THE Journal — Integration/Networking
Washington County Deploys WiFi District-wide
Washington County School District in Utah is in the process of deploying a district-wide WiFi network covering 41 public K-12 schools that span more than 2,400 square miles.
(5/12/2008)
Miami-Dade Deploys SAP ERP
In an effort to bolster its operations management, Miami-Dade County Public Schools is deploying an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system as part of its district-wide Business Operating Solutions for Schools project. Deployment began in September 2007.
(5/8/2008)
IBM Expands Team Collaboration, Social Networking Software
IBM has introduced a new tool for migrating content from Microsoft SharePoint and other data repositories into Lotus Quickr. The new Lotus Quickr Content Integrator, which recently began shipping, is designed to bring content from existing repositories into Quickr's "team places" for collaboration and sharing.
(5/7/2008)
Next-gen WiFi Expected To Be in 99% of North American Campuses by 2013
Although the wireless standard 802.11n is found in less than 3 percent of North American universities currently, it will be available in 99 percent by 2013, according to a new study by ABI Research. According to the research firm, the increases are driven by a variety of needs and demands in both K-12 and higher education.
(5/5/2008)
Convergence Idea Gets Serious with Live Mesh, Analysts Say
Analyst reaction last week to Redmond's "Live Mesh" initiative can be deciphered in one of two ways. On the one hand, it's an old idea, namely "convergence," with new buzzwords. On the other, it means that industry leader Microsoft has become serious about playing hard ball with its more nimble competitors, working to simplify the end user experience in a Web 2.0 era.
(5/1/2008)
Poudre School District Automates WorkForce Management
Poudre School District of Fort Collins, CO is automating its workforce management processes with WorkForce Software's EmpCenter for K-12 School Districts suite.
(4/23/2008)
FirmTek Intros eSATA Combo Hub
At the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas this week, FirmTek debuted a new combo hub designed to bring eSATA connectivity to laptops. The SeriTek/SpyderHUB includes USB and FireWire host connection options, along with hardware RAID and boot capabilities for Mac OS X systems.
(4/16/2008)
Cypress-Fairbanks Deploys Network Monitoring Tool
Network management software developer Ipswitch announced that the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD), a large public school district in the state of Texas, has selected WhatsUp Gold to monitor and manage its wide area network (WAN) infrastructure.
(4/4/2008)
Autism Center Bolsters Data Backup with HYDRAstor
In an effort to consolidate its business continuity/data recovery operations, the Anderson Center for Autism in Staatsburg, NY has deployed a storage backup and archive system from NEC called HYDRAstor HS8, replacing the school's "antiquated" mixed backup solution.
(4/3/2008)
IBM Expands Information Server, Sets Delivery Dates for Collaborative Software
IBM this month will release two new software updates focused on collaboration--Lotus Quickr 8.1 and Workplace Collaborative Learning 2.7. The company has also expanded its Information Server software platform with the introduction of IBM Information Server FastTrack, a new module for information integration projects.
(3/19/2008)
Policy Server Integrated with 3Com Routers
LineSider Technologies, which publishes policy-based network infrastructure control and management software, has launched OverDrive, a policy server that integrates with 3Com Open Services Networking (3Com OSN) for MSR Series Multi-Service Routers. The OverDrive software lets users deploy and manage Internet protocol-based services across complex network environments.
(3/13/2008)
Microsoft To Acquire Desktop Virtualization Vendor Kidaro
Microsoft today announced its intent to acquire Kidaro, a Redwood City, CA-based provider of enterprise desktop virtualization software.
(3/12/2008)
Open Source Computer Donation Program Aims To Go Nationwide
Ensuring that schools in low-income communities have access to the same technologies as wealthier schools isn't enough for James Burgett, executive director of the Alameda County Computer Resource Center in Northern California. He wants them to have better technology, and he wants them to have it for free. Burgett--along with several partners, contributors, volunteers, and staff--has been for years refurbishing computers, loading them up with open-source software, and deploying them in classrooms (and giving them to individuals) in the San Francisco Bay area. He's recently expanded that effort and is now looking to take it national.
