jayemm

Ok, figured this out in the end. The issue is that Spanning Tree was on, and it takes no notice of VLANs, hence was shutting down one of the links. Plugging into two sepperate switches has fixed this. It is only a temporary measure until we overhaul the entire server and network infrastructure over summer. The VLANs were all correctly assigned, but dont want to start adding or setting up Multiple Spanning Tree. JayEmm

We have an existing network, two domains Admin Curriculum, (a and c). Setup on two separate physical cables and switches. I am putting one of our new switches in and want both networks available, so decided to use VLANS. On new switch configured 2 ports untagged to one VLAN and two ports untagged to other. Plugged one switch into one port and one switch into other. Then plugged a server with two NICs, one into each of the other ports and checked that there was a switch and a NIC connected to the different VLANs. My problem is DHCP will only work if my switch is not connected to two switches. I have not setup DHCP helper addresses as I am under the impression this is only if DHCP has to cross a VLAN, but in our case it doesnt. Any help recieved.

That would be helpful

@GrumbleDook yes I do tend to agree. But are we talking about evidence between a 60/70 year old school with single glazing and leaky roofs to a nice new shiny building in pastel colours but which basically just provides the same square rooms for people to use. Or are we talking about comparing newly built schools which are modeled on the old ones to the blue sky thinking of creative open learning spaces, outdoor classrooms and thinking beyond the 'box'?

Ok, so the school where i have taken over as NM has LanSchool and it appears to be a very sound product for the price, but our support has lapsed and I am exploring what other options are out there. The school where I worked before as NM had Impero, starting at V2 which I liked quite alot, but then we were an early adopter of V3 and I was not a massive fan. I havent seen recent developments of V3 so it could be much more stable with more features working. I have never used NetSupport so am very interested in what other people think of this. One key feature must be the ability to have front of class computers see the computers in that ICT suite but the ICT support department be able to see all machines. I am interested to know which product people us for Classroom management and what you like about it and anything you dont like about it. We are not an RM school so their offering is never going to be of use to us.

I used to work in a PFI school, built using PFI money the LA took out, before Tony Blair and BSF. The authority built or refurbished just under 20 at the same time and put in place a management company who had to maintain the buildings for a set period before they reverted back to LA control. The buildings were leased to a joint venture company for the period, they awarded the contract for building management which included catering, caretaking, facilities management etc, this was a bit similar to a LEP. This 'LEP' had board members from the LA and from the company who provided the capital investment. The building management company was a subsidiary of the group of companies that invested the money. The company that won the contract to build the school was also part of the same group! All in all we ended up with a steel frame building with thermalite walls and brick exterior. The LA liked it as the costs were fixed and written into a contract, schools were not so keen as site staff were employed by a third party. Pros: costs were tried to be kept at a minimum, the buildings all had the same 'feel' but didnt look the same at all. yearly energy costs were fixed, well they rose with inflation, irrespective the actual amount of energy used, eg the 1500 pupil school I worked at paid £17500 per year for gas and electricity even if we left computers on 24x7. If something goes wrong with the building they have to fix it no cost to school, only exception is vandalism Cons: any work has a 10% fee to cover management costs and lifecycle no way to prove best value as all changes to building and infrastructure are handled by management company This idea of building modular schools is surely not a new one, in my LA there are several schools built at the same time in the 60s. They were square modules a bit like more permanent port-a-cabins with flat roofs brick bases and wooden sides. I have seen these modular buildings up and down the country but never seen two identical schools. I think the idea of having a catalogue of modules to choose from is a good idea, but with the option of changing some parts at a cost? This allows for standardisation, but to keep some individuality. The school where I now work was due to be rebuilt under BSF and already had plans drawn up, our phase was canceled. The school is in desperate need of rebuilding with no hope of that in the short to mid term now. The LA has allocated Capital Investment for refurb in a couple of years but the amount, although substantial, is not what it needs to be. The whole point of BSF was to build innovative, fit for purpuse, modern buildings which were designed from the offset with education in mind. Where learning spaces were built that allowed students to learn differently. The problem as always with large contracts is that project management, something the government should know lots about having created PRINCE(2), yet all government projects go over budget and or over time. We firstly need to ensure that we employ good project managers who in turn should seek the best value for the project as a whole?

Ideally we have no scheduled downtime from 8:30am to 3:00pm however we have in the past had some, (2 occasions), where scheduled maintainance happens during this time, for different reasons. I think we all appreciate that 100% uptime is not financially viable for schools and discussing this with SLT is key. We have an IBM virtualised system being brought online this summer using vmware. I have designed the system with no single point of failure. It wasnt cheap, but neither was it extortionate. I took extended warranties to ensure replacement parts are with us the following business day. An engineer can be with us, but as I have setup 2 similar systems before, I am confident of fitting the parts myself. VM ware, as other virtualisation products, ensures that if there are any issues, there should be little/no disruption to service. An SLA is also key as mentioned before. This will be an agreement with SLT as to which services are most important and give details of how long there can be a disruption to a service. This powerful document gives you the leverage to buy in better equipment or spares and if they dont like it, then the SLA needs changing.

Adam, are you saying you have a VLAN based on users rather than devices? How do you achieve this?

We are just starting vistualisation at my new work, did it at old place. 2 IBM x3650 m2 with dual hex core processors 38GB RAM 8 NICs 2 FC HBA 1 DS3500 with 2 expansion bays. 24 600GB 15k drives and 12 2TB drives with FC HBA 2 IBM FC switches to connect together. Vsphere 4 running on the servers. This is just the start for us though, my last place we ended up with IBM esx hosts and 2 SANs fully populated. You will find different people have different solutions but that each one works good for them.

