Tony_W

I'm an ICT Governor for a Primary school...School network = 25 PC's with win95/98..server = win2k.

Last 5 yrs it's been crap..failure to log in e.t.c. and too complicated with EVERY child having their own log in id. The teachers are becoming more and more disenchanted..

Fed up with it so I'm about to do the following:

Re-format all the PC's and put Win98 on all of them except the server (scsi disks) which will have Win2k server + exchange putting on.

Each PC is connected via Cat 5 cable to a hub. We also have a router for ISDN.

Each PC will be set up with a manually assigned, permanent IP address.

Intend setting up separate class login ids and passwords. (Hints on best way to do this...please !) I intend to re-route each classroom's My docs folders to the server, to enable an easy way to backup all the data in one go via the scheduler.

Question:
Are there any traps to fall into? Should I stick to FAT32 on the server to match the PCs or put NTFS on the server?

(I want to make this as easy as possible to maintain for the IT Teacher and to enable extra PC's to be added by the IT teacher, without me being dragged in each time!) AND MAKE IT WORK FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER !!

I also want to lock down as much of each PC as I possibly can (to stop the children from fiddling..as they like to do this!), but not sure whats the best software to do this (budget will also play a part!) Will I be able to do this via permissions on the server for each classroom id?

As you can see I'm not fully swept up with win2k server.

I have built a home network with static IP addresses e.t.c. via cat 5 but have never bothered with passwords or locking out with permissions.

Any help much appreciated.

Ta

Tony

Foot_Tapper

Hi Tony, I work in sys admin, desktop, servers etc but never
worked for a school. Here are some quick thoughts....

1. If the client hardware is just about identical, create
a bootable cd, with an image of the pc on, using ghost or
drive image. Put the imaging utility onto the cd as well,
along with a batch file, that will run the imaging software,
and load image onto hard drive of the pc.
2. You say you would like a teacher to rebuild a pc as easy as
poss. I would suggest using dhcp. Lease length approx 5 days.
Else after rebuilding a pc the teacher would have to config
the tcpip for the new pc.
3. For the pupils/classes user id's praps use "no lockout"

4. If you are using win 98 on a client, i dont think you can
lock it down. I may be wrong. If you can create a good boot
cd, that can easily install a client, then i wouldnt worry too
much about the kiddies messin it up.
loads more issues but havent got time yet

towzer

My comments/thoughts are:

NTFS vs FAT32:
Use NTFS on the servers, it doesn't matter what the file systems are.

Static IP vs Dynamic:
Use static IP for the server, but dynamic/DHCP on the PC's. Dynamic IP's allow the PC's to be replaced or added without messing around with assigning IP addresses.

Lock downs:
Setup of different user profiles is the way to go. I don't have any experience of W98, so cannot comment. If you set up an active directory on the server you would be able to lock down the individual classes to different enable them to acces differing levels of applications.

Other comments:
ISDN? It's cheaper to use ADSL, but you may not be able to get it in your area.

If you need advice on hardware, drop me a mail

Phil

ChristianR

iTrader: (1)

for lock downs, I highly recommend a product called Ranger Suite.

Tony_W

Thanks for the advice everyone..

I shall try setting up both systems at home first, then set up users e.t.c and try poledit to lock down the PC's...

Tony

ChrisB

Personally, I'd have that down as a good thing. They'll be at least one whiz kid there that will play tricks and being able track by a username will be a great help.

Jodster

IA Computing sell teh Ranger suite and core business is managing school networks so they should be able to advise. Ask for Bob Smith.

I've done some work for them in the past. Similar setup to yourself except we put in a terminal server. This means a basic thin build on the workstations that connect to a server that runs all their applications. We used Ranger to restrict the system. Works well, the only flaw being if the server goes down, everyone goes down but with regular restarts of the server (once a week according to MS, ridiculous) this is minimal.

Tony_W

Thanks for all the advice..

I've now built an active server (Win2k) + client PC (Win98)at home, and used a program called Storm Windows to lock everything down. It's excellent and can be set up for each user. A site license costs under £100 which is ideal for a school budget!
All I've now got left to do is load exchange anbd figure that out for emails, and load isa server...then it's into school, re-fromat all Pc's and server and repeat! I think Norton Ghost will come in handy for each bank of PC's.

cheers

Tony

P.s. any advice about exchange and ISA server welcomed!!

ChrisB

Have you purchased ISA yet?

Tony_W

Chris,

It's already been purchased without my knowledge..Why?

If I setup a unique user account for each child that means every year I have to make another 60 !! hence I would like to keep it easy to maintain (so the ICT teacher can do it instead of me)

I've tested the system locked down with Storm Windows and cannot find anyway of getitng into the system to delete files..except when I "save as" from word, excel e.t.c where I can browse to anywhere I want and then right click..and up comes delete [and it works]! I was a bit hacked off at this (pardon the pun!) but then tried it at work on the NT set up today and low and behold you can do the same there, and yet the system is setup/maintained by CSC for the company (large aircraft building company )

Tony


[Edited by Tony_W - 12/2/2002 11:54:52 AM]