Page 107 - Lakeland Catholic Technology Plan

Recommendation:
1. Remove all the D-Link 10/100 parallel printer servers. Install LexMark MarkNet Ethernet cards in all of the printers, which support both Macintosh and PC com- puters over the Ethernet network. All Printers should be directly connected to the network. None should be connected via the parallel port to a workstation, but all should be standalone network devices. In fact, if possible,the printers should be connected over the network to the Novell Servers, and have the print jobs man- aged by the server. This will allow much faster printing times, less network traffic, and will allow printer pooling. So if there are two laser printers in a given area, the print job will go to the least busy printer. Thus staff and students will get their printed results quicker.
12.2 Computers - Wintel Based
Recently the District has chosen to standardize on Seanix computers. From a tech- nical support perspective this is great. Now the technical support staff need to know only one vendor’s equipment really well, they can become warranty author- ized on the product, and there are some great economies of scale. Each com- puter should be exactly the same, so getting replacement parts is relatively easy, and swapping out broken computers for good ones is also relatively easy.
When purchasing Labs, the computers are ordered, once per year, and delivered to the tech shop. The technical support staff then setup, configure, and test each computer. Then they are packed up, taken to the school, and installed at the school site.
Some drawbacks to these computers are that the technical support staff don’t have a very high opinion of the vendor chosen, and they have had some difficulty obtaining the support they require from the manufacturer. We really have no recom- mendation on this issue, other than the problem should be fixed, or another manu- facturer should be chosen.
Of interest is the fact that each computer is configured and tested by the technical support staff. One complaint that was common from the schools is that it takes so long from the time the Lab computers are purchased, to when it is actually in- stalled.
A simple way to alleviate this problem is have the software and the system config- ured at the factory, and then direct shipped to the school. Usually for an extra $20-50 per computer, the manufacturer will configure them as the site needs. Then, when the computers arrive at the school, they simply need to be unpacked, setup, and plugged in. This does not need to be done by the technical support staff, and the computers can be ready to go in a much shorter time. In fact, most vendors will send out a computer and ask that it be completely setup and configured as the client would like it.
At this point the technical staff could set it all up perfectly. Then they would send the computer back, and the manufacturer can make an image. Only minor
changes would be required in each site, like printer settings, but even that can be done automatically with the proper computer management tools. This is made pos- sible because of the standardization of servers in each school, and standard soft- ware.
Recommendation:
1. All future Seanix computers purchased should be configured at the factory with the standard software and drivers, and shipped directly to the schools. Then they can simply be unpacked and setup, and they are ready to go.
2. Maintain a standard vendor, for a minimum of 2-3 years. This will facilitate sup- port, service, and product balance and compatibility across the District.
3. Labs that are being replaced should be replaced during low use periods of the school year. May, June, September, and October should be avoided at all costs. Good times to install new Labs would be during the Christmas break, or during
the months of January or February. With proper planning, the removal and installa- tion of all computers should result in less than one week of downtime.
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