Loop_News_External

Outage RSS feeds

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:18:57 +1300

There is now another Loop RSS feed.
Loop Outages will now have their own RSS feed.

SuperLoop

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:18:11 +1300

There is to be a SuperLoop meeting on the 29 November 2011.

September 2011 Loop newsletter

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 07:17:54 +1200

The September 2011 Loop newsletter is now available on the Loop news site.

Backup folders

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:53:54 +1200

Each Loop school now has a backup share on the Loop Intranet (\\10.255.6.70).
Access is available for any user who has 'Net Wrangler' access. There is no charge for this service until there is more than 1 gig of data in that schools folder.

This folder is designed to be a backup destination.
There is a 'read-me' in the parent folder details costs etc.

Scopia

Fri, 9 Sep 2011 07:51:28 +1200

Scopia is a desktop conferencing system that works both across KAREN and Commodity Internet (slower). It looks very good.

Warren Hall and Geoff Scrimgeour have just completed a 4+ hour training course for Scopia.

Geoff's next step... to get the schools critical players Scopia 'registered', setup and trained.
Warren next step ... to introduce Scopia into the professional development programs around the Loop.

At the moment AVCC (the KAREN video conference centre) is ramping up to manage our registrations.

The Loop in-house filter system is now operational

Thu, 8 Sep 2011 10:23:54 +1200

The in-house filter system has been pedantic especially when operating a high bandwidth rates.
Watchdog hve been working to resign the interface so that it can handle the Loop's traffic levels.
Optenet (Watchdogs contractor in Spain and Chile) have made some changes to the Loop filtering servers now and believe that they have fixed the problems that we were having and the server has not stopped for 24 hours whereas prior to this it was failing a number of times per day.

Post KAREN weak points

Thu, 8 Sep 2011 08:16:27 +1200

These are the Loop network weaknesses as a result of joining KAREN being addressed.This list will be edited as the quirks are addressed.

Medium term
- The SNAP Cactus graph need to be changed.

- SNMPc and Dude management tools edited to reflect design changes.

- Update the contact list (Errors showed up when mass emailing)
- Complete the 'Internet graphs' to include all schools.
- Tech PD meeting so that all tech's know how to use KAREN.

Long Term:
- Work with Allied Telesis Research for full stress testing during the holidays. This is good practice to ask the experts to do a 'status check' after a big change.

Testing your links

Thu, 8 Sep 2011 08:02:55 +1200

This link leads to a set of testing tools to measure how well your school is using using Internet and KAREN.

A USB self booting tool set are currently being built. This will be the 'ultimate' standardised 'speed' testing tool.

Typical speeds from a schools firewall is are above 50 megs a second for both Commodity internet and KAREN.
KAREN is more often above 70 megs. To get these speeds you need to be near or outside your school firewall using a good machine (laptop)

Switch failure and Internet outage.(800hours 8-9-2011)

Thu, 8 Sep 2011 07:29:52 +1200

A switch on the SNAP/Network Tasman became mis-configured and failed. This layer 2 segment of the SNAP network has now been bypassed with a dark fibre and Internet reconnected. Internet is now own.
However... the various monitoring, management and shaping will have to be reconfigured before The Loop can b back to normal.
KAREN traffic peaked at 138 megabits/sec with an average of 60 megabits/sec.

.
Filtering working. More soon.
Please check the Loop's RSS feed for ongoing updates.

Provisioning My Portfolio

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:44:12 +1200

When the Loop started the SSO service provisioning was not a significant factor. This perception rapidly changed as we got into the practical implementation of SSO. My Portfolio has been problematic in its implementation in complex environments as we have been unable to automate the provisioning process. The natural maturing of My Portfolio has also generated changes in its own right. I would like to draw your attention to #3 in the list below- this summarises our knowledge (re My Portfolio provisioning) after a significant amount of research and investigation. 1. SSO services: http://iam.theloop.local/Services/Servicesdefault.htm 2. My Portfolio: http://iam.theloop.local/Services/EPortfolio/Eportfolio.htm 3. Provisioning: http://iam.theloop.local/Services/EPortfolio/EportfolioProvisioning.htm This is the Loop’s best effort in its recommendations. It is now up to schools to manage My Portfolio provisioning. The next step is to develop the UDI interface so it supplements this process.

