Primary Schools – Single or Dual Server Environment.


One of the biggest single I.T. purchases a school will make is the replacement of its servers. With typical costs of £2000 – £2500 per server, possibly with installation and migration costs on top of that, it’s no wonder that support providers, keen to ensure their customers are making the best use of their budget are questioning whether schools need the traditional two server approach.

Why do we have two servers?

The traditional setup within primary schools has been two physically disjoint networks, one for curriculum users (teaching staff and pupils), and one for the administrative staff. This provided two sets of ring-fenced resources, both servers acting as file and print servers for their users, with the admin server also hosting the SQL databases for MIS systems. The security of these databases was often cited as a reason for keeping the two networks disjoint. However, using robust security practices will be just as effective at protecting sensitive data, and much less restrictive to users authorised to use that data.

What’s changing?

The changes in the way technology is utilized mean that there is more and more cross-over between traditional admin and curriculum use.
Members of the senior leadership team, who have traditionally needed to connect to the admin network, may be teaching and also need access to the curriculum server resources; this would require logging on to a different computer, one connected to the curriculum network, with a different user name and password.
Teaching staff might wish to have access to the MIS systems on the admin server, whether this is for something simple like desktop registering, or more advanced, such as pupil progress recording.

So how is it changing?

The first step in closer integration is the physical joining of the two networks, to allow data to pass between them. This allows for the crossover of data between the systems, but doesn’t allow for some of the greater benefits that can be achieved through the joining of both servers into a single domain. With all machines at a site belonging to a single domain for the whole school, it doesn’t matter whether a user is a curriculum or an admin user, they can log on to any client machine, with a single set of user credentials, and have access to their data, whether it is stored on the curriculum server, the admin server or both. There is also potentially simplified access to shared resources such as printers, as well as greater flexibility in the event of a particular printer failure.

So can we just have one server?

The answer to this question is simple enough, yes, yes you can. With the relative power and storage capacity of computers increasing all the time, many schools who are keen to make budgetary savings see moving their current curriculum and admin servers on to a single machine to be an excellent way to cut costs. Essentially all you are really adding to your MIS server loading is the file and print server role for the curriculum users, and a little overhead for handling things like user authentication. Given that your new server will have a more powerful processor, more memory and probably a better disk subsystem, all that you need to do is add sufficient storage capacity for the curriculum users and you can happily run your school on a single server.

Should I have just one server?

In many ways this is a trickier question. The single server approach, whilst seeming attractive, does remove some of the potential resiliency you could achieve through retaining a two server architecture. In theory it would be possible to make the servers fully redundant with data being mirrored across both servers. Then in the event of one failing, a few minor configuration changes would allow the school to continue on virtually unaffected in the event of server failure, something which would be impossible in the single server school, (or even the traditional style two server school).

It is unlikely that the complexity of such a high degree of resiliency is necessary (or even desirable) in a primary school environment. However having a second server to help maintain the core server functions such as active directory, DNS, DHCP etc., would allow many I.T. functions to continue unaffected within the school whilst a failed server was replaced. This is something well worth considering in the current environment where the internet can provide access to teaching resources and applications in the event that local server based applications are unavailable.

Weighing it up. . .

Single server offers potential savings on hardware costs, and systems management overheads, only having to administer a single server. Its potential weakness is that the server becomes a single point of failure for the whole school, rather than just the curriculum users or admin the staff. However so long as the school have reliable backups, both of it data and active directory, a recovery shouldn’t take more than 48 hours (assuming access to replacement hardware).

Twin server systems have the advantage of maintaining the active directory in the event of a server failure. This will allow users to log on, and with a little forethought in implementation allow access to the internet, shared printers and whatever user data is available on the remaining server whilst awaiting the install and configuration of the replacement server.

Article by Steve Dulson, schools network engineer at Primary Technology

Primary Schools – Single or Dual Server Environment.