Sorry, I only dont know as I wasnt at work. It is a dell server, will login in a bit to check the NICs.

not sure what cards are in, but the switches are brand new, procurve 3500s

That was what my management VLAN was for. Had a thought about another one, should I VLAN my thin clients/Terminal services servers?

We have a couple of servers with 2 nics but only one is currently used. I am planning to use both to ease a bottleneck and want to team/bridge them. Host OS is server 2003. I know I will need to bridge the connection in the OS and the result will be 1 IP. Do I need to trunk the switch ports too? JayEmm

I know there have been a lot of VLAN related questions recently, but I am looking for advice from others who have VLANs already. Current setup is 3 totally segregated flat networks. Admin, Curriculum, CCTV. We are moving to a single domain and hence the reason for looking at VLANs. Current switches are some quite old Netgear switches running at 100mbps in some areas and 1Gbps in others. There are clearly a couple of bottlenecks too. We have bought 7 new switches, 1 hp5406 and 6 hp3500s the plan is for the 5406 to be the core switch, the 3500s to be in the key locations and distribute out to the rest of the network. The link between the 5406 and 4 of the 3500s will be 3 1Gbps trunked fibre connections. The link between the 5406 and the other 2 3500s located in server rooms will be 10Gbps. I am thinking of running the following vlans: guest vlan printer vlan cctv vlan server vlan management vlan vlan for each of the 6 locations to segment the network VOIP lan (currently not needed our phone system was installed when Noah built the Ark) we have about 50 switches at present, but some will be redundant given that in some areas there is a part used admin and part used curriculum switch which will merge into one. Some switches are not managed which will only really affect the printer vlan as all CCTV comes back to two of the areas already. Any thoughts, comments, suggestions appreciated. JayEmm

Can class teachers change their own P7 record?!

Ok as I have said before. School is licenced through original LA scheme, and gets support from LA. What happens when the school become a SIMS direct site? AFAIK the licences transfer to the school do they not as support is paid direct to capita and nothing to the LA. If this school then becomes an Academy then surely they already have the licence and dont need to pay over the odds? Phil surely you see that this is morally wrong? New style academies retain the same DfE/DFES/DCSF number, they do not close and reopen they just change type of school. Do schools that become Trust schools have to follow the same re-licence? I can fully understand your novate clause but surely in this instance you can see that the end user/institution is the same not different!

Where I work I am the ICT manager, and the Sysman. We technically do not have a SIMS manager or a Data Manager. What group do you normally add people to then? New staff are added to class teacher by default then added to other roles depending on their job role.

Technet is included in two ways both as part of the Software Assurance benefits. a) 2 accounts for chat and forums on technet b) 1 complimentary Technet Professional account.

Has anyone else setup their EES contract yet? I have set mine up and it has not been without delays and glitches. It also appears to not be straight forward in obtaining some of the benefits such as the MSDNAA and Technet Professional accounts. Just wondered what others experience was. JayEmm

Microsoft Enterprise CAL Suite - available in the Enterprise Desktop Platform, Enterprise Desktop Platform with MDOP and customised desktop platform - initially provides rights equivalent to the following: * Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Enterprise CAL * Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Standard CAL * Microsoft Forefront Protection Suite subscription licence, which consists of the following Microsoft Online Services: o Microsoft Forefront Client Security subscription licence o Microsoft Forefront Online Protection for Exchange subscription licence o Microsoft Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server subscription licence o Microsoft Forefront Security for Office Communications Server subscription licence o Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway Web Protection Service subscription licence o Microsoft Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint subscription licence * Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway 2010 CAL * Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition CAL * Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition CAL * Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise CAL * Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Standard CAL * Microsoft System Center Client Management Suite client management licence, which provides rights equivalent to the following o Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 client management licence o Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 client management licence o Microsoft System Center Service Manager 2010 client management licence * Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 client management licence * Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard CAL * Windows Server 2008 Rights Management Services CAL

My quote that I got today based on 150 staff for Enterprise Desktop with Enterprise Cal is just over £39 each. PM if you want details.

We are looking at purchasing one, but I am under the impression that the pricing changes at 1000 fte. You are able to purchase now regardless of having an existing agreement in place or not.

We use live@edu provided by LA, and I would not suggest using it. Its pants at best!

Hi TechSupp. Digital Region is a South Yorkshire thing. It is being setup by the Rotherham, Doncaster, Sheffield and Barnsley councils and is funded and owned by them. Their aim is to setup a fibre to the cabinet system before BT as South Yorkshire is down the list of BT works. This roll out is well underway and these new cabinets have appeared all over SY Authorities and you will have surely seen some of the roadworks as they lay new fibre. They are using dark fibre too. This new WAN will connect the local authorities together, and be connected to the Internet hence being able to act as an ISP although this is being done by resellers and not directly by Digital Region. We have looked at Digital Region Costs and were given figures of around £9k per year, but when you think we currently pay £22k that is a hefty saving. PM me if you want more information. JM

From my experience you will possibly find that your employment contract says you are employed by the LA/County Council and work at School X but can be directed by the School Governors to work elsewhere. The other thing is are you going there one day per week for the whole day, and not going there ad hoc? If this is the case then technically you would not need Business Insurance as you will be driving to you place of work for that day, the primary school. If you go to your normal school then have to drive to the primary this would be classed as business use, would need business insurance, and be reasonable to expect business mileage reimbursement at HMRC recommended rates. Is there really a change to your job role? You are a technician in a school and they want you to be a technician in a different school for one day a week. In what way do you think the job description has changed? I am not saying I am right, but want you to think about what will actually change. If something will change and it is substantial then I would contact your LA/CC HR department and ask them on the process for changing a person's job description. They will probably have a proceedure for doing it which includes assessing the new job description to see if a wage increase is due.