How, what do we need..?

Hi, where do I begin maybe an apology might help I know I am asking allot but
any guidelines will be gratefully received.

I work in a small primary school, we have a network consisting of 2003
server and xp pro machines, 26 in our computer suite and 2 in each class plus
a few staff laptops giving me approx 50 in total.

Basically it’s not so good at the moment as we have no professional support!
This will be rectified in the near future but in the time being its down to
me cough! What I would like to do is sort out in my head what we need and
what will be the best set up for children aged 5 through to 11. at the moment
each class logs on to the server and has there own docs folder i.e. ‘class
SH’ the children save there work in said folder sounds ok so far but they can
also save it anywhere so we get very busy desktops with allsorts on them it
does seem that we got a bit of a bum setup from the installers there was very
little communication between us as they told us what they were going to do
and as we did not know the subject we went with the flow so to speak.

There must be a better way of organising it all, could the children log on
to a folder of there own that went with them through school? Teachers would
be able to access the work via admin or whatever…

Could we have our own school intranet through the server and if so could we
set up certain programmes to be available through it?

Could I sit at the server and service all the networked computers defrag,
clean up ?

Can we lock desktops so you can not save to them?

Please I know I’m asking allot but I just want it to be right. I am
learning, books college etc but It’s a big subject…

Some short answers:

1. "could the children log on to a folder of there own that went with them
through school? Teachers would be able to access the work via admin or
whatever"

It sounds like what you want for students and perhaps for everyone is
roaming profiles and/or folder redirection. Essentially, roaming profiles
save My Documents and other user files to the Server. One of the byproducts
of this is that the user will get the same profile no matter which machine
he/she logs onto. It also allows you to backup all users folders from one
location. You can use Group Policy to delete the local profile on the
client at log off, and you could give the teachers group access to the
folders on the server. If you go this route be sure to consider disk space
on the Server - you may be storing 50 profiles on it. See:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;324749

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;274443

2. "Could we have our own school intranet through the server and if so
could we set up certain programmes to be available through it?"

Setting up an internal Web server is simple - just use the Configure My
Server wizard to add the web server role. However, in order to make
programs as distinguished from folders available, you would have to be using
programs with client-server capability.

3. "Could I sit at the server and service all the networked computers
defrag, clean up ?"

You can manage all of your XP clients remotely using the My Computer
Management tool and Remote Desktop. Also, for defrag you can simply
schedule it to run a certain times.

4. "Can we lock desktops so you can not save to them?"

You can lock down desktops and otherwise restrict users in many different
ways - not sure that a generalized ban on saving - ie. removing write
permissions - is a good idea.

You have an extremely powerful network operating system available to you.
For a better understanding of its capabilities, you might want to start with
an overview:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv...ew/family.mspx

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

"Conbloodyfused" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:401DECD1-7CEA-4C65-83AE-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi, where do I begin maybe an apology might help I know I am asking allot
but
> any guidelines will be gratefully received.
>
> I work in a small primary school, we have a network consisting of 2003
> server and xp pro machines, 26 in our computer suite and 2 in each class
plus
> a few staff laptops giving me approx 50 in total.
>
> Basically it's not so good at the moment as we have no professional
support!
> This will be rectified in the near future but in the time being its down
to
> me cough! What I would like to do is sort out in my head what we need and
> what will be the best set up for children aged 5 through to 11. at the
moment
> each class logs on to the server and has there own docs folder i.e. 'class
> SH' the children save there work in said folder sounds ok so far but they
can
> also save it anywhere so we get very busy desktops with allsorts on them
it
> does seem that we got a bit of a bum setup from the installers there was
very
> little communication between us as they told us what they were going to do
> and as we did not know the subject we went with the flow so to speak.
>
> There must be a better way of organising it all, could the children log on
> to a folder of there own that went with them through school? Teachers
would
> be able to access the work via admin or whatever.
>
> Could we have our own school intranet through the server and if so could
we
> set up certain programmes to be available through it?
>
> Could I sit at the server and service all the networked computers defrag,
> clean up ?
>
> Can we lock desktops so you can not save to them?
>
> Please I know I'm asking allot but I just want it to be right. I am
> learning, books college etc but It's a big subject.
>

Wow many thanx Doug your reply was a big help to me and in a language I could
understand, so well done. I'm just worried that we will get stung again when
we take on our new support people, because Education works on a very tight
budget and I know we will probably go for company that is at the right money
as opposed to, the right reasons.
I just want it smooth, easy for the staff, just what a proper quality
network should be and like you say we have the building blocks.

