Tuesday - Worked on several issues at the co-op. Spent much of the day talking with DIS and Bradley regarding their CIV troubles. Also fielded calls from several schools for technical assistance. I modified the configuration of the ISA server and will continue to tweak things, trying to get the most out of our Internet connection, firewalling, etc.
Started reviewing video regarding an issue at the co-op. This continued to Wednesday.
Wednesday - I spent much of the day handling two main issues at the office: parking lights and electronic surveillence. Both of these tasks invloved the security camera system we have to a certain extent. The parking lights have been an issue since we moved into the new building. Turns out the timing mechanism was not set properly at the manufacturer. Once I figured out just where the "current, real time" should be set on the thing, I moved to making sure th elights came on and went off at the specified time. Before I could do that, however, I used the security tapes to review previous nights' recordings of when the lights turned off. The lights were set to come on during the latter part of daylight hours, so the camera did not really pick that up. But, at night, one can clearly see when the parking lights go out for the night.
The other part of my main duties on Wednesday centered around video review of certain areas of the building. I am not going to discuss what areas nor the nature of the review, but let me say that going through WEEKS of video, even within a confined time period during each day, is a time-consuming endeavor. I am now adding "video security inspector" to my list of "other duties as assigned."
I also served as liasion between DIS and Bradley regarding their video system issues.
Of course, there were mundane, ordinary issues to take care of, including the hard drive death in a staffer computer. Nothing like the smell of little blue smoke in the morning... Or something like that.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Testing, testing. Is this thing on?
Monday, Trish and I headed to Bradley with various equipment in tow. Our goal: test the local network for video connectivity issues.
I borrowed a fiber/CAT5 tester from the local college's telecommunications department. Once we arrived, we hooked the tester up to one run of fiber. the tester consists of two end pieces - once each end of the cable to be tested is plugged into each end of the fiber, the system runs a variety of tests. the first test checks for the maximum throughput speed (up to 1000Mbps). The next series of tests runs 'dummy data' between the connections in an effort to see what actual traffic the line can handle.
Over the course of several hours (most of the day, actually), we ran tests on each of the four fiber connections (each one for a different video system). Each and every time, the tests came back with flying colors - 1000Mbps and "pass" every other test. We also tested the CAT5 connections to ensure they, too, were operating at maximum ability. They were. Again, 1000Mbps and "pass" all the other tests.
This tells me that the issue is not a local one. However, just to be sure, we also swapped out the core switch that connects the various video systems to the rest of the world. After swapping out the switch, everything ran just as it had before. Again, this indicates to me that the issue is not a local one (or at least not a local one that I can tell).
While there, we also went to each distance learning classroom and configured the laptops for connectivity, printing, etc. We finished in each room except for Lab #3. That will get done next time I am at the school (thinking Wednesday).
Anecdotally, we noticed that the data connectivity seemed to be running pretty slowly (I downloaded required software and it showed to be running at T1 speeds versus the 10Mbps they have added). Something seems amiss on the data side.
the school is set up such that the data traffic and the compressed video traffic are not on the same LAN. once the data hits the router, it is no longer a school-fixable issue - we call in the support from the state folks.
once back at the co-op (about an hour leftof the work day), I kicked out an email to appropriate personnel regarding our findings at Bradley. I also created a quick network map of the video LAN to help with troubleshooting and forwarded that on to DIS personnel.
I borrowed a fiber/CAT5 tester from the local college's telecommunications department. Once we arrived, we hooked the tester up to one run of fiber. the tester consists of two end pieces - once each end of the cable to be tested is plugged into each end of the fiber, the system runs a variety of tests. the first test checks for the maximum throughput speed (up to 1000Mbps). The next series of tests runs 'dummy data' between the connections in an effort to see what actual traffic the line can handle.
Over the course of several hours (most of the day, actually), we ran tests on each of the four fiber connections (each one for a different video system). Each and every time, the tests came back with flying colors - 1000Mbps and "pass" every other test. We also tested the CAT5 connections to ensure they, too, were operating at maximum ability. They were. Again, 1000Mbps and "pass" all the other tests.
This tells me that the issue is not a local one. However, just to be sure, we also swapped out the core switch that connects the various video systems to the rest of the world. After swapping out the switch, everything ran just as it had before. Again, this indicates to me that the issue is not a local one (or at least not a local one that I can tell).
While there, we also went to each distance learning classroom and configured the laptops for connectivity, printing, etc. We finished in each room except for Lab #3. That will get done next time I am at the school (thinking Wednesday).