One of the biggest single I.T. purchases a school will make is the replacement of its servers. With typical costs of £2000 – £2500 per server, possibly with installation and migration costs on top of that, it’s no wonder that support providers, keen to ensure their customers are making the best use of their budget are questioning whether schools need the traditional two server approach.

Why do we have two servers?

The traditional setup within primary schools has been two physically disjoint networks, one for curriculum users (teaching staff and pupils), and one for the administrative staff. This provided two sets of ring-fenced resources, both servers acting as file and print servers for their users, with the admin server also hosting the SQL databases for MIS systems. The security of these databases was often cited as a reason for keeping the two networks disjoint. However, using robust security practices will be just as effective at protecting sensitive data, and much less restrictive to users authorised to use that data.

What’s changing?

The changes in the way technology is utilized mean that there is more and more cross-over between traditional admin and curriculum use.
Members of the senior leadership team, who have traditionally needed to connect to the admin network, may be teaching and also need access to the curriculum server resources; this would require logging on to a different computer, one connected to the curriculum network, with a different user name and password.
Teaching staff might wish to have access to the MIS systems on the admin server, whether this is for something simple like desktop registering, or more advanced, such as pupil progress recording.

So how is it changing?

The first step in closer integration is the physical joining of the two networks, to allow data to pass between them. This allows for the crossover of data between the systems, but doesn’t allow for some of the greater benefits that can be achieved through the joining of both servers into a single domain. With all machines at a site belonging to a single domain for the whole school, it doesn’t matter whether a user is a curriculum or an admin user, they can log on to any client machine, with a single set of user credentials, and have access to their data, whether it is stored on the curriculum server, the admin server or both. There is also potentially simplified access to shared resources such as printers, as well as greater flexibility in the event of a particular printer failure.

So can we just have one server?

The answer to this question is simple enough, yes, yes you can. With the relative power and storage capacity of computers increasing all the time, many schools who are keen to make budgetary savings see moving their current curriculum and admin servers on to a single machine to be an excellent way to cut costs. Essentially all you are really adding to your MIS server loading is the file and print server role for the curriculum users, and a little overhead for handling things like user authentication. Given that your new server will have a more powerful processor, more memory and probably a better disk subsystem, all that you need to do is add sufficient storage capacity for the curriculum users and you can happily run your school on a single server.

Should I have just one server?

In many ways this is a trickier question. The single server approach, whilst seeming attractive, does remove some of the potential resiliency you could achieve through retaining a two server architecture. In theory it would be possible to make the servers fully redundant with data being mirrored across both servers. Then in the event of one failing, a few minor configuration changes would allow the school to continue on virtually unaffected in the event of server failure, something which would be impossible in the single server school, (or even the traditional style two server school).

It is unlikely that the complexity of such a high degree of resiliency is necessary (or even desirable) in a primary school environment. However having a second server to help maintain the core server functions such as active directory, DNS, DHCP etc., would allow many I.T. functions to continue unaffected within the school whilst a failed server was replaced. This is something well worth considering in the current environment where the internet can provide access to teaching resources and applications in the event that local server based applications are unavailable.

Weighing it up. . .

Single server offers potential savings on hardware costs, and systems management overheads, only having to administer a single server. Its potential weakness is that the server becomes a single point of failure for the whole school, rather than just the curriculum users or admin the staff. However so long as the school have reliable backups, both of it data and active directory, a recovery shouldn’t take more than 48 hours (assuming access to replacement hardware).

Twin server systems have the advantage of maintaining the active directory in the event of a server failure. This will allow users to log on, and with a little forethought in implementation allow access to the internet, shared printers and whatever user data is available on the remaining server whilst awaiting the install and configuration of the replacement server.

Article by Steve Dulson, schools network engineer at Primary Technology

Primary Schools – Single or Dual Server Environment.


