Primary Technology Ltd
Summer 2013 has been glorious for the weather, but Primary T didn’t had chance to enjoy it, we have not stopped working hard! We have done 10 new server installs, 9 of which were admin servers. As part of this we have taken 5 schools into being single domains and we have had additional work at another school, purely to move to a single domain. It’s great to have 6 more schools working on just one domain for both admin and curric, it makes it a lot easier for managing and planning day to day school life. It’s also worth noting that despite ourselves undertaking SIMS server migrations in schools where we are not the SIMS support provider, the respective local LA teams were very helpful in providing required files for backups, monitoring and remote access – it was fantastic to have their co-operation. If you would like to know more about single domains then you can find more out, this article also goes deeper into the reasons some schools are moving to a single server: http://primaryt.co.uk/primary-schools-single-or-dual-server-environment/
The BLN migration has continued and we have been supporting Virgin Media in the roll out of their Layer 3 kit into our schools. Getting more schools off the old star network and onto the IPVPN. If you are due to have this work undertaken in your school and it’s not occurred yet, then please contact ourselves and we can talk to the BLN about scheduling a date as soon as possible.
We have had 4 schools totally reimaged and 2 schools have had new physical network infrastructures due to massive changes in the fabric of their buildings. Our Installations team have been hard at work fitting: LCD touchscreens, door access systems, public announcement facilities, fibre cables, wireless networks, full ICT suites and interactive teaching walls! Wow, what a repertoire!
This week we have be really privileged to have Emma Rothery start with us as a Web Designer. She has come to us with a background of 4 years in freelance design. Her responsibilities will include supporting Primary Blogger, design and development of new sites, support of existing customers websites and keeping a close eye on Primary T’s web servers. If you get to speak to her please say ‘Hi’, she is really lovely!
Data is Important
Everyone knows that a schools data is critical. The work produced by teachers, TA’s, administration and leadership staff is of paramount importance. If a teacher is to delete many gigabytes of data accidently it can sometimes take a few hours to retrieve it from an off-site service. If it is required for a lesson or meeting that day, it can be a struggle to get it back in time. Whilst off-site backup provides a great method of last line resilience, an on-site backup can provide fast and easy access to restoration data. If the worst comes to the worst and total data loss occurs, a local backup means no waiting for a big download from a remote backup server to get your services back up and running. A full download of 250GB can take up to 2 days to retrieve.
What does this mean for a school?
It means that alongside remote backup, a local storage device can be utilised to hold the same data that is stored off-site. By incorporating the device with the Remote Backup service from Primary Technology® it means any loss of data can be rectified with minimal downtime and maximum efficiency. Hours rather than days. You can also backup less critical data just to the local device, adding a layer of projection but not increasing the cost of your Remote Backup subscription. The data stored on the device has the same encryption and security as off-site data – so it safeguards all your important documents and resources.
The Nitty Gritty
The device is a military grade shock and waterproof 1TB external drive. It uses the new USB 3.0 standard for fast and reliable data transfer. As it sits external to your server it can be removed and taken out of the building in the event of fire or flood, providing this is possible.
It costs £40 per year. If the drive breaks, it gets replaced at no cost within one working day. Primary Technology undertake full maintenance and configuration for the drive and include it in 24/7 health checks.
If you need any more information please do not hesitate to get in touch.
We know that the best provider for UK schools ICT support is Primary Technology. No questions asked. But what is the future of ICT support for your school? Is it going more hands on or is it going more remote? How should schools budget for ICT change and support in the future?
This debate is being held on the 18th of June in Bradford with various different providers. To get involved in this debate please get in touch! We will post the results on this website.