Anecdotally, we noticed that the data connectivity seemed to be running pretty slowly (I downloaded required software and it showed to be running at T1 speeds versus the 10Mbps they have added). Something seems amiss on the data side.
the school is set up such that the data traffic and the compressed video traffic are not on the same LAN. once the data hits the router, it is no longer a school-fixable issue - we call in the support from the state folks.
once back at the co-op (about an hour leftof the work day), I kicked out an email to appropriate personnel regarding our findings at Bradley. I also created a quick network map of the video LAN to help with troubleshooting and forwarded that on to DIS personnel.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday and Friday
Thursday - Met at Arch Ford Co-op to learn about the online testing component of D2SC's program.
Friday - Headed to Bradley to downgrade the software on the new codec. Still had quality issues, so examined and changed settings on various media converters, switches, etc. The quality improved on the receiving end (that is, what we could see) but was still awful on the transmitting end (what the other sites saw). We've got some kind of issues going on there.
While testing, I ended up contacting ASMSA about a class that was not coming up and after some more troubleshooting, they had to delete the system from their MCU. After that, the MCU found the Bradley equipment again and everything (other than quality) seemed to be working.
I went around and checked various connection settings n the other three systems. I also helped troubleshoot a desktop problem which turned out to be a loose cat5 end at the desktop.
I am borrowing a fiber/copper tester from the local college and will head to Bradley on Monday so that I can run various tests.
Friday - Headed to Bradley to downgrade the software on the new codec. Still had quality issues, so examined and changed settings on various media converters, switches, etc. The quality improved on the receiving end (that is, what we could see) but was still awful on the transmitting end (what the other sites saw). We've got some kind of issues going on there.
While testing, I ended up contacting ASMSA about a class that was not coming up and after some more troubleshooting, they had to delete the system from their MCU. After that, the MCU found the Bradley equipment again and everything (other than quality) seemed to be working.
I went around and checked various connection settings n the other three systems. I also helped troubleshoot a desktop problem which turned out to be a loose cat5 end at the desktop.
I am borrowing a fiber/copper tester from the local college and will head to Bradley on Monday so that I can run various tests.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, Wednesday, and breaking through
Tuesday, Trish and I traveled to Fouke to meet with the SKC installer. When we arrived, he had already assembled most of the equipment. While he was finishing up, I started dismantling the old system - pulling wires out of the ceiling, etc. We employed some of the football players to pull the large screen TV off the table. The maintenance guy helped with some of the ceiling cabling work.
The system needed a ceiling mic adapter and the one that was sent to the school was a 'do-it-yourself' soldering job. Not happening. In the meantime, we ran into the same problem that we had in Bradley: no go on connectivity. I had DIS on the phone and they tried all kinds of troubleshooting. In the end, we hooked up the old system to get classes going again. Frustration levels were getting higher.
Back at the office, I worked on our firewall issues, and had to delete and recreated our Sharepoint Central Administration site. I'm not sure what happened there. As best I can figure, there was a SQL glitch preventing the site from actually displaying. A few command line entries and a server reboot later, it was back and happy!
Wednesday, met SKC and DIS at Genoa. We spent much of the morning troubleshooting connectivity issues when trying to add the new system into the mix. Turned out to be a bad switch. In the meantime, this new system had the same problems already seen: no connectivity. Luckily, Max with DIS brought a system with him - same model but running older software. He connected his system and it fired right up! So, Chris (SKC) downloaded a downgrade and pushed it out to the video unit. I am SEVERELY condensing time here, but once the new (er, old) software was dropped into place, the system fired up. Well, they also had to UNPAIR the touch panel from the codec. In any case, we had both systems up and running by about 1:30pm or so. Chris and I headed to Fouke. The software was installed and that system worked great! Also, Chris had received the correct cabling for the microphone and we connected it during class. The teacher said everything sounded fine and we left at the end of the day, knowing what we needed to do to the Bradley system. I will take care of that on Friday.
The system needed a ceiling mic adapter and the one that was sent to the school was a 'do-it-yourself' soldering job. Not happening. In the meantime, we ran into the same problem that we had in Bradley: no go on connectivity. I had DIS on the phone and they tried all kinds of troubleshooting. In the end, we hooked up the old system to get classes going again. Frustration levels were getting higher.
Back at the office, I worked on our firewall issues, and had to delete and recreated our Sharepoint Central Administration site. I'm not sure what happened there. As best I can figure, there was a SQL glitch preventing the site from actually displaying. A few command line entries and a server reboot later, it was back and happy!
