60 XP machines to join the server, some questions.

[Guest FFMG]

Hi,

 

I am 'managing' a school computer network with 60 computers dotted all

over the place, (I use the term managing loosely).

We have 30 computers in the computer lab for the students and 30

computers in various classrooms/offices.

All the machines are currently Windows XP pro, (we got 60 licenses

from Microsoft rather than a single volume license).

 

A technician is coming to install a server, (new machine and MS Server

2003), I am not sure about the version yet but I know it is at least

Windows 2003.

 

I am guessing that the technician will do some of the basic work but I

would also like to learn how to do some basic things myself.

Also as we are on a budget I would hate to call the technician out for

something I could probably do myself.

 

So I have some questions of the work I will probably need to do...

 

1- Once the server is installed, how do I make all 60 computers join

the domain without too much hicups?

Of course I don't mind going to each machine one by one if need be,

but I would not want the users to loose their current profiles, (the

teachers would riot if I did that). I would like to 'import' their

current profiles, is that possible?

 

2- Once this is done and they are all the the domain I would need to

separate each users between Teachers and Students groups. Students

would have very limited access and teachers a bit more.

 

3- And then I would then like to install/remove some applications that

have been installed on the machines.

- I would like to install an AV on all machines as well as windows

defender.

- Remove certain applications that might be on machines, (especially

p2p apps).

 

4- Can I then schedule cron jobs from the machines?

For example, defrag, virus checker and so on, force windows updates to

run, prevent the user from turning their firewall on/off.

 

I know I could ask the technician to do this for me, but I would like

to learn how it is done as I will probably have more than one app to

add/remove.

 

Are there any tutorials that could help?

 

In advance, Many thanks

 

F.

[Guest Leythos]

Re: 60 XP machines to join the server, some questions.

 

In article <13489502-3964-403a-9c97-0ec59a1c6180

@e60g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>, spambucket@myoddweb.com says...

> Hi,

>

> I am 'managing' a school computer network with 60 computers dotted all

> over the place, (I use the term managing loosely).

> We have 30 computers in the computer lab for the students and 30

> computers in various classrooms/offices.

> All the machines are currently Windows XP pro, (we got 60 licenses

> from Microsoft rather than a single volume license).

>

> A technician is coming to install a server, (new machine and MS Server

> 2003), I am not sure about the version yet but I know it is at least

> Windows 2003.

>

> I am guessing that the technician will do some of the basic work but I

> would also like to learn how to do some basic things myself.

> Also as we are on a budget I would hate to call the technician out for

> something I could probably do myself.

>

> So I have some questions of the work I will probably need to do...

>

> 1- Once the server is installed, how do I make all 60 computers join

> the domain without too much hicups?

> Of course I don't mind going to each machine one by one if need be,

> but I would not want the users to loose their current profiles, (the

> teachers would riot if I did that). I would like to 'import' their

> current profiles, is that possible?

>

> 2- Once this is done and they are all the the domain I would need to

> separate each users between Teachers and Students groups. Students

> would have very limited access and teachers a bit more.

>

> 3- And then I would then like to install/remove some applications that

> have been installed on the machines.

> - I would like to install an AV on all machines as well as windows

> defender.

> - Remove certain applications that might be on machines, (especially

> p2p apps).

>

> 4- Can I then schedule cron jobs from the machines?

> For example, defrag, virus checker and so on, force windows updates to

> run, prevent the user from turning their firewall on/off.

>

> I know I could ask the technician to do this for me, but I would like

> to learn how it is done as I will probably have more than one app to

> add/remove.

>

> Are there any tutorials that could help?

>

> In advance, Many thanks

 

You have large problems if you're going live with the computers anywhere

kids can reach them and you don't already know the answers to your

questions - sorry to put it that way.

 

My wife is a teacher, and the school IT people are useless, almost less

than useless. I normally have to fix her computers once or twice a

month.

 

Put the kids in a different network, they don't need access to the

server if all they are doing is browsing and research - they don't need

file space. Lock down all the kids computers, don't allow USB drives,

don't allow CD/DVD access from the lab computers, use optical mice as

they will remove the ball from ball mice.... Lock down the XP operating

system so that they can only use MS Word/Excel and FireFox, no email, no

games, etc... Also make sure that your firewall blocks IM and file

downloads that could be programs.....

