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Reddit’s r_k12sysadmin Credits: @r_channels @reddit2telegram
Is there a better way?
I'm trying to save a little money. I'm replacing our core switch, content filter and firewall this summer. I'll be installing and configuring two Extreme 7520 switches, an on prem LineWize content filter, but it is a hybrid setup with cloud filtering available as well, and 2 Fortigate 200F firewalls. I'm looking to maximize redundancy and high availability without having to purchase a second content filter appliance since, if it fails, it can be bypassed and we can utilize cloud filtering. The content filte will have 2 seperate fiber NICS, Core 1 and Firewall 1 will connect to NIC 1 and Core 2 and Firewall 2 will connect to NIC 2. Each NIC will be unaware of the other. The Core switches will utilize MLAG, VRRP, OSPF, and an IP SLA to constantly check the connection to the firewall. Each firewall will have their own connection to both ISPS and be setup in HA.
https://redd.it/1b5i6qr
@r_k12sysadmin
Collection or no collection? That is the question.
I'm new to my position as IT Director of a new school. I'm being tasked with coming up with a plan on whether or not to collect our students devices at the end of the year. My thought is to collect as we can charge for lost/broken devices or chargers. Gives us time to update computers and make sure they are in full working condition for the start of school. Second thought is its alot more work to do it this way.
I just want to know what other schools are doing and how you go about it.
https://redd.it/1b40e1q
@r_k12sysadmin
Join the K12TechPro Community for free
The K12TechPro Community is free to join thanks to sponsorships (click sponsorship on the last page when signing up). We're currently at 550+ vetted k12 techs in 46 states and beyond. Join for private message boards, chat, article discussion, podcast discussion, weekly vitals calls, swag, special Google licensing pricing, and more.
Go to https://k12techpro.com/ and click Community and "sign up."
https://redd.it/1b3z129
@r_k12sysadmin
Interim Tech Director
I have recently come into the role of Interim tech director for a K12 tribal compact school. Are there any fellow directors in here that can give me any tips or advice? Prior to this move, I was the Network Analyst/ Sys admin. I am aware of most of the projects and happenings within the department, but am open to any and all advice.
Also if anyone has any templates for documentation or policies and procedures they would like to share, I would greatly appreciate that.
https://redd.it/1b3hhms
@r_k12sysadmin
Building management software? Need a simple solution for teachers to be able to reserve a gymnasium building.
We have a newly built gym in its own building and are looking for a simple solution for teachers (and possibly others) to be able to reserve the use of it.
This can be for during school hours by the P.E. coaches, and possibly renting it out for use to local YMCA (for instance) for practices and possibly games our school is participating in during the weekend, or other schools organizations that need game space as well.
Full size basketball court, box office, concessions, bleachers, scoreboard, audio system, bathrooms, small simple locker rooms (with lockers). There is also a 2nd floor that that has three rooms (2 are big enough to have 12-15 student desks, 1 more could fit about 20-25 student desks).
What online solution is available for reserving, approving, adding set up times, managing a few assets that might be needed (scorers table, scorers chairs, spectrum scoring device use, concessions, etc)? I expect that about four people will be monitoring and managing/approving these requests for the gym.
https://redd.it/1b355u3
@r_k12sysadmin
Switch from VMWare to Hyper-V or Proxmox?
I'm a public K12 with about 3000 students running VMware ESXi Ent+ with vCenter Standard (5 servers, 7 sockets, about 85 Windows, Linux, guests with a few appliances from Cisco and some other vendors). iSCSI storage (Compellent), HA, DRS, no vSAN, no Aria, no hybrid cloud.
Well, I got my renewal quote from Broadcom today to the tune of a 500% increase. Well, they can Eff right off with that one. I'm going to be moving hypervisors and while Hyper-V comes immediately to mind, I'm also interested in Proxmox.
I've been a VMWare admin for 15 years and have only used Hyper-V in a single server setup. Does anyone have any advice, experience, stories to share about their move from VMWare to either Hyper-V or Proxmox. I'm have extensive experience with both Windows and Debian.
Proxmox looks very enticing (especially their backup server), and I would definitely purchase an enterprise support agreement.
