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Re: [LUG] School Server

 

Richard Brown wrote:
> Hi Guys
>
> I had a chat with a school head yesterday who is once again investing
> in RM technology. I have tried to persuade her otherwise but her
> reasons cannot be disputed with. Namely that the support is full. If
> it breaks down someone comes and fixes it. If it needs updating the
> computer automatically updates. She doesn't have to do anything to the
> server - it just works.
>
> So can we respond to this please? Firstly is it possible to create a
> server that updates itself? Secondly, is there anyway we can encourage
> her to look at different systems? Any thoughts would be welcome -
> thanks.
>   
Well I'm not sure on support solutions down in that area but I'd say 
with regards to a complete school related server system they should at 
least look at Karoshi (http://karoshi.linuxgfx.co.uk/).

According to the FAQ it is possible to schedule updates to install - 
http://linuxgfx.co.uk/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=34

Of course they would need a suitable server (or servers) to run it all 
on.  It can be run in a virtual machine but depending on the size of the 
school a couple of servers might be a better solution (even two servers 
running something like KVM/Xen/VMWare Server etc with a couple of 
virtual machines to separate the different servers).

Karoshi can be spread over up to 7 servers (although it should be 
possible to use more if needed) - 
http://linuxgfx.co.uk/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=39

All they would be looking at is the support, possible hardware costs and 
installation costs.  One thing to bear in mind is that with the RM 
system they could be just paying for a yearly support contract and RM 
cover a large amount of schools so they can probably afford to have 
multiple field engineers covering the entire South West area and 
probably charge a lot less than a smaller support company can provide 
the support for.

I guess it would be easier to make a like for like comparison if you 
could get some figures on how much they are looking at paying RM and 
what exactly this includes (for instance does it just cover general 
support and fixing things when they break or does it include a couple of 
new servers and installation too?).

I did look into providing some IT support for a Primary School in Exeter 
but their budgets were so small it wouldn't even cover the cost of fuel 
travelling to the school and as much as I enjoy doing support, unless I 
was to win the lottery I wouldn't have been able to realistically 
provide support going on what the school were able to offer.

Rob



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