a network one but it started to get very sluggish with 10 or more sessions. Also used Linux terminal server some years ago... Worked great.

If you don't use a proxy - there will be no automatic means for a PC to identify the user to the filter. So you would need a captive login page or something in addition to the the user logging onto the domain. ..or you need a identity client software app on the device.... So you probably would still choose to use a proxy for domain devices....