Edit: spelling
https://redd.it/1b376b6
@r_k12sysadmin
Intermittent network issues reaching iCloud/Apple - Mosyle and Palo Alto
Looking for some suggestions. We're seeing some devices have issues connecting on our network to icloud.com. When we try to sign the users into the app store, it just spins and spins. We're not getting any block pages on Safari, just a timeout. There are no rules being triggered in the Palo Alto logs when I monitor the device's IP address. The most recent change was adding DNS filtering on Mosyle. There don't appear to be any blocks coming from there though. I turned off private Wi-Fi address under the wireless profile just in case. If anyone has any suggestions or troubleshooting steps I missed, I'd love to hear them. Thanks! P.S. - Naturally when one of the techs connected at home it worked with no issues.
https://redd.it/1b31lf9
@r_k12sysadmin
Adding "this message is from a student" to the body of an email (Google)
For our student OU, I want to prepend to the BODY of the message "This message was sent from a student at my school".
I've seen where you can add a footer or prepend to the subject. I don't like either of those options. Prepending to the subject just makes the subject super long and will just clutter up recipients' inboxes. Many people don't read the footer so I don't think that would be effective.
Is there any way to add this to a message through content compliance or something else? I've done a lot of searching and have been unsuccessful, so it may not be possible, but I haven't given up yet.
https://redd.it/1b2j76w
@r_k12sysadmin
Backpack recommendations
Hi all,
My backpack is on it's last legs and I'm looking for a new one. It's a Swiss Gear bag -- feature wise close to the 1271 model. I've always liked the covert side pocket where the laptop goes. 13" fits in there horizontally.
I'm thinking of getting a similar model but wondered what the hive mind thinks or if there's other models that are good for our line of work.
Thanks!
https://redd.it/1b2bf0a
@r_k12sysadmin
Itopia Review?
Has anyone here used itopia and have any feedback they'd be willing to share? On the surface it looks interesting but the price seems too good to be true compared to Azure or AWS.
https://redd.it/1b283c1
@r_k12sysadmin
Bigleaf SD-WAN?
Anyone here using Bigleaf for SD-WAN? We are looking at them for LTE/5G internet failover backup/IPsec Tunnel backup.
https://redd.it/1b25t2p
@r_k12sysadmin
DLP or Data Classification products
Did a search and didn't see anything recent. Anyone in the group using a 3rd party DLP or Data Classification suite? I have looked into Varonis and Data Guardian already. Purview is lacking, and I want better tools to see and control data.
https://redd.it/1b1mumu
@r_k12sysadmin
Network Tester/Toner
Anyone have a great cable tester and toner? I've use Flukein the past and it was easy to use. Thanks for your input
https://redd.it/1b1gus2
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Docs Offline
Anyone else having issues with Google Docs Offline and having the message that admin has blocked this item? Its not blocked. In the admin console, google workspace/drive and docs/featured applications, Allow users to enable offline access is selected. Any direction is appreciated.
https://redd.it/1b1fwq7
@r_k12sysadmin
SFTP Server Recommendations for Schools?
Hello all! I am tackling the task of adopting new data systems for my school. Looking forward at the vendors we're choosing, it looks like I'm going to have to set up an SFTP server for a daily data sync. If anyone has any recommendations on a provider, I'd love to hear them. We're an all-Apple environment, and I believe macOS also has a built-in feature to turn on an SFTP, but I don't know enough to know if that would be sufficient for my environment. Any recommendations anyone has would be so, so appreciated.
https://redd.it/1b1bwle
@r_k12sysadmin
Synology and Drives Recommendation
We currently have a 4bay DS918+ that's been flawless for around 5 years. I'm looking to replace it with a rack-mount + model. I'm hoping this post can help me navigate towards what type of drives SSD/HDD and to recommend model(s) given our existing and future handful of folk that need more shared, local storage. Ideally the users would not have to download/sync any copies of data but rather edit it while it lives on the NAS and have the ability to down/upload at LAN speeds vs. Google Drive speeds.
Requirements are: Is a + model so we can retain the apps we currently have access to, rack-mount, support 10gb and support drives at least 16TB each.
The reason for replacing it is #1 to put more in the rack vs. being in a very difficult location that's behind a rats nest of wires and can't access it easily #2 to upgrade to 10gb capabilities #3 We have some grant money that we'll lose if we don't spend it.
FWIW - We have 6.5TB of data today ((2) 4TB and (2) 8TB) and I'm hoping to create a new share exclusive to 2 graphic artists, video editor and broadcasting person. They would need about 10TB of usable storage.