 

As for AV, since these PC's won't be part of your domain, and you really

don't want kids to be part of the domain, you can install AV from CD,

since it's not a lot of machines in the lab....

 

If you want the kids to have network storage space, get another server,

one for kids, one for staff, and put the kids server in a different

network. Setup firewall rules to permit the Staff network to access the

kids server but not the other way around...

 

--

 

Leythos

- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a

drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

[Guest FFMG]

Re: 60 XP machines to join the server, some questions.

 

>

> You have large problems if you're going live with the computers anywhere

> kids can reach them and you don't already know the answers to your

> questions - sorry to put it that way.

>

> My wife is a teacher, and the school IT people are useless, almost less

> than useless. I normally have to fix her computers once or twice a

> month.

 

Many thanks for your input.

As I said, the technician is going to do some of the work but I wanted

to learn some of the simple task such as installing/removing

applications.

 

There was no need to insult me in the process, I did say that I was

barely managing the computers at the school.

>

> Put the kids in a different network, they don't need access to the

> server if all they are doing is browsing and research - they don't need

> file space. Lock down all the kids computers, don't allow USB drives,

> don't allow CD/DVD access from the lab computers, use optical mice as

> they will remove the ball from ball mice.... Lock down the XP operating

> system so that they can only use MS Word/Excel and FireFox, no email, no

> games, etc... Also make sure that your firewall blocks IM and file

> downloads that could be programs.....

 

I am not sure what school your wife works at, but where we are the

kids are not really the problem.

The adults are.

 

 

Regards,

 

F.

[Guest Leythos]

Re: 60 XP machines to join the server, some questions.

 

In article <fa512ac7-c668-4eee-bf69-1249260441b8

@j28g2000hsj.googlegroups.com>, spambucket@myoddweb.com says...

> >

> > You have large problems if you're going live with the computers anywhere

> > kids can reach them and you don't already know the answers to your

> > questions - sorry to put it that way.

>

> >

> > My wife is a teacher, and the school IT people are useless, almost less

> > than useless. I normally have to fix her computers once or twice a

> > month.

>

> Many thanks for your input.

> As I said, the technician is going to do some of the work but I wanted

> to learn some of the simple task such as installing/removing

> applications.

>

> There was no need to insult me in the process, I did say that I was

> barely managing the computers at the school.

 

As I said, "sorry to put it that way" and it wasn't an insult. The

simple fact is that you should not be learning on production systems,

that's what causes networks to be compromised and email to be black-

listed and such, it's not an insult, it to warn you about how critical

it is to learn before touching the production network.

> > Put the kids in a different network, they don't need access to the

> > server if all they are doing is browsing and research - they don't need

> > file space. Lock down all the kids computers, don't allow USB drives,

> > don't allow CD/DVD access from the lab computers, use optical mice as

> > they will remove the ball from ball mice.... Lock down the XP operating

> > system so that they can only use MS Word/Excel and FireFox, no email, no

> > games, etc... Also make sure that your firewall blocks IM and file

> > downloads that could be programs.....

>

> I am not sure what school your wife works at, but where we are the

> kids are not really the problem.

> The adults are.

 

Unless you're home schooling the kids will do things like take mice

balls or other silly things. Yes, adults are a problem too, but you want

to separate the school staff network from the kids network.

 

--

 

Leythos

- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a

drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

[Guest FFMG]

Re: 60 XP machines to join the server, some questions.

 

On Feb 19, 11:15 pm, Leythos <v...@nowhere.lan> wrote:

> In article <fa512ac7-c668-4eee-bf69-1249260441b8

> @j28g2000hsj.googlegroups.com>, spambuc...@myoddweb.com says...

>

>

>

>

>

> > > You have large problems if you're going live with the computers anywhere

> > > kids can reach them and you don't already know the answers to your

> > > questions - sorry to put it that way.

>

> > > My wife is a teacher, and the school IT people are useless, almost less

> > > than useless. I normally have to fix her computers once or twice a

> > > month.