Loop ADSL connection

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 08:42:13 +1200

A Loop ADSL connection policy and guidelines are being developed here.

September Loop Techs meeting

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:01:33 +1200

We are looking at a meeting somewhere in the first part of September 2011.

Please use the link below to add, edit or ** the proposed agenda.

Scopia resources

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 07:15:30 +1200

The Loop is collecting Scopia resources here.

eTV Presentation in Nelson

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 07:18:44 +1200

eTV Presentation in Nelson – Friday 2 September 2:00pm at the Honest Lawyer We know many schools are interested in learning more about the eTV streaming video service. This resource is now being used in a number of schools and is drawing very positive feedback. As well as acquiring access to an impressive range of useful educational resources, eTV have been working very hard to make this service as easy as possible for schools to use. They have just launched a new website which includes a user-friendly interface and a streamlined registration process. The man behind eTV, Gresham Bradley, is currently visiting regions that are interested in this product and will be making a presentation to all local schools wanting to learn more. He will explain why eTV is an important and timely resource and tool for today's schools. He will show how eTV's huge range of content, covering all curriculum areas, provides teachers with access to an extensive repository of current and relevant content. (More info in the attached flier) eTV are also keen to form strong relationships with groups such as the Loop. As part of this there will be a full month trial open to all schools. Then depending on the degree of uptake, eTV will consider offering benefits for a regional approach. Gresham’s session will be pitched at both principals and the e-learning co-ordinators/ lead teachers in your schools. After the presentation there will be an opportunity for informal discussions about eTV, a regional approach and other UFB services that may be of interest to schools as the Loop rejoins KAREN and the NEN Trial. So, if you are interested in learning more about eTV and seeing it being demonstrated note this date and time in your diaries. A formal notification will arrive as soon as details are confirmed.

National IAM site goes live

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:04:52 +1200

The national Identity management (SSO/UDI/IDP etc) site has just gone live.
Geoff is the Loop's editor

Hapara investigated

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 05:54:58 +1200

The option of using using Hapara is being investigated.

SSO new schools

Sun, 7 Aug 2011 08:47:33 +1200

There has been a hold up introducing the new SSO services and schools. The MoE unit supporting this service has been 'dis-established" (aka merged with another MoE section). Long/medium term this will mean little change- but in the short time it held things up while the MoE 'knowledge' and 'ownership' was transferred to other people.

However we are back on track now...

Watchdog Loop filter.

Sun, 7 Aug 2011 06:26:29 +1200

Update on joining KAREN and the Watchdog filter.

The Loop is all setup, configured and ready to join KAREN and the NEN ... except that there is a configuration problem with the Watchdog filter.
The process is on hold while this configuration error is resolved.

Scopia

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 06:22:10 +1200

The MoE has just completed negotiations for schools to use the KAREN Scopia desktop conferencing system.
This is a very good easy to use desktop conferencing system ... miles ahead of the existing MoE system.

The Loop technicians will be getting a training update soon.

SSO now has cookies

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:03:14 +1200

SSO will now remember who your are (using cookies) and can then pre-load all your details.
You have to logon manually first time but after that it will remember you.

The next step is to put your school logo on the top of your SSO logon page.

Extranet

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 14:55:20 +1200

The Loop now has a Extranet with basic disaster communications, editing facilities and Wrangler information.

Training for schools will follow soon.
Selected non Loop school can access parts of the Extranet- specifically SSO and demographic information.

KAREN internet update

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 05:54:18 +1200

The KAREN Internet scheme update.

This proposal is only available to KAREN schools who are working in aggregations.

Paul Seiler unit is being merged with the ESSA group

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 05:48:15 +1200

Paul's unit looking after SMS. LMS, SSO and the UDI is being merged (read targeted cost savings).
This may have a big impact of schools ICT activity - yet to be fully 'digested'.