What do you recommend and not recommend?
https://redd.it/1b4ftnv
@r_k12sysadmin
Cast Moderator settings not sticking to a few clients
We decided to test out a handful of new Cast Moderator devices and they seem to be working ok for most people but for some users the cast moderator pinning setting is not sticking for some users. We have ours currently set for 1 year for staff, never for students, but some staff will cast with a code to connect the first time and then when they come in the next morning it doesn't show up on their devices.
When the casting with a code modal pops up asking for the code, it still informs these users that the domain enforced setting is 1 year, but it still seems to drop their connection and they will be forced to re-pair with the Google TV in a day or two.
Has anyone else noticed this in their deployment? For context one user experiencing the problem is running a ChromeOS Flex device, the other is running an M1 MBA. Both users have Chrome profile syncing enabled.
https://redd.it/1b40pmb
@r_k12sysadmin
Tabletop Exercise with Leadership
Listen at https://k12techtalkpodcast.com/e/episode-156-tabletop-exercise-with-leadership/ and all major podcast platforms.
We discuss a range of tech news stories, including articles on AT&T cell phone service outages, teachers avoiding AI tools, and the use of panic buttons for school safety. They also address a listener email about handling personal documents in district collaboration tools. The main topic focuses on holding a tabletop cybersecurity exercise with district leadership, with Chris sharing his experience leading a drill. Important lessons highlighted include making the exercise relevant, avoiding scare tactics, and emphasizing collaboration.
https://redd.it/1b3yt90
@r_k12sysadmin
Interview Questions
Hey all
Does anyone have a list of what they'd use for Level 1 tech interview questions?
Thanks in advance.
https://redd.it/1b351lc
@r_k12sysadmin
Moving away from AD
We are looking to move away from AD. I’ve been looking into jumpcloud as an option.
I was wondering if anyone has worked with jumpcloud before how do you like it & any upside or downsides you’ve run into?
Would also appreciate any other alternatives you would recommend looking into?
Thank you
https://redd.it/1b3686g
@r_k12sysadmin
Seeking model policy: MS Students to buy managed chromebook from school, get it unmanaged when they leave
Request: Do you require families to purchase a device from your district or an approved vendor that you manage until the student leaves? If so, I would like to look at your policy as a recommendation for a school I work with.
Background: I am working with a school that is BYOD in the middle school. These devices aren't managed. We introduced Deledao filtering and Hapara monitoring; not only are students able to subvert these but their parents are also upset that we push extensions out to their personal devices. I'm updating the policies to reflect that we can do this for now. Ultimately for the incoming 6th graders I'd like to move towards a more managed environment.
TIA!
Al
https://redd.it/1b35uyl
@r_k12sysadmin
BellCommander compatible network AMP
We use BellCommander to control out bell system. It does this by sending network audio to our Barix IP to audio converters which then connect to a regular AMP which then outputs to 100 volt speakers (pretty sure they are 100 volt).
We have a couple of AMPs that have multiple speaker strings attached to them which services multiple classroom blocks. Because of this we don't have any find grain control over modifying a particular string of speakers without impacting the entire AMP i.e. we can't reschedule the bells just for block 1 as block 2 and block 3 are on the same AMP and so the Barix unit and AMP combo is all or nothing.
Is anyone using BellCommander with a network AMP that would allow us to control multiple outputs on a single AMP independently of one another? The current alternative is multiple AMPs with multiple Barix units which is not the most ideal solution but would work.
​
https://redd.it/1b2o6af
@r_k12sysadmin
Deploying Intune - first time struggles
Hey guys,
​
Currently deploying Entra ID and Intune at our school, we're just learning as we go and obviously running into issues left and right.
We finally were able to deploy to a device using a provisioning package but we ran into an issue - licensing.
Most of our devices are equipped with Windows 10/11 Home (which intune isn't compatible with) so we upgraded to Windows 10/11 Pro using a default activation key when setting up the provisioning package and then letting intune upgrade it from that to Windows Enterprise Edition which comes with our A3 licenses.
Now our test device is saying the license isn't activated and is restricting some user features.
​
My question is: Have any of you dealt with this before? Do we HAVE to buy pro licenses for all devices that currently have Windows Home Edition installed or is there another way to activate?
https://redd.it/1b2h6b3
@r_k12sysadmin
Chromebook setting for Colorblind students
This is the first request I've had from the administration about configuring a Chromebook to work for a colorblind student. Typically the color-inversion which is Google's new term for High-Contrast mode has worked in the past. That shortcut is still Control Search H.