You may ask why haven't I asked other schools, well I have and it seems that
we are not alone in our dilema...

So once again many thanx, any more thoughts would be helpful I'm sure.

Regards Marshall or (no tso bloodyconfused)
Now I'm of to chase
those links you gave me!
>

Three quick thoughts:

1. Generally, everything about IT ultimately involves a trade off between
what you want and what you can afford. In shopping for a consultant for a
Windows Active Directory domain network, look for someone who has Microsoft
Certified System Engineer or System Administrator credentials - this at
least ensures that they were able to pass exams designed by MS and
calculated to test the MS way of doing things. Also, any reputable
consultant/support outfit will give you references which you can check.
Most of your needs would be characterized as typical or routine and should
be easily configurable by someone with those credentials.

2. Windows 2003 Server is like Shakespeare. No matter how troubling or
problematic MacBeth's or Hamlet's behavior appears to be, if you dig deep
enough, Shakespeare always has an answer. No matter what your networking
needs, if you dig deep enough, Windows Server 2003 pretty much has an answer
for all your networking needs. In other words, don't accept 'no' for an
answer - Windows may address your problems in an unexpected way, but it can
can address and solve them.

3. Thank someone everyday that you are not dealing with middle schoolers.
12-14 year olds are the most dangerous (and sometimes the smartest) users
you can possibly imagine.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

"Conbloodyfused" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:E691D8DF-C449-49D1-A5D7-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Wow many thanx Doug your reply was a big help to me and in a language I
could
> understand, so well done. I'm just worried that we will get stung again
when
> we take on our new support people, because Education works on a very tight
> budget and I know we will probably go for company that is at the right
money
> as opposed to, the right reasons.
> I just want it smooth, easy for the staff, just what a proper quality
> network should be and like you say we have the building blocks.
>
> You may ask why haven't I asked other schools, well I have and it seems
that
> we are not alone in our dilema...
>
> So once again many thanx, any more thoughts would be helpful I'm sure.
>
> Regards Marshall or (no tso bloodyconfused)
> Now I'm of to chase
> those links you gave me!
> >

The big pro for separate domains is that they provide a security boundary
for certain policies which must be configured on a domain-wide basis:

"Account policies and Public Key policies have domain-wide scope and are set
at the domain GPO level. All other policies can be specified at the level of
the organizational unit. Some policies that can be applied only at the
domain container level include:. Password policy. Determines the rules, such
as password length, that must be met when a user sets a password.

. Account lockout policy. Defines rules for intruder detection and
account deactivation.

. Kerberosticket policy. Determines the lifetime of a Kerberos ticket.
A Kerberos ticket is obtained during the logon process and is used for
network authentication. A particular ticket is only valid for the lifetime
specified in the policy."


http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...21d45bcc7.mspx

Public safety agencies/departments may need to access state and
federal databases which increasingly insist upon security requirements which
may not be practical or desireable for the county domain.

Doug Sherman

MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP




"Doug Sherman [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Three quick thoughts:
>
> 1. Generally, everything about IT ultimately involves a trade off between
> what you want and what you can afford. In shopping for a consultant for a
> Windows Active Directory domain network, look for someone who has
Microsoft
> Certified System Engineer or System Administrator credentials - this at
> least ensures that they were able to pass exams designed by MS and
> calculated to test the MS way of doing things. Also, any reputable
> consultant/support outfit will give you references which you can check.
> Most of your needs would be characterized as typical or routine and should
> be easily configurable by someone with those credentials.
>
> 2. Windows 2003 Server is like Shakespeare. No matter how troubling or
> problematic MacBeth's or Hamlet's behavior appears to be, if you dig deep
> enough, Shakespeare always has an answer. No matter what your networking
> needs, if you dig deep enough, Windows Server 2003 pretty much has an
answer
> for all your networking needs. In other words, don't accept 'no' for an
> answer - Windows may address your problems in an unexpected way, but it
can
> can address and solve them.
>
> 3. Thank someone everyday that you are not dealing with middle schoolers.
> 12-14 year olds are the most dangerous (and sometimes the smartest) users
> you can possibly imagine.
>
> Doug Sherman
> MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
>
> "Conbloodyfused" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message
> news:E691D8DF-C449-49D1-A5D7-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Wow many thanx Doug your reply was a big help to me and in a language I
> could
> > understand, so well done. I'm just worried that we will get stung again
> when
> > we take on our new support people, because Education works on a very
tight
> > budget and I know we will probably go for company that is at the right
> money
> > as opposed to, the right reasons.
> > I just want it smooth, easy for the staff, just what a proper quality
> > network should be and like you say we have the building blocks.
> >
> > You may ask why haven't I asked other schools, well I have and it seems
> that
> > we are not alone in our dilema...
> >
> > So once again many thanx, any more thoughts would be helpful I'm sure.
> >
> > Regards Marshall or (no tso bloodyconfused)
> > Now I'm of to
chase
> > those links you gave me!
> > >
>
>