Haven Road

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:15:03 +1200

The tele-housing center at haven Road has been established.
The Loop aggregation switch, Juniper router and the two Watchdog filters are currently been installed.

Snow cuts Marlborough link

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:11:03 +1200

Snow cut the Loop marlborough link.

This photo was taken after much of the snow had melted and access re-established.

SketchUP Professional

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 06:01:29 +1200

Google has granted SketchUp Pro licence rights to the Ministry of Education for state and state-integrated schools. Schools can obtain licence keys for Google SketchUp Pro by emailing the ICT Help Desk at callict@tki.org.nz with the following information: School name MoE number ICT administrator contact name and email address Approximate number of Google SketchUp Pro licences required Kris Nilsen Ministry of Education

Marlborough Teacher Tech meeting

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:37:41 +1200

See the link for more information

Wireless talk

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:16:08 +1200

Torque IP are going to give a talk about wireless use in schools.

For those schools who want to know more about wireless options and how to select the best solution for your school we have TorqueIP (The SNUP guys).
They are the same people who designed the Loop.

They are not pushing a product but just providing advice by offering a seminar next Thursday 23rd June.

The session will be at Nayland College Library at 3:30 till 5:00pm – with nibbles and refreshments. All details are in the attached flier. Please RSVP by Tuesday 21st June to ross.dore@torqueip.co.nz

Watchdog filters

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:20:08 +1200

It looks like it is all go for Watchdog to supply 2x content filter routers for the Loop at no cost.
These are worth about $24k each (I think) and will ...
* relieve the pressure on the Loop firewall
* result in even faster access to content.

More soon...

Loop Update newsletter (June 2011)

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:20:08 +1200

The Loop's June 2011 update newsletter

SAN (School Aggregation Network)

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:54:48 +1200

This is a special interest group supported by Geoff that has been running for over 3 years. SAN is a selection of services and support tools that are designed to support rural or small schools in a fibre environment. Typically these school are struggling to make the most benefit of a ultrafast broadband environment. It is not a Loop service as it assist schools INSIDE their network.

The concept is to use shared or aggregated services to support and benefit IT services inside the school. We use all sorts of tricks and money saving tricks to help these schools get onto their feet and take control of the ICT services.

This is not a Loop service ... just a collection of small or rural schools in need. It even involves schools outside the Loop (e.g. Some Area schools).

The 'old' service was called 'SIM (simadmin.theloop.local) but is being revamped and renamed as SAN with a new website (coming). These changes have occurred with the advent of the RBI (Rural Broadband Initiative).

Clues to Google provisioning (using the Loop system)

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:50:45 +1200

Provisioning is the term used to automatic add or suspend Google accounts. There are a number of provisioning systems available the Loop uses its own system because the other options do not have the technical advantages of the Loop. School are free to use other provisioning systems but the Loop team is unable to help with these. The Loop system picks up the Google user name from a network (LPAD) folder and from this populates the Google domain with those exact names. * Any exact name that is not in the network folder but is in the Google domain- is automatically suspended (not deleted) in the Google domain. * Any exact name that is in the network folder but NOT in the Google domain a Google Apps account is made for that user. The only except to this is Super Administrators. Super Administrator accounts are not subject to this rule and are NOT suspended if not in the school network directory. It is good practice that Google Domain Super Administrators to make a separate ‘SuperAdmin" user they can use as a back door into the Google domain if a disaster should strike.
In a disaster where the school network is offline for some reason then the SuperAdmin can still log into the Google cloud, turn off the API (SSO) interface (tick box), reset all the internal Google passwords and then users can access and use the Google accounts without reference to the (now defunct) school network. The main reason for using the recommended ‘Cloud’ prefix to the Google domain eg cloud.Collingwood.school.nz) is to allow schools to operate the Google email system without any reference to the schools internal email system very handy in times of disaster.
All lessons from the Christchurch earthquake.