One of the biggest single I.T. purchases a school will make is the replacement of its servers. With typical costs of £2000 – £2500 per server, possibly with installation and migration costs on top of that, it’s no wonder that support providers, keen to ensure their customers are making the best use of their budget are questioning whether schools need the traditional two server approach.

Why do we have two servers?

The traditional setup within primary schools has been two physically disjoint networks, one for curriculum users (teaching staff and pupils), and one for the administrative staff. This provided two sets of ring-fenced resources, both servers acting as file and print servers for their users, with the admin server also hosting the SQL databases for MIS systems. The security of these databases was often cited as a reason for keeping the two networks disjoint. However, using robust security practices will be just as effective at protecting sensitive data, and much less restrictive to users authorised to use that data.

What’s changing?

The changes in the way technology is utilized mean that there is more and more cross-over between traditional admin and curriculum use.
Members of the senior leadership team, who have traditionally needed to connect to the admin network, may be teaching and also need access to the curriculum server resources; this would require logging on to a different computer, one connected to the curriculum network, with a different user name and password.
Teaching staff might wish to have access to the MIS systems on the admin server, whether this is for something simple like desktop registering, or more advanced, such as pupil progress recording.

So how is it changing?

The first step in closer integration is the physical joining of the two networks, to allow data to pass between them. This allows for the crossover of data between the systems, but doesn’t allow for some of the greater benefits that can be achieved through the joining of both servers into a single domain. With all machines at a site belonging to a single domain for the whole school, it doesn’t matter whether a user is a curriculum or an admin user, they can log on to any client machine, with a single set of user credentials, and have access to their data, whether it is stored on the curriculum server, the admin server or both. There is also potentially simplified access to shared resources such as printers, as well as greater flexibility in the event of a particular printer failure.

So can we just have one server?

The answer to this question is simple enough, yes, yes you can. With the relative power and storage capacity of computers increasing all the time, many schools who are keen to make budgetary savings see moving their current curriculum and admin servers on to a single machine to be an excellent way to cut costs. Essentially all you are really adding to your MIS server loading is the file and print server role for the curriculum users, and a little overhead for handling things like user authentication. Given that your new server will have a more powerful processor, more memory and probably a better disk subsystem, all that you need to do is add sufficient storage capacity for the curriculum users and you can happily run your school on a single server.

Should I have just one server?

In many ways this is a trickier question. The single server approach, whilst seeming attractive, does remove some of the potential resiliency you could achieve through retaining a two server architecture. In theory it would be possible to make the servers fully redundant with data being mirrored across both servers. Then in the event of one failing, a few minor configuration changes would allow the school to continue on virtually unaffected in the event of server failure, something which would be impossible in the single server school, (or even the traditional style two server school).

It is unlikely that the complexity of such a high degree of resiliency is necessary (or even desirable) in a primary school environment. However having a second server to help maintain the core server functions such as active directory, DNS, DHCP etc., would allow many I.T. functions to continue unaffected within the school whilst a failed server was replaced. This is something well worth considering in the current environment where the internet can provide access to teaching resources and applications in the event that local server based applications are unavailable.

Weighing it up. . .

Single server offers potential savings on hardware costs, and systems management overheads, only having to administer a single server. Its potential weakness is that the server becomes a single point of failure for the whole school, rather than just the curriculum users or admin the staff. However so long as the school have reliable backups, both of it data and active directory, a recovery shouldn’t take more than 48 hours (assuming access to replacement hardware).

Twin server systems have the advantage of maintaining the active directory in the event of a server failure. This will allow users to log on, and with a little forethought in implementation allow access to the internet, shared printers and whatever user data is available on the remaining server whilst awaiting the install and configuration of the replacement server.

Article by Steve Dulson, schools network engineer at Primary Technology

Open source software is completely insecure and unsafe to use

Over the last few weeks I’ve heard a few people assert that open source is less secure than proprietary software. I try to arm my readers with as much intellectual firepower as possible and I wouldn’t be advocating open-source in Education unless it was fit for purpose.. So here you have it.. 3 Common misconceptions educators have about open-source debunked…

DEBUNKED – Everyone can see the code therefor it’s easier to exploit it.

