7andY

Being serious, I have to say that building a new server - even if using old kit - and setting that up as the main server while you re-build the old one sounds the best way forward. You could even leave the 'new build from old kit' machine in place afterwards as a second DC to share a bit of the load. If it's an 'old kit' build, just leave it as a DC and don't give it anything else to do, except maybe to hold copies of any data held on the main server, perhaps from an overnight backup. You can always throw loads of discs at these servers, and they're cheap enough nowadays. The whole lot could perhaps be done in a couple of hours by a Server specialist, but I'd want at least a day for each of the basic builds, then another two or three days to make sure everything was working OK. If you're not confident with servers, then I would think a couple of weeks... As an afterthought, perhaps the idea of rebuilding to a partition is to preserve any files/folders on the other partition(s). If there is data there, this would be a prudent course to take, after taking a full backup, of course! 7&Y

Ummm - not quite! The same applies for servers as for desktops. As long as you have an existing OS on the server, you can upgrade it the same way - but you do have to purchse an OS for it first. You also have to declare the number of servers you want to do this to on your Select Agreement application for this to work, same as desktops... This is based on information I have received from our Select Agreement supplier. For absolute chapter and verse, I suggest you email Microsoft! 7&Y

Umm...I'm not sure about all this negativity here! I feel I am here to advance our students' education, and if the decision is taken to issue laptops for students' school and private use, and a good case was made for this, then I would support it. The issues raised here are all good ones, but I feel a bit of positive thinking could make this work. Insist on Anti-virus, and anti-adware, which is regularly run by the Parent/Guardian. A fee for repairs not due to fair wear and tear, or laptop not fixed. An understanding that any software faults would be resolved by 'burn and re-build' - a ten minute job with Ghost and a USB stick - possibly even do-able by tech-savvy teachers, or even the students themselves - why not?? - it would solve the problem! I can see a case where a project like this would reduce the load on our Desktops, and relieve the maintenance requirement there. I also believe that this is going to be the way forward, whether we like it or not - so I'm starting by working out what my list of requirements is, before it's forced on me!! Oh, and I would insist they NOT be joined to our Domain - they can use our external home drive portal to get to their work (they can get an IP address from our DHCP server just fine), and printouts would have to done from a regular desktop, where we can keep an eye on it... Cheers, 7&Y

'Ignore computers in use' switch is -n 7&Y

The nice thing about BeyondExec is that you can set it to only shutdown those machines where no user is logged on. I have a schedule to do this at various times between 3:30pm and 10:00pm. The 10:00 pm one does a force shutdown.

I use Axis 240Q's connected to 4 port video to Cat5 baluns with power, all mounted on an MDF board, connected with short loops of co-ax - looks quite neat! Run a Cat5 cable to each camera, and use a single port balun with power at the other end. No problems running power - it all goes down the Cat5! I have reliable runs up to 75 metres. I have all my cameras run to these Axis jobbies then over IP to central servers running i-catcher. Some of my cameras are over 400 metres away, and located across four separate buildings. I use a different colour Cat5 to differentiate it from normal network stuff I get a lot of my infrastructure bits and bobs from CCTV | Suppliers of DIY Systems, Cameras, Kits, Digital Video Recorders (DVR) and Speed Domes, . - quick and reliable, but they like cheque with order - some Business Managers may balk at this! Cheers, 7&Y

Wow - must be some size. My tape system will store up to 800GB 7&Y

The good thing about tapes is that they are very easy to rotate, and store offsite - you do store offsite as well, don't you? Cheers, 7&Y

I use Robocopy.exe set to move any files over 400 days old (though you can set it to what you like). I don't delete the files, just move them off the shared areas, wait for another 3 months, and, if no-one screams, delete them by hand. 7&Y

Do you use MSSQLExpress? I did until recently, when it ran out of room and stopped updating! I had a spare SQL2005 licence so I used that. Try doing some WSUS housekeeping. That will clear some space in SQL, and then try a manual update. Cheers, 7&Y

Ultrium 920 SCSI tape drive from HP. We backup all H: drives, profiles, redirected My Documents, Moodle/SIMS/CMIS backups every night. Around 400GB in 3 hours. Mind you, all our data is kept on an IBM DS3400 SAN - the Ultrium will outstrip most IDE and SATA drive data transfer rates. Cheers, Andy E.

...part of our AUP. Staff have total access to student home drives. All that should be there is school work, so no privacy issues should exist. Don't forget, the DPA covers paper based data, so if home drives are out of bounds, so should workbooks etc!!

If you have one, you could loan her a working spare AP. I've done this, and proved the problem to a dodgy AP at the home end! It was replaced and the problem went away... Cheers, Andy E.

OCSNG - ties in with GLPI to give a full Inventory/consumable control/helpdesk system, plus lots of other facilities and plug-ins. OCSNG - OCS Inventory NG - Welcome to OCS Inventory NG web site ! GLPI - GLPI - Gestionnaire libre de parc informatique ...and...it's FREE!! Andy E.

I need to connect two buildings that are about 800m apart. Wired would be a problem, so I'm looking at wireless. We use D-Link kit, so that would be the best solution for me. It seems to me that a WAP at each end in bridge mode, with a high gain directional antenna at one end would do the job. Has anyone already done this? - and - how effective is it?? Cheers, Andy E.