June SuperLoop Hui minutes

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 06:07:09 +1200

Below is a goggle document that are the June SuperLoop Hui minutes.
Mostly this is pretty boring stuff related to business plans and reports from various agencies.
Of interest to Loop technicians (choose the reports to read).

School Interfaces diagram

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:45:03 +1200

The REANNZ (KAREN) team require a diagram of each Loop schools interface.

The Loop hold a few of these diagrams but most are out of date.

The Loop will have to contact every Loop school and update the records.

SuperLoop email list

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:48:51 +1200

This is the SuperLoop email contact list.

Be aware that is a 'flexible' document.

ADSL for teachers.

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:30:00 +1200

The Loop is developing a home version of the Loop with the assistance of NetSolutionz (TPN).
Teachers and school management subscribe to NetSolutionz ADSL product.
The traffic however is directed straight to the Loop so that the user uses the Loop Internet feed. This is good both for the user and the Loop...

Advantages: 1: The user has access to the Loop full 100+ meg bandwidth as compared with the data restrictions normal ADSL connections.
2: The Loop bandwidth is not used at night and it would be good for the Loop to gain an income from this unused bandwidth.

The downside is that the ADSL users will still be part of the Loop for the purposes of illegal downloads. A strict SLA (Service level Agreement) will need to apply.

Each connection would also require a Loop VPN (Virtual Private network) connection that would connect the ADSL connect straight into the users school. This would be password protected so as to prevent casual or family access to the users school network. The advantage of this link is that the user would have very fast , secure and cheap access to the relevant school network.

Cost: This has not been calculated but initial figures indicate that it will be about the cost of the normal ADSL connect ($60-$80? per month) but completely unrestrictive in terms of bandwidth + a fast connection straight into the users school. If you are interested in this developing service please contact the Loop manager.

The Loop joining the RBI?

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:44:35 +1200

This RSS item summaries how the Loop plans to be able to inclusively adopt other Top of South schools into the The Loop ... should they wish. The urban fibre will probably operate in a similar manner for urban and the 'zone 3' schools (that is all the remain schools).

The assumptions below are based on what we know of the various projects and they they will affect Loop schools

Assumptions:
* Current Loop schools will remain as is but be peered (joined) to the National Education Network as well as Internet and other networks.

* Teachers and school management will be able to remote in seamlessly to the Loop (see ADSL feed).

* Rural schools will connect to the RBI's 'fibre cloud' and be transferred to one of the national peering points. For the Loop this is likely to be at the old Post Office (Civic House) in Nelson.. Not sure for Blenheim - yet.

* The Loop will pick up the fibre at their switch at the Civic house peering point and inject the schools traffic into the Loop cloud.

* The Loop is looking to become a "Retail Service provider" (RSP) with the MED help so that it can purchase this RBI cloud link at wholesale prices and allow the traffic delivery to be as smooth as possible.

* Cost: This depend on the traffic but for a school like Collingwood (roll 150) it looks 'sort of' about ...
... 30 meg pipe (guaranteed 10 meg) wholesale price $50/m plus the retail markup (40%).
... Loop monthly fee of very roughly about $1.20/user/mth for all services.
So that would make a monthly fee of about $250 without the fibre retail markup which is a pretty good deal.

* The Loop has not worked out how much to charge for the retail aspect as it need to cover the switching gear and time involved in the configuration.

Of course you can upgrade this link to about 2x fast for about another $100

SuperLoop Meeting

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:16:16 +1200

On the 8-9 June 2011 the various established and emerging Loop met for a hui in Wellington in the RANNZ offices.
There were many speakers and discussion and much was learned.

Items of interest:
* Cabinet business case

*a RBI costing and processes( see another RSS entry)

* Broadband initiatives- all should be finished by 2013.

* The MoE are building a National Education Network. The business case has just gone to the cabinet. (http://www.gcsn.school.nz/community/news/pressure-deliver-education-network).
* A new product to replace School Zone is about to be announced. It will be called the 'Box' and will be a consortium of different providers ... but without Telecom's participation. It looks like to be a collection of services that will be available to schools- including Loops. * A REANNZ based Internet service was discussed (see other feed). This will be a MAJOR factor in the Loop's development.

