Tuesday 4th September

Today we decided we would have a crack at preventing kids from playing games against each other over the network. We did some research and discovered whats called MAC ACLs or Media Access Control (address) Access Control Lists. Using the MAC ACLs we can restrict traffic from just the desktops to the VLAN gateway and thus preventing communication between the desktops themselves. Now this can only be applied to the desktop VLAN as other devices such as print servers and Wireless Access points need to communicate with many devices besides the VLAN gateway. Unfortunately we are yet to be able to prevent wireless users from playing games against each other but the biggest offenders come from desktop users so we can consider this successful for the time being.

Because of this type of restriction we decided to implement it on a trial basis and only implement it on the local switches so we can monitor it effects on day to day usage of the PCs (if any). If we are convinced that it will not provide any issues to the desktop users we will implement MAC ACLs across the entire switching infrastructure at Dromana SC.

Monday 3rd September

Today there wasn’t any issues outside the norm so I was providing ad-hoc support for laptop users throughout the majority of the day.

Friday 31st August

This morning the Library staff called up our department requesting some assistance with plugging the VCE only computers back into the network. The night before they had a presentation and had to move the computers to make room for all the people in attendance. They reported all the computers were reporting the domain CURRIC was unavailable and they could not log into the PCs. When I went upto the Library the first thing I check was for the green link light on each of the PCs to make sure it wasn’t a cable issue. I checked all 6 and all 6 had a solid green link light which was unexpected. Next up I logged into each of the PCs using a account that did not have cached credentials and all 6 computers successfully. I asked the Library staff if they plugged in the ethernet cable after they powered on the PCs which their reply was yes. This was the problem as the ethernet adapter takes a while to sync up if plugged in after the PC starts up.

Thursday 30th August

Today the library staff listed a few issues in Techroom (our Sharepoint Portal for communincation between Staff and the IT team). A few were the simple replacing of peripherals like keyboards and mouses, others were issues with the desktops themselves.

After school finished we headed up to the Library to see if we can fix everything up. We first of tackled the keyboards and mice issues and replaced the missing/broken ones. Next up we had a look at the overheating desktop and it didn’t give us any trouble so it must of been a isolated issue (we will keep tabs on it in the warmer months). The sticky power button was not sticking so I informed the library staff and told them I would give it a try in the morning to see if there was any difference. Next up we had a look at the desktop that was having network issues. The ethernet adapter on the desktop was not getting a link light so first off we used the cable tester to make sure the ethernet cable was not faulty, and it wasn’t. Next up we needed to check if it was patched correctly at the other end. Unfortunately there was no numbers on the wallplug so we used a cable tester and checked every point in the patch panel hoping to get something but we failed to get a link. We conceeded defeat and informed the coordinator that we shall need a cabler in to fix up the issue.

Wednesday 29th August

Today a staff member in Numeracy reported that all the computers would not login and gave a “Could not connect to xxxx domain”. We headed upto the site and immediately noticed the trunk port on the Linksys 8 Port switch’s link light was flashing on and off. So we checked where the cable went into the wall and noticed it was just barely plugged in and was causing the issue. We plugged it back in and were on our way.

Tuesday 28th August

Today was fairly quiet and only involved servicing of lappies; both staff and student laptops. No irregularities, just common problems and requests.

Monday 27th August

Today we had a few laptops to finish from Friday afternoon so our first task was to get them done and dusted. All of them were reimage requests from students. We also had a staff laptop that had a corrupt Windows installation. I booted of a Windows XP SP2 CD and attempted to repair the installations but it did not recognise the current Operating System which sometimes can happen when the HDD gets corrupted. My next plan of attack was to go into recovery mode and do a chkdsk, fixboot and fixmbr and see if that helps but unfortunately it looks like this one is beyond repair. I informed the staff member that a reimage is our only option and that I would recovery all their documents, email and marking reports/comments for them. From here on out its the typical procedure of performing a ghost with the appropriate image, setting up the laptop on the domain, make sure the particular student/staff is in the administrative group on the laptop and finally restore their documents.