Wednesday, met SKC and DIS at Genoa. We spent much of the morning troubleshooting connectivity issues when trying to add the new system into the mix. Turned out to be a bad switch. In the meantime, this new system had the same problems already seen: no connectivity. Luckily, Max with DIS brought a system with him - same model but running older software. He connected his system and it fired right up! So, Chris (SKC) downloaded a downgrade and pushed it out to the video unit. I am SEVERELY condensing time here, but once the new (er, old) software was dropped into place, the system fired up. Well, they also had to UNPAIR the touch panel from the codec. In any case, we had both systems up and running by about 1:30pm or so. Chris and I headed to Fouke. The software was installed and that system worked great! Also, Chris had received the correct cabling for the microphone and we connected it during class. The teacher said everything sounded fine and we left at the end of the day, knowing what we needed to do to the Bradley system. I will take care of that on Friday.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Mondays are... Mondays
Spent Monday morning working on various issues at the co-op. I created an installation checklist for the CIV systems that some of my area schools are receiving through an RUS grant. Turns out, much of the information I had was incorrect. Lovely.
I had to then battle a firewall issue in which Blackboard chatting is being blocked at the co-op. I have yet to figure out just which rule is preventing the chat. Even disabling most of the rules has not cured the problem. Frankly, after the bottlenecks and other issues, I think it's getting close to time to ditch ISA 2006 for good. The main issue is that it routes the 6 or so web sites we run through one IP. I prefer it that way so that we keep our servers out of the public hacking eye (er, mostly). In any case, it is time to research something else.
I spent the afternoon at Bradley, helping them work on a few issues before their new video system arrived. Once it did, we unboxed it. We waited for the installer to get there, but it was now 2:30 or so, and we decided to put the thing together ourselves. I had to leave just after three to pick up my daughter, so I left the folks working on it. The installer came just before three. I got a call later that night that the system would not register nor connect to the state video network. I will be going back to Bradley within the next day or so to get it working.
I ran back to the co-op for a quick stop after Bradley on my way to pick up my daughter from church. I had a switch at the office I wanted to take home to troubleshoot. Turns out, the switch just needs to be "decommissioned." It's loud (fans), has bad ports (at least one set of four) and it keeps rebooting itself. At least now I know!
I had to then battle a firewall issue in which Blackboard chatting is being blocked at the co-op. I have yet to figure out just which rule is preventing the chat. Even disabling most of the rules has not cured the problem. Frankly, after the bottlenecks and other issues, I think it's getting close to time to ditch ISA 2006 for good. The main issue is that it routes the 6 or so web sites we run through one IP. I prefer it that way so that we keep our servers out of the public hacking eye (er, mostly). In any case, it is time to research something else.
I spent the afternoon at Bradley, helping them work on a few issues before their new video system arrived. Once it did, we unboxed it. We waited for the installer to get there, but it was now 2:30 or so, and we decided to put the thing together ourselves. I had to leave just after three to pick up my daughter, so I left the folks working on it. The installer came just before three. I got a call later that night that the system would not register nor connect to the state video network. I will be going back to Bradley within the next day or so to get it working.
I ran back to the co-op for a quick stop after Bradley on my way to pick up my daughter from church. I had a switch at the office I wanted to take home to troubleshoot. Turns out, the switch just needs to be "decommissioned." It's loud (fans), has bad ports (at least one set of four) and it keeps rebooting itself. At least now I know!
Monday, September 19, 2011
9/14-9/16 2011
Wednesday - Met with the Board of Directors regarding CIPA, Internet Safety, RUS Grant CIV system installs, monthly tech meetings, Website requirements, Disaster recovery training.
After the meeting, I went to Blevins to help with various network related issues. We also tried to hunt down a rogue wireless device, but by then school was out. I believe the device is a 'hockey puck' portable wifi spot that someone brought and plugged in to the network. We will try again another day.
Thursday - Met with Jeff Madlock of Hope Schools regarding disaster recovery testing, policy, Apple Lion server and other tech-related issues.
Also met with representatives from Howard Technology regarding a touch panel control unit for our conference rooms. They will put together a quote and get back to me. In the meantime, I will call in 2 or 3 other vendors for quotes as well.
Had some issues in the computer lab, so I spent the bulk of the afternoon ironing those out. For the most part, Parallels would not print. Installed correct network printer drivers on the machines and took other measures to help keep the lab up and running. Mostly, I disabled some software updates and changed a few settings to help make the virtual environment more stable and efficient (memory settings, full-screen options, etc)
Friday - Spent the day in Fouke. We installed Server 2008 on two servers, created a secondary Domain Controller, and did some troubleshooting in a lab. We had to make a few changes to the DHCP settings, and they will need to make some more as well, as the pool has filled up. It is amazing how many devices they have! Talk about tech in schools! We also took care of some other network issues (DNS, subnets, etc)
After the meeting, I went to Blevins to help with various network related issues. We also tried to hunt down a rogue wireless device, but by then school was out. I believe the device is a 'hockey puck' portable wifi spot that someone brought and plugged in to the network. We will try again another day.
Thursday - Met with Jeff Madlock of Hope Schools regarding disaster recovery testing, policy, Apple Lion server and other tech-related issues.
Also met with representatives from Howard Technology regarding a touch panel control unit for our conference rooms. They will put together a quote and get back to me. In the meantime, I will call in 2 or 3 other vendors for quotes as well.
Had some issues in the computer lab, so I spent the bulk of the afternoon ironing those out. For the most part, Parallels would not print. Installed correct network printer drivers on the machines and took other measures to help keep the lab up and running. Mostly, I disabled some software updates and changed a few settings to help make the virtual environment more stable and efficient (memory settings, full-screen options, etc)
Friday - Spent the day in Fouke. We installed Server 2008 on two servers, created a secondary Domain Controller, and did some troubleshooting in a lab. We had to make a few changes to the DHCP settings, and they will need to make some more as well, as the pool has filled up. It is amazing how many devices they have! Talk about tech in schools! We also took care of some other network issues (DNS, subnets, etc)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday and Tuesday, September 12-13, 2011
Monday, I spent the day troubleshooting via phone and email while getting caught up on some office things that needed to get done. I also ran a few local network tests in preparation for DIS to come on Tuesday. I also reminded the Supts and school techs about the September 15 deadline for the website requirements signature page to be signed and posted online. This triggered a discussion about the signature form and pertinent Commissioner's Memos. After some digging, I came up with a form for schools to use based on sample forms provided by Hope and Nevada. I am thankful to those schools for helping me out - helping us ALL out!
Tuesday, worked with DIS on troubleshooting our local network problems. The issues boiled down to folks streaming radio stations and video. We also had an inordinate amount of software updates running all at the same time, clogging the network. We also checked for loopbacks, and spent quite a bit of time on trying to get 1-to-1 NAT working on ISA 2006. We think we have a solution, but I will have to test it after hours.
Tuesday afternoon, I spent time with Prescott Schools, working on various Sharepoint issues - one regarding group permissions and site settings, and the other regarding the use of SSL for intranet access.
Tuesday, worked with DIS on troubleshooting our local network problems. The issues boiled down to folks streaming radio stations and video. We also had an inordinate amount of software updates running all at the same time, clogging the network. We also checked for loopbacks, and spent quite a bit of time on trying to get 1-to-1 NAT working on ISA 2006. We think we have a solution, but I will have to test it after hours.
Tuesday afternoon, I spent time with Prescott Schools, working on various Sharepoint issues - one regarding group permissions and site settings, and the other regarding the use of SSL for intranet access.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Catching up... again.
Monday, August 29 - OUT
Tuesday, August 30 - Attended the "Get Motivated" seminar at Verizon Arena
Wednesday, August 31 - OUT
Thursday, September 1 - Blevins schools, worked on several server issues, workstation issues, networking issues all day
Friday, September 2 -
Monday - September 5 - Office Closed for Labor Day
Tuesday, September 6 - State tech meeting at Arch Ford Co-op
Wednesday, September 7 - Office and then to Hope Schools to help with conversion from Exchange to Google Docs, discuss iPad implementation, then office in afternoon to troubleshoot local network issues.
Thursday, September 8 - Help set up for a workshop at co-op. At 1030am, vendor shows up to install/connect new 6 Meg IMA! After brief delay, 6 Meg IMA up and running after lunch. Reconfigured local network and performed other troubleshooting tasks at co-op.
Friday, September 9 - OUT, though came in to office for a bit in order to restore connectivity to APSCN printer following the reconfiguration from the previous day.
Tuesday, August 30 - Attended the "Get Motivated" seminar at Verizon Arena
Wednesday, August 31 - OUT
Thursday, September 1 - Blevins schools, worked on several server issues, workstation issues, networking issues all day
Friday, September 2 -
Monday - September 5 - Office Closed for Labor Day
Tuesday, September 6 - State tech meeting at Arch Ford Co-op
Wednesday, September 7 - Office and then to Hope Schools to help with conversion from Exchange to Google Docs, discuss iPad implementation, then office in afternoon to troubleshoot local network issues.
Thursday, September 8 - Help set up for a workshop at co-op. At 1030am, vendor shows up to install/connect new 6 Meg IMA! After brief delay, 6 Meg IMA up and running after lunch. Reconfigured local network and performed other troubleshooting tasks at co-op.
Friday, September 9 - OUT, though came in to office for a bit in order to restore connectivity to APSCN printer following the reconfiguration from the previous day.
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