* Lessons learnt from Christchurch were discussed ... many of these will be incorporated into the Loop's structure.

* The apparent hiccups in SNUP delivery was discussed. If schools are concerned the they should email network.upgrades@minedu.govt.nz A very worthwhile hui with lots of things to think about.

The SuperLoop site will soon appear as a tab on the various Loop's sites including the GCSN (Christchurch) site.

The next meeting will be via VC about 2011 ... when it is hoped that the NEN business plan will be released as part of the next election portfolio.

Port Services

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:21:19 +1200

Under development ... more soon.

The Copyright and File Sharing Act

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:43:48 +1200

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill was passed in April 2011 and seeks to tackle online piracy, including unauthorised movie and music downloads.
The law requires the Loop to issue warning notices, at a right holder's request, to customers suspected of illegally distributing copyrighted content.
If a third alleged infringement takes place, rights holders can go to the Copyright Tribunal, which can issue an offender a fine of up to $15,000.
If this fails to stem online piracy, the Government may grant the tribunal the power to cut off a culprit's internet connection for six months.
The Loop is working to incorporate these requirements into its management systems.
********************************
This is a another interpretation of the Act:
Under the act, illegal file sharers will receive warnings for their first two infringements. In the event of a third breach, the owner of the copyrighted material can seek an order from the Copyright Tribunal - chaired by a High Court lawyer - for an offender to pay compensation of up to $15,000. If this fails to stem online piracy, the Government may grant the tribunal the power to cut off a culprit's internet connection for up to six months.

Upgrade Timeline

Sun, 5 Jun 2011 10:53:06 +1200

The peering, KAREN and upgrade timeline.

Joining KAREN

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 15:31:26 +1200

The Loop is due to join KAREN in July 2011.
You can read the technical stuff on the link below.

Teacher Tech Training

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 15:21:02 +1200

The first of the June 2011 Teacher tech training sessions were held at Waimea College
We covered ...
1:The Loops Windows Distribution server 2: RSS feeds (internal and external) 5: Static Menu 7: Sample menus 9: Equipment pool 11; Survey Monkey 12: SSO 13: Loops secure Intranet 14: The Loop help desk - getting help 15: The application site 16: Tool menu 17: Moodle (Learning at school) 18: Visualisation server 19: KAREN and Conferencing tools

Loop Engineers meeting

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 15:05:03 +1200

The Loop engineers meet with the Loop school full time engineers (NMIT and the Colleges) last Friday.
The first part of the meeting brought everyone up todate.
The second part focussed on questions and how the Loop was joining to KAREN.

The Loop engineers, Andrew (New Era), Geni, Stephen (NNMIT) This essentially is a catch up and sharing time for these people … Tim will be coming virtually using Scopia (the KAREN desktop VC tools)
1: KAREN peering (Tim) 2: Multicasting (Everyone- initiated by Danny) 3: Juniper training (Tim) 4: Content filtering (Geoff) 5: Measuring Internet traffic using SNMP feeds (Danny) 6: UDI (Geoff 8: Obtaining assistance (Geoff) 9: What's happening re ITS at NMIT?

REANNZ may purchase Internet bandwidth

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 10:13:18 +1200

REANNZ may purchase Internet bandwidth
It appears that REANNZ to looking to purchase Internet on behalf of Universities and aggregated school networks. If it is actually is achieved then it will be the biggest buying group for Internet in New Zealand.

The actual structure is still being developed but it looks like the traffic would run parallel to KAREN (so as not to compromise the Research and Education traffic) on a self funding basis where developments will be paid for from member contributions.

Groups will pre- purchase bandwidth.

It is not sure where the Google cache will lie as this could be considered part of the core KAREN network- wait and see here.
REANNZ has also made a purchase of 40 gig of bandwidth of the new Pacific cable.