This isn't working for this particular student so I was wondering if there were any other methods. We of course have settings blocked for students so getting to the color correction setting could be difficult since it isn't included in the accessibility menu but I can create an OU to allow those students if necessary and that's the only option.
I didn't know if there was any good Chromestore extension that has been useful or another built in control that I didn't know of.
Thank you for your assistance
https://redd.it/1b299qq
@r_k12sysadmin
Issues with Email Delivery to Gmail?
Hi everyone, this issue just popped up for us yesterday, and there's a lot of really weird parts going on with it.
The issue comes from the fact that some of the emails that are sent out of our domain to someone with a Gmail address, are being bounced back with a status of "blocked", and that there is a failure of authentication with both SPF and DKIM. There are a few things that doesn't make any sense in this situation as far as I can tell:
1. I myself set up our SPF, DKIM, and DMARC rules in Google a year ago, and they've been working great all year until yesterday.
2. Only some emails bound to Gmail addresses will get the bounce back. Any time I've tried emailing my personal Gmail account from in domain, it goes through fine and looking at the raw headers shows a pass for all three checks.
3. We've found that often if we try resending the email to the same address, it'll go through. If not the second, then the third time. Why would the authentication check only sometimes fail for the same gmail account?
I've had a case open with Google Support for 17 hours, with a priority set to high. I haven't gotten any response from them yet.
I've also signed up and verified our domain to utilize postmaster.google.com . When I looked at it yesterday and checked the history of authenticated traffic from our domain over the last 120 days, we were at or near 100% success throughout that whole time... right until yesterday (same day I was looking at it) where it dropped off a cliff, and the percentages were reported back at 0.0% success. The weirdest part? I logged back into PostMaster today to see if there were any changes to the success percentage, and I no longer see logging from the 27th or today, the 28th. It cuts off at the 26th. Looking at the graph at first glance you'd think we were sitting perfect, because it's no longer showing the day we had 0.0% success (yesterday). It almost looks like Google is trying to hide them having an issue.
Has anyone else been having issues with this the past couple days? For clarification, we use Gmail in our district. So we're seeing an issue of going from Gmail to Gmail. The lack of overall attention this is getting makes me feel like I've been taking crazy pills.
https://redd.it/1b26pax
@r_k12sysadmin
Minecraft Education on iPads - can't host
Students are using Minecraft Education on iPads. When they try to host, other students can join but then they usually get kicked out within a few moments.
Any ideas? We're using Ubiquiti for Wi-Fi.
https://redd.it/1b1tcbo
@r_k12sysadmin
Driftnet
Has anyone heard of Driftnet (https://www.driftnet.com/solutions/k-12-solutions)?
I was asked to look into them by my Director to see if we could utilize grant money to purchase their system. I did a demo and it looks interesting, but something just doesn't feel right.
I'm suspicious for many reasons, one of which is that it's actually too cheap. They gave a price with coverage of our entire building with their sensors for $14k/yr.
https://redd.it/1b1khl3
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Credential Provider for Windows
Anyone using it? What has been your experience?
We're looking to corral logins behind something to give us MFA for windows logins, but we're a Google centric district and already use Google for a lot of SSO and this seems like it would work.
I haven't started down the hybrid join route yet, so debating whether to do that, or stay on prem if GCPW works ok.
Thanks
https://redd.it/1b1dsl1
@r_k12sysadmin
Microsoft Office 2019
Pushed updates this past weekend for Office 2019 amongst other things, and we now have endusers experiencing what's show in the video in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint when right clicking and selecting virtualy any of the available options. I'm using Alt+F4 to get rid of the bubble so they can continue to use the software they're in, but that's obviously not a fix.
Anyone else out there seen anything like this?
https://redd.it/1b1efvf
@r_k12sysadmin
Slow Chromebook startup with Clever
Hi,
I'm stumped! Newish Chromebooks running 117. Upon opening the lids, it takes a while for Clever to load. I mean a LONG while. Great WiFi speeds based on SpeedTest. AP on the ceiling right above students. I'm talking 25 Chromebooks. Not hundreds being used at once.
The only thing I can think of is a device setting - Erase all local user data - which is set for our elementary students. Middle School devices do not seem to have this loading issue. They also don't use Clever. I read that Erase all local user data limits the storage of the device by almost half.
Hive mind - please help.
​
https://redd.it/1b11h7n
@r_k12sysadmin