Oops - sorry. Wrong post, please ignore my 4/12/2005 8:49 PM reply.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

"Doug Sherman [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> The big pro for separate domains is that they provide a security boundary
> for certain policies which must be configured on a domain-wide basis:
>
> "Account policies and Public Key policies have domain-wide scope and are
set
> at the domain GPO level. All other policies can be specified at the level
of
> the organizational unit. Some policies that can be applied only at the
> domain container level include:. Password policy. Determines the rules,
such
> as password length, that must be met when a user sets a password.
>
> . Account lockout policy. Defines rules for intruder detection and
> account deactivation.
>
> . Kerberosticket policy. Determines the lifetime of a Kerberos
ticket.
> A Kerberos ticket is obtained during the logon process and is used for
> network authentication. A particular ticket is only valid for the lifetime
> specified in the policy."
>
>
>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...21d45bcc7.mspx
>
> Public safety agencies/departments may need to access state and
> federal databases which increasingly insist upon security requirements
which
> may not be practical or desireable for the county domain.
>
> Doug Sherman
>
> MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
>
>
>
>
> "Doug Sherman [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Three quick thoughts:
> >
> > 1. Generally, everything about IT ultimately involves a trade off
between
> > what you want and what you can afford. In shopping for a consultant for
a
> > Windows Active Directory domain network, look for someone who has
> Microsoft
> > Certified System Engineer or System Administrator credentials - this at
> > least ensures that they were able to pass exams designed by MS and
> > calculated to test the MS way of doing things. Also, any reputable
> > consultant/support outfit will give you references which you can check.
> > Most of your needs would be characterized as typical or routine and
should
> > be easily configurable by someone with those credentials.
> >
> > 2. Windows 2003 Server is like Shakespeare. No matter how troubling
or
> > problematic MacBeth's or Hamlet's behavior appears to be, if you dig
deep
> > enough, Shakespeare always has an answer. No matter what your
networking
> > needs, if you dig deep enough, Windows Server 2003 pretty much has an
> answer
> > for all your networking needs. In other words, don't accept 'no' for an
> > answer - Windows may address your problems in an unexpected way, but it
> can
> > can address and solve them.
> >
> > 3. Thank someone everyday that you are not dealing with middle
schoolers.
> > 12-14 year olds are the most dangerous (and sometimes the smartest)
users
> > you can possibly imagine.
> >
> > Doug Sherman
> > MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP
> >
> > "Conbloodyfused" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> message
> > news:E691D8DF-C449-49D1-A5D7-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > Wow many thanx Doug your reply was a big help to me and in a language
I
> > could
> > > understand, so well done. I'm just worried that we will get stung
again
> > when
> > > we take on our new support people, because Education works on a very
> tight
> > > budget and I know we will probably go for company that is at the right
> > money
> > > as opposed to, the right reasons.
> > > I just want it smooth, easy for the staff, just what a proper quality
> > > network should be and like you say we have the building blocks.
> > >
> > > You may ask why haven't I asked other schools, well I have and it
seems
> > that
> > > we are not alone in our dilema...
> > >
> > > So once again many thanx, any more thoughts would be helpful I'm sure.
> > >
> > > Regards Marshall or (no tso bloodyconfused)
> > > Now I'm of to
> chase
> > > those links you gave me!
> > > >
> >
> >
>
>