This may NOT change the price of Internet but hopefully will be able to meet the current demands with a too much of a price rise. We have to wait and see.

The planned start date is 1 Jan 2012 which mean we need to manage with our current policies at least until then.

This business concept will available to KAREN members who have their own ASN numbers (that is big networks).

Prices are expected to be 25% less than the current best prices. ;-) but off course this will be eaten up by the expected rise in traffic. It would be best of as getting 25% more for the same price.

This could be the 'killer' app that has long been looked for by Loops.

Once the Pacific cable is operational this group should have a 40 gigabit feed straight from the US which would enable our dreams.

It is important to note that it will be almost impossible for small or individual schools to take part ... only aggregations.

Internet graphs

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 10:00:02 +1200

The internet graphs for each schools are getting even better.
E will slowly get all the missing' schools on the graphs.

The "Home Weather Map" has a "more detailed view" available for the Colleges. This should help the Colleges have more control over their usage.

SuperLoop Hui

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 09:49:35 +1200

The various Loops around New Zealand are gathering for a hui to looks at recent developments.
Charles and Geoff are attending.
The agenda is on the Google doc below.

IDP, SSO and MLE update.... from Paul Seiler

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 09:39:49 +1200

Recent Developments IdP: - Sign-ups (including those live and still to be implemented) have reached 80 schools. I had set 80 as the target for the year (July - June) so while we may fall a little short we will get close. I am aiming for 250 by the end of June 2012. - The Chch IdP will now be run by Smartcom not CORE. This seems a good outcome from the perspective of all those I have spoken to and I welcome Clinton and Stephen to this informal group. - Considering how our investment/support be best used for 2011/12. Ideas welcome. Seminars: - We ran two well attended events in Wellington this week (150 people in all) and one in Nelson last week (40 ish attendees). This should hopefully help (as in education and pre-sales) you with sales. - We had the Wellington event recorded so as soon as the editing is done I will let you know the link. I hope the Ministry and you can use these recordings to run future events rather than needing the speaker present. SSO service update: 1. etv: Working now 2. Oliver/Softlink: Work has started for v3.5 3. MyCareers: Work has started, due to pilot in a week or two with ASHS 4. School Links: Agreement in place, watch of it in Term 3 5. TAP: Agreement in place, watch of it in Term 3 6. DreamCatcher: Work has started, watch for it in Term 3 7. EPIC: Discussing options, as individual authentication is not really required 8. Clickview: Will do the work before the end of the year 9. Live@edu: Not before middle of 2012. More discussion required.<< appears to be a recent change here>> 10. Mathletics: No progress/change in status 11. Teacher Dashboard: Have heard it will work. Any update from any of you? 12. TKI Communities: No progress 13. e-asTTle: Was told No 14. Spike@School: Have recently reactivated conversation with vendor So, a lot of work underway and probably plenty more leads being cultivated. I hope you can get more schools signed and implemented while my team get more services completed. Paul Seiler

Google Apps news ... from Google

Sat, 4 Jun 2011 06:51:44 +1200

For web applications to spring even farther ahead of traditional software, our teams need to make use of new capabilities available in modern browsers. For example, desktop notifications for Gmail and drag-and-drop file upload in Google Docs require advanced browsers that support HTML5. Older browsers just don’t have the chops to provide you with the same high-quality experience. For this reason, soon Google Apps will only support modern browsers. Beginning August 1st, we’ll support the current and prior major release of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari on a rolling basis. Each time a new version is released, we’ll begin supporting the update and stop supporting the third-oldest version. As of August 1st, we will discontinue support for the following browsers and their predecessors: Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, and Safari 3. In these older browsers you may have trouble using certain features in Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs and Google Sites, and eventually these apps may stop working entirely. So if it’s been a a while since your last update, we encourage you to get the latest version of your favorite browser. There are many to choose from: •Chrome •Firefox •Internet Explorer •Safari

Loop Technical meeting

Wed, 1 Jun 2011 08:31:49 +1200

The agenda for the Loop's Tech meeting at Waimea College on the 3rd June 2011

Post UDI meeting

Wed, 1 Jun 2011 08:27:25 +1200

A post UDI meeting report has been published on Google by the Loop.