All software has security holes. Open-source is more secure because people spot security holes early on and patch them. You can actually see what authentications are used and how badly/poorly they are written. Passwords in open source software have even more security because the methods used to access them are completely open so they are often encrypted/hashed which is more than can be said for Sony and some big Edu tech companies who’s name I won’t mention..

DEBUNKED – Anyone can add to the project therefor it’s easier to add exploits.

Projects have maintainers and many contributors, pull requests (requests to put code into the software) are publicly view-able and have to be merged by a maintainer IE a person of considerable experience/authority. Most pull requests on large projects are often checked by multiple people and tested using unit, integration and full stack tests PRIOR to merge into a final release. Open source projects also publish their patched exploits as security advisories, this gives sysadmins the ability to quickly respond to potential threats. Propriety software has no incentive to accept they had a security hole so tend to quietly patch security fixes in major updates.

DEBUNKED – Surely by default a house with an open door is less secure than a house with a door?

Open source projects have doors and windows just like any propriety software but the doors and locks are specifically designed to be secure by default. Open source projects tend to encourage active security testing and try to engage with the security community to co-operate on security vulnerabilities instead of shutting them out. This means the open source community is not as frequently targeted with malicious hacks, most of the successful hacks are reported to the site admin by the hacker themselves.

If you believed any of these misconceptions ask yourself why and who has lied to you?

C’mon people, OAuth is open source and we all use that every single day (Google, Twitter, Facebook etc.). The common miss-conception that open-source is less secure than proprietry software is just bonkers, we know better and it’s our job to spread the message!

MAJOR UPDATE (v1.1): My School Holidays (inc lots of freebies)

Today we are pleased to announce the launch version 1.1 of our popular School Holiday Dates website, My School Holidays.

With over 1 million people every month using My School Holidays it is crucial your school holiday dates are up to date.

Mobile Phone App

We’ve just released a FREE Android school holiday countdown widget for My School Holidays users which can be found on the Android Market here. Or from your phone scan this QR code (or visit the Android Market on your phone and search for My School Holidays).

msh_widget_qr_code

Printable Calendar Cards

Don’t have an Android? But want a way to remember your school holiday dates on the go? How about printing them onto something that fit right in your pocket? Maybe a business card? You can now select your school on My School Holidays and print business card sized calendars with your school’s holidays on. You could even print a few pages, laminate them and give to parents? It’s super easy to do:
Simply find your school on My School Holidays and click the Printable Business Cards link. Print it out double sided and off you go.

Autocomplete on Search

We revamped the search box on the website so our autocomplete search will suggest school names to you as you type in the name of your school. Try it out now at My School Holidays

Going global

We have added more countries dates to My School Holidays. We now currently support: Germany, Canada,
The United Kingdom(includes Wales), Australia, The United States of America and New Zealand with more countries due over the next few months. Also useful if you’re planning to go on holiday in another country and want to find out when the local schools are on holiday.

iCal & GMail support

GMail, Outlook and Thunderbird users can now enjoy a simple iCal import of their school holiday calendar.

To do this visit your school on My School Holidays then click “More options” then select the format you wish your holiday dates.

Edit your own school holiday dates

We want your school to update your school holiday dates but we know how difficult it can be to encourage administrators to do this so we have given this functionality to the hardest working people in the education system, the teachers.

Teachers can now use a really simple interface to insert their own school holiday dates. They can also add casual/training/inset days. To insert your days simply find your school on My School Holidays and Click “Edit the dates”.

Behind the scenes

We have developed a new way of predicting and validating school holiday dates that you will see come to life in Version 1.2. We are currently using this method to quickly collect school holiday dates and publish them live on the website.

We will be using this technique along side other techniques to gather Holiday Data from trusted sources and provide you with the most up to date information on school holidays from around the world.

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