>

> > Many thanks for your input.

> > As I said, the technician is going to do some of the work but I wanted

> > to learn some of the simple task such as installing/removing

> > applications.

>

> > There was no need to insult me in the process, I did say that I was

> > barely managing the computers at the school.

>

> As I said, "sorry to put it that way" and it wasn't an insult. The

> simple fact is that you should not be learning on production systems,

> that's what causes networks to be compromised and email to be black-

> listed and such, it's not an insult, it to warn you about how critical

> it is to learn before touching the production network.

>

> > > Put the kids in a different network, they don't need access to the

> > > server if all they are doing is browsing and research - they don't need

> > > file space. Lock down all the kids computers, don't allow USB drives,

> > > don't allow CD/DVD access from the lab computers, use optical mice as

> > > they will remove the ball from ball mice.... Lock down the XP operating

> > > system so that they can only use MS Word/Excel and FireFox, no email, no

> > > games, etc... Also make sure that your firewall blocks IM and file

> > > downloads that could be programs.....

>

> > I am not sure what school your wife works at, but where we are the

> > kids are not really the problem.

> > The adults are.

>

> Unless you're home schooling the kids will do things like take mice

> balls or other silly things. Yes, adults are a problem too, but you want

> to separate the school staff network from the kids network.

>

 

You might be great at network/computer work, but your knowledge of

schools is very limited indeed.

Do not generalize all schools with what you read in the papers.

 

In any case, if you didn't know the answer you did not have to reply

to the thread.

No point in going off tangent to make some other, (wrong), point.

 

Regards,

 

F.

[Guest TSBA]

Re: 60 XP machines to join the server, some questions.

 

I work at a school, also. It is a small, rural district but heavily

invested in technology. We are, shall I say, less cynical about our

students than Leythos. We have problems with minor vandalism and

disrespect, but on the whole, they're good kids and just as motivated

to make sure the technology works as we are. I think that's because

we try to trust and educate them. We believe students need access to

technology to learn to use it well AND responsibly (http://

cnets.iste.org/students/s_stands.html).

 

Same goes for the teachers--they trust our IT staff (of which I am

one) because we respond to their needs in a timely manner and with

compassion. And when I refer to IT staff, I am talking about 3 people,

two of whom are teachers and still teach 2 hours a day. Technology

*CAN* be frustrating! You can be very intelligent and still be

baffled by it. I'm sorry Leythos, his wife, and their school have had

such a poor experience with their support staff.

 

Leythos is correct, though, in pointing out the risks. In our

district, only tech staff have administrator privileges on Windows

machines. Only teachers can install programs on Macs. IM is

blocked. Email accounts used for class assignments are student safe

(like gaggle.net). If students have internet access, you must have

content filtering software. There are lots of choices but we use and

have been happy with SonicWall. To differentiate between student and

teacher permissions, we use Active Directory, although we don't take

as much advantage of it as we could. The Tech Coordinator has

programs to monitor student computers (big brotherish, yes, but it has

been very useful in pointing the way to weaknesses in our system, as

well as a tool for (again) educating students). For the most part, we

do not allow students to check out machines to take home, because we

don't have a way to guarantee they won't access something they

shouldn't while on-line.

 

F, we do the same thing you do: make sure that our technician knows

that we will be following him/her, asking questions and taking notes.

We also have a great resource in our Internet provider, MoreNet

(http://www.more.net). They offer free training on a variety of

topics to members, some of which is web-based. You may have a similar

resource available to you. We also attend conferences as much as

possible. In addition, one of our teachers and tech staff is a

certified eMints trainer (http://www.emints.org). Discussion groups

like this one often are invaluable.

 

I know well enough that it is not possible to learn everything you

need to know before starting the job. For example, we have dual

operating systems -- Windows and Mac machines and servers. Great

opportunities for students and teachers, but the systems don't always

play nice with each other and we have found FEW resources or

technicians who can address all of our issues. I'm another example.

I started at the school as a database coordinator and have since added

server maintenance and hardware and software support to my list of

responsibilities. As much as I wish I was an expert in these areas, I

am not . . . but I'm trying!

 

Good luck in your new challenges and responsibilities!

 

TSBA