(3/6/2008)
'Augmented' IT Supports Massive Infrastructure for Virginia District
Coordinator Tom VanDenburg's network and systems organization at Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia manages about 3,900 Cisco switches, 240 routers, 7,500 wireless access points, and a multitude of servers running Windows 2003, Red Hat Linux, HP UX, and Sun Solaris for roughly 240 sites across the county. Each school in the district is wireless; operations run 24x7; and every day the network hosts around 12,000 concurrent users.
(3/3/2008)
Case Study: Bloomfield SD's Migration to Broadband and VoIP
As the IT director for Bloomfield School District in New Mexico, I faced a major challenge with our infrastructure when it came time to upgrade our network and voice systems to meet our educational and technological objectives. The district, with 10 administrative and school sites, is located in a rural area of northwestern portion of the state, which limited the alternatives available to us. Its network was based on T1 connections, and the bandwidth would not support the education initiatives of the district. It was also very expensive, costing us about $5,900 each month.
(3/3/2008)
STEM Education: High School Students Network with the Community
A senior center in Leetsdale, PA now has both wired and wireless computer connections, along with the computers themselves, thanks to students from nearby Quaker Valley High School. The students found funding for the project themselves, including computers, since the senior center had no computers previously. As part of the project, they also wired the building and offered classes to seniors on how to use the new systems.
(2/28/2008)
'Installfest' Brings Open Source Tools to Northern California Schools
Open-source developer Untangle and the Alameda County Computer Resource Center are holding an event called "Installfest" in the Northern California Bay Area March 1. The event will see donated hardware and open-source software distributed free to several schools in San Francisco, Berkeley, San Mateo, and Marin County.
(2/27/2008)
Apple Releases Xsan 2; MacBook Firmware Also Updated
Apple this week released an update to Xsan, the company's 64-bit storage-area network solution designed to allow workstations and Xserve systems to share RAID storage over Fibre Channel networks. The new version adds workflow enhancements across the board and also introduces a new feature called MultiSAN.
(2/20/2008)
The 2 Mistakes Schools Make in Deploying Wireless Networks
When the School District of Philadelphia announced last fall that it was deploying wireless Internet access at every school in the district--some 268 campuses--it was hyped as one of the world's largest enterprise wireless local area networks. Aside from the scale of the project (which involves the equivalent of 14,000 access points), the news barely raised an eyebrow among K-12 administrators. After all, announcements of new school deployments of WiFi have practically become a monthly occurrence on THEJournal.com.
(2/12/2008)
Network Access Control Adds Self-Service Registration for Users and Devices
Lockdown Networks has upgraded its network access control (NAC) solution, Lockdown Enforcer, implementing new features that simplify initial setup and user and device registration. A NAC ensures that only authorized users and policy-compliant devices can be added to an enterprise networks and provides a centralized mechanism for responding to malware outbreaks and other security events.
(2/7/2008)
Windows Server 2008, Vista SP1 Released to Manufacturing
Microsoft Monday announced that two of its most important products of the last half-decade are complete and ready to be shipped. Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 were released to manufacturing (RTM), marking a dual milestone in the history of both products. It also means that Windows 2008 will be officially shipping by the "Global Launch Wave" of enterprise products on Feb. 27. Others include Visual Studio 2008, released last year, and SQL Server 2008, which was recently pushed back to Q3.
(2/5/2008)
Tennessee Department of Education Opts for Oracle
The Tennessee Department of Education has begun implementing a new strategy in data governance. In an effort to improve efficiency in student and teacher data collection and to streamline reporting, the department has deployed several solutions from Oracle, including data warehousing, business intelligence, and portal technologies.
(2/4/2008)
Joyent's Hosted Apps Back Up, Going Open Source
After a more than week-long crash of a server hosting two of its inexpensive Web-based services, Strongspace and BingoDisk, Joyent is taking steps to address customer complaints following the outages--and taking both applications open source.
(2/1/2008)
Microsoft: SQL Server 2008 Will Be Late
Despite public confidence that SQL Server 2008 would ship by the end of June, Microsoft indicated it probably is more likely to arrive toward the end of the year.
(1/30/2008)
Oracle Acquires BEA for $7.2 Billion
Oracle Corp. and BEA Systems announced Wednesday that they have completed a deal whereby Oracle will acquire BEA for $7.2 billion, or $19.375 per share. Oracle originally offered to buy BEA in October for $6.7 billion, or $17 per share. BEA countered with a $21 per share price. Now that the companies have found a middle ground, the acquisition is going forward.
(1/22/2008)