The full folder of UDI documentation is here. (https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B8UqyUjh76STYzFhZjYyODAtM2EwNS00YTliLTk3ZjYtNjc2YmQ1MjAxMjgx&hl=en_US)

Secondary Principals Loop Meeting

Wed, 1 Jun 2011 08:16:53 +1200

On the 30 May 2011 the Loop's Secondary Principals held a VC meeting.

Various items were discussed before the Loop Internet router failed (see outage report).

Readers can read the agenda and associated papers on the Loop news site.

Internet Outage on the last day of May 2011.

Wed, 1 Jun 2011 05:39:42 +1200

Dear all, Sorry about the outage today. It turned out to be a significant problem that was not easy to resolve. Attached below is the incident report sent to your ICT support person earlier this evening. The question needs to be asked is this failure actually the same problem that caused Waimea Colleges slowdown over the last week.. Answer: Possible but impossible to confirm at this stage. The problem is a fault with the X900 routers operating system that was unknown until discovered by the Loop about a month ago. Allied Telesis research facility in Christchurch (250 engineers) is trying to emulate and then fix the problem but until this is done we just don’t enough knowledge to make a call. Roll on joining KAREN then the donated new Juniper router will bypass this problem (something called policy routing). Yours, Geoff ++++++++++++++++++++++ To Loop ICT contacts. This is an initial update. This afternoon the Loop’s core internet router reset itself for no apparent reason. The router did not come back online. Internet to the Loop stopped. The policy routes were taken off and the router restarted and internet returned. The policy routes manage content redirect filtering for smaller Loop schools to Watchdog.. This is a known fault with the Allied Telesis X900 router (identified by the Loop about a month ago) and Allied Telesis has confirmed the fault, tagged it as urgent and escalated the problem for resolution.. In the long term this policy routing will be done by the new Juniper X650 switch (currently being configured) and then this the X900 fault will be bypassed (not cured). It is also expected that AT will need to develop a fix for the fault on their X900 routers.

Four new documents

Mon, 30 May 2011 18:59:41 +1200

The Secondary Loop Principals Annual report
The MoE latest RFI for NEN services
and the...
Beginners guide to Loop Management
Beginners guide to regional ICT support.

Loop weather map

Fri, 27 May 2011 05:58:04 +1200

The Loop now has a new weather map to help schools track their internet usage.
Expect this site to change as refinements are made.

Regional RBI initial meeting.

Fri, 27 May 2011 05:29:43 +1200

These two sets of notes are from the first 'Top of South ' Rural Broadband stakeholder's meeting.

This is the first meeting with RBI regional stakeholder's and was mainly focussed on regional planners but contains information of interest to all rural schools.

Meeting notes The PowerPoint used to present the concept.
There was also many discussion points arising from the PowerPoint that are summarised in the second document.

Loop Technical meeting planned for June 2011

Mon, 23 May 2011 15:14:28 +1200

This meeting is documented in a Google document and can be read here.

External RSS feed

Mon, 23 May 2011 13:39:43 +1200

The Loop now has a external
Loop feed
that directly reflects the
Internet Intranet feed. Please note that many
of the referenced
links lie inside the Loop's
intranet
and thus are NOT
accessible from
outside the Loop without
an VPN.

New Loop website

Sun, 15 May 2011 15:56:38 +1200

A new Loop public website.
(May be offline occasionally for updating - initially)

RBI rules and school lists

Fri, 6 May 2011 06:47:05 +1200

Telecom has released a document explaining the guidelines for RBI connection. There is also a list of RBI schools on this site.

Portfolio PD

Fri, 6 May 2011 06:44:01 +1200

Core education has just launched an online Portfolio professional development course.

Beginners guide to Identity management in the classroom

Tue, 3 May 2011 09:52:54 +1200

A beginners guide to IAM, provisioning, SSO and the UDI.

