| Summer 2009 |
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Summer 2009 Update Summer has just begun - wait, no it has not! - yet we are keeping very busy and have just completed several great projects. A few highlights include:
We recently installed a brand new Dell PowerEdge dual quad-core Xeon RAID-5 running Windows 2008 Server and configured it as File Server and Backup Server - and no that is not over-kill with the fast SAS drives @ 15k RPM! Migrating files from the old to the new machine was taken care of with DFS/File Replication Services (after an upgrade of the old Windows 2003 machine to R2) so even remote users could continue to work over the week-end while files were replicated. Once every user had successfully synchronized one last time on Monday morning, we switched over all AD accounts to point to the new server, modified GPO for folders redirection on the network, and created login scripts for each OU (so all staff, teachers, and students have automatically-mounted network shares in their My Computer area). During the upgrade of the old Windows 2003 Standard server to R2, the testing database broke, but was fixed the next day - joy. As an added bonus, an old Print Server and Domain Controller still running Windows 2000 broke while we were onsite, so we moved print services over to a new machine, resolved a few outstanding network issues (for instance, a network printer experiencing packets collision), and double-checked printers deployment over GPO. R.I.P. Windows 2000... And special thanks to old friends at De Marillac, looking forward to working together on new projects in the future! De Marillac Academy
We recently re-installed OS X Server on a dual-core Xserve. The purpose of that reinstallation was to install PowerSchool Premier (including the new PowerTeacher web-based gradebook) running Oracle. We re-configured the xserve with RAID-5 to give enough space to the database and its future backups, re-configured the internal DNS services for the LAN, moved DHCP services to another xserve, and finally configured VPN for remote access. St. Isabella School
We recently installed a brand new Dell PowerEdge server with Windows 2008 Standard (64-bit) in an existing AD DS environment. First, we updated the AD schema, installed Windows 2008 on the new hardware, and made the server a member of the domain. Next, we made the new server a DC, and migrated the Operations Master roles to that new machine. After all NTDS settings were fully replicated, we updated the Forest level to 2003, and configured DFS to migrate files transparently. When all files were fully replicated correctly, we updated AD users home and profile sections, changed/corrected wrong permissions that were inherited from the old Windows 2003 Server, and finally updated VBS login scripts. The result: roaming profiles and file synchronization on all LAN computers (Windows XP) that make all files available offline... finally! It will also be a good move for students who can now logon to any computer with their own profile, and have their documents follow them everywhere - even in the case of a possible wireless signal drop as documents are cached on all machines. Nice server hardware too. St. Hilary School |
