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I've done alot of work on the HP side of things and I lay my switches out with GIG at the top, POE middle and 10/100 bottom, I don't see the point in having ALL POE, just a waste, please see image attached on a simple cab layout. HP ProCurve Manager software is pretty good for information on your network

Each switch on the edge has 2Gig per switch

One of my schools just brought 2 Tabs - iPad 2 which the headteacher uses and a Samsung Galaxy Tab which the ICT Department uses - I much prefer the samsung!

Installing and then removing exchange from AD can turn into a nightmare! Set your self up with a test lab

This has just landed in my inbox if anyone is interested: http://www.arkschools.org/media/1105%20IT%20Infrastructure%20Project%20Executive%20info%20pack.pdf ARK Schools - Vacancies

Tell me about it! - this was about 4 years ago me and the other half were gonna move up there, had 3 job interviews, was offered all 3 but the pay was laughable! and they wouldnt up it. Norfolk is a beautiful part of the country, plus cheap houses! and the coast is lovely, I think we wanna try again in a few more years. Bristol is also a lovely place, went there about 2 years ago.

James - How you getting on?

I was going to relocate from Surrey to Norfolk and I told my boss my plans - he supported me and was really nice about it. I didnt make the move in the end (sadly!). Speak to your boss.

Yup. The HP ProCurve 2520G POE (J9299A) is another alternative, I have 4 of these.

I've had a bout 3 go pop\bang! on me. There is a firmware update for them which controls the power to the POE part of the switch which stops the poe component failing (i was told by HP), after upgrading all 2910al they've been fine!

That's interesting.............the java app crashed on me a few weeks ago remoting onto one of my 2510G's..........

Make sure you update all switches to latest firmware

I was having a right old slagging match with the techie over the phone - I was reporting that I had a 2910al die and he kept on blaming it was our fault due to a (switch was on UPS) power cut and wouldn't swap it out! - in the end I got the hp supervisor to get it swapped.

Only thing I would say about the HP ProCurve Warranty - We brought a couple of 2910al (48 Port POE+ GIG Switch) which went pop and if you want a new replacement you will need original proof of purchase, not copies, the original, if you don't have it, they will send you a refurbished model! When I've rang the ProCurve Warranty line up, I always end up having a argument with the engineer as they think your just bloody stupid at the other end and disbelieve you!

Hi MYK-IT, I believe if you wish to multi-cast between VLAN's you would need to buy like an premium\advanced license for your core, I believe this is correct for HP\Cisco (i think!). I'm not too familiar with the 3com switches

I deployed aload of HP ProCurve's to one of my sites last year, very good switches, very reliable. Most of the switches I configured and deployed were HP ProCurve 2510G-48, 2510G-24, 2510-48. Spanning Tree - to prevent any loop back, you need to enable the spanning-tree command on the switches. Dont overkill your edge switches though, for example 48 Port GIG to a location where you'll only have 10 active connections!

Hey James, I bet your having fun, sounds like it! Some suggestions as I've played around with SBS 2003: Offline Windows Password & Registry Editor If you manage to get back into the server: How To Reset the Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator Account Password in Windows Server 2003 Reset Directory Service Restore Mode Administrator Password for windows 2008 via GPO

Log a call with RM on that just incase - I've seen that error logged before in the Admin Logs and I know for a fact there wasn't any network congestion! Whats your switching Infrastructure? You haven't got any loopbacks on your network have you? Spanning Tree enabled on your switches?

What happens if your building burns down and the NAS goes with it?! I always have 2 backup plans in place, I use Backup Exec to Tape then the job duplicate's B2D - Tapes go off-site every week.

We would need to know the make\model of the server? I know on some older ProLiant DL380 Servers you have to enable the 64-bit options in the System ROM (BIOS)

I've always found MS Backup to be a it flaky, always used Backup Exec (which can be a bit flaky at times!)

I use HP Wireless Network in one of my schools, its excellent, totally flawless. We have a hp procurve MSM760 Wireless Controller and then about 50+ Hp ProCurve Msm422 Wireless Access Points (B/G/N Support) HP all the way, wouldnt touch any netgear stuff.

I have a private client I do some work for, I brought a Dell PowerEdge 840 with a Intel Xeon 2.2Ghz, 8Gb RAM, 2x 250Gb SATA in RAID1, 2008 R2 with Exchange Server 2010 and about 20 people use the server, runs fine. Exchange likes a bit of RAM though, also make sure your CPU has at least a dual core, quad core is better!

Whats your switching Infrastructure? I've work quite a bit with the RM SmartCache 2 boxes - make sure all the latest hot fixes are applied, ring RM up log a call and they will push the updates to it via SSH I would also use wireshark to sniff out any bad traffic!

I've just been moving printers over too a new server which is running 2008 R2, I just added the HP Universal Print driver 32-Bit Driver to the Print Server section then added the 64-bit, I then added installed\added the printer to the server where it then installed both 32\64-bit drivers at the same time, didnt need to use a 32-bit client.