THE Journal — Integration/Networking
Ruckus Launches Smart WiFi, Gives Districts Access To Next-Gen Wireless Networking
Ruckus Wireless announced the launch of its Smart WiFi for the education market Monday. The company's ZoneFlex Smart WLAN combines 802.11n technology, adaptive beam steering, and SmartMesh networking.
(7/2/2008)
National Private Broadband Network Focuses on School Applications
New Edge Networks and Edgenics announced this week that they're partnering to launch a nationwide private broadband network dedicated to delivering content and applications to schools, including "video-centric IP services, interactive distance learning and other Web 2.0 applications."
(6/26/2008)
ClassLink, HP Offer Access to Learning Tools Through Thin Client, Virtualization Solutions
Information access software provider ClassLink has announced a partnership with HP focusing on the utilization of both thin-client and virtualization solutions for education.
(6/25/2008)
Plainfield District in IL To Deploy Pervasive