May 2011 Newsletter

Tue, 3 May 2011 09:51:09 +1200

The May 2011 Loop newsletter

RBI invitation

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 06:09:28 +1200

Nelson - Marlborough Rural communities

Guidelines for new Loop schools

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:44:45 +1200

A set of guidelines designed to help schools get the most from the Loop. It is written for TIC (Teacher in charge) of ICT rather than Principals.

Chorus rollout of RBI

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 05:51:18 +1200

The list of schools that Telecom are rolling out RBI fibre to.

E-Asttle

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:27:02 +1200

I t has been discovered that Google Chrome was much less problematic than IE and Firefox and that a lot more users could be on simultaneously .. with E-asttle.

Grooveshark

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 06:02:24 +1200

The consensus on Grooveshark seems to be ...
Have blocked it due to Data usage ...not a popular decision with students.
Grooveshark can be using up to 20% of your internet bandwidth.

Schools who have a Loop SSO setup

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:52:01 +1200

When setting up your Google domain DNS the Loop actually put a number of extra Cnames in. For example ... video.cloud.myschool.school.nz sites.cloud.myschool.school.nz calendar.cloud.myschool.school.nz start.cloud.myschool.school.nz docs.cloud.myschool.school.nz chat.cloud.myschool.school.nz mail.cloud.myschool.school.nz wave.cloud.myschool.school.nz
If you set these service URL up on your Google admin page then these links will work.

Working with Clouds in the classroom.

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 07:04:19 +1200

Hi folks , A few recent discoveries 1.I have been spending some time with my class using the new version of My Portfolio. Well worthwhile looking at. Makes a nice safe � Facebook type tool for school, far better than the old version. I can now see it being the �universal� (that is cross class/ school/institution) digital learning portfolio. 2.I have been using SSO with multiple clouds. Certainly makes classroom management much easier. Makes Derek Wenmoth�s MLE (Multiple learning Environments) practically work in the classroom. Be careful of running clouds with different users at the same time on the same computer (Example: your school�s My Portfolio site AND your own personal Facebook) It can become confused about which username should being used. Interestingly this seems only to be a problem with those clouds using OpenID. SAML clouds like Google, Moodle seem able to manage multiple users at the same time. 3.Aviary, OffiSync / Google Connect are still the two MUST have Google add on services. Personally I prefer the Aviary / OffiSync combination. 4.Using Google Apps to manage your OpenID clouds is a nice easy way of opening up a big range of �new� services. Well worth exploring the Google Apps help pages on OpenID links Geoff

Huawea

Thu, 7 Apr 2011 06:02:10 +1200

A white paper from the UK and Australia on how broadband change communities.
A good read for rural principals.

Visualisation

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:59:16 +1300

An excellent tool for advanced network users.
Visually displays data stream coming into the Loop.
Great talking point for staff, parents and users.
Note: Only for advanced users.

Loop services update

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:57:58 +1300

An updated graphical guide to Loop services.
What services are under development and which are full operational.
A guide for those visual learners.

Beginners guide to Loop services

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:56:38 +1300

A basic guide to Loop services (March 2011)

Loop Budget

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:55:22 +1300

The Loop latest running budget for march 2011.
Can also be found in the Loop's news site.

Survey Monkey

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 07:55:53 +1300

The Loop has a full Survey Monkey account that can be accessed by secure Loop users. Please contact Geoff for logon and link details.

Secure web site

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 07:52:50 +1300

The Loop now has a single sign on for the Loop's secure web sites.
The user will need a Loop logon name and password for this to function.
Please contact Geoff if you would like these access rights.
Restricted to school or Loop management.

Spare ICT gear

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 07:45:13 +1300

The Loop spares available for schools to borrow has been updated.
There is now a set of commonly used items at Nayland College. Duplicates are this gear is being kept with Geoff at Collingwood.
An updated inventory is on the news site.

March Newsletter

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:40:14 +1300

March newsletter.
The Loop March newsletter.