[Freeschool] Fwd: Re: [school-discuss] Canadian Schools using Linux servers

[Michael Shigorin]

----- Forwarded message from "Stewart M. Ives" <ivessm на softecusa.com> -----

Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 11:41:06 -0500
From: "Stewart M. Ives" <ivessm на softecusa.com>
To: schoolforge-discuss на schoolforge.net
Subject: Re: [school-discuss] Canadian Schools using Linux servers
Cc: remerick на sainttheresaschool.org;, ivessm на softecusa.com;

Not a Canadian School but rather in the middle of Pennsylvania, USA, we use a 
Linux server to provide ALL the network functions for the complete school.  

The school is St. Theresa School, New Cumberland, PA, K-8, about 500+ 
students.

We have used Linux since we networked the school about 6 years ago.  The main 
decision was cost and it has served us well.

Here is a brief description of what we do:

Red Hat Linux Server - Intel P-III 1GHz, 512MB RAM, 2 Software (Linux) RAID 
arrays, 1 SCSI 36GB, 1 IDE 80GB.

About 100 PC's throughout the school - All Win98Se, all networked.

Services provided by the Linux server:

- Web services for the schools web site:  www.SaintTheresaSchool.org  
Including both public and private calender services for the internal staff 
and the external public/parents.  Web pages maintained by a volunteer "Dad" 
of one of the students.  He does a great job.  All the teachers have their 
own web pages that they maintain themselves.  Some update daily with 
assignment info to keep the parents informed, some only update monthly or 
whenever.  It all depends on the individual teacher.

- EMail services for all teachers + admin staff + a few others.  EMail 
services provided via web based email using OpenWebMail (Open Source).  The 
email system is great because the teachers and staff use the same interface 
in the school as well as from their home because it is all web based and 
served off of the same school server whether they are inside the school or 
outside the school.  The web based email system, OpenWebmail, also provides a 
web based WebDisk access to each users private home directory for upload or 
download of their files via the browser.  This makes it easy for a teacher to 
work on a project in the school and then pickup on it from home without 
having to copy to a floppy.  Also OpenWebmail provides an internal calendar 
that is maintained by the admin staff to keep the teachers updated on events 
and schedules in the school.

- Virus scanning of all inbound and outbound email using MailScanner (Open 
Source) and various open source virus scanners.

- File and print services for the students, teachers, and admin staff.  
Teachers and admin all have private folders, the students folders are fully 
public. 

- On-line library card catalog accessable by all networked computers 
throughout the school.  This is not Open Source, rather Follet Software, but 
there are some very great open source library packages, one from "down 
under".  The Follet system uses an SQL database called Faircom that runs 
under Linux.

- Virus update server to all the PC's in the school to download their 
signature updates from.  The server side is updated every 4 hours via a cron 
script and the PC's get their updates from the server.

- The linux server also maintains the database for the web filtering software 
that the Cisco router checks for authorization for every browser session from 
inside the school.  This database is updated nightly by the system.  The 
package is called WebSense and costs the school about 2+ thousand $$$ for the 
subscription per year.  Expensive, yes.  Alternatives, we are open to 
suggestions....

That is about it in a nutshell.

Check out the site, I think you will be impressed.

  www.SaintTheresaSchool.org

And oh, by the way, the server and systems are maintained by other volunteer 
dads and moms and the one computer teacher.


stew


---------- Original Message -----------
From: glogan на telusplanet.net
To: schoolforge-discuss на schoolforge.net
Sent: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:54:10 -0800
Subject: [school-discuss] Canadian Schools using Linux servers

> I have been aslked by our technology committee to find Canadian 
> Schools using Liunux servers.  I would really appreciate if list 
> members would eamil me dirctly giving a list of networ applications 
> they are serving from linux boxes.
> 
> Thanks
------- End of Original Message -------

----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
 ---- WBR, Michael Shigorin <mike на altlinux.ru>
  ------ Linux.Kiev http://www.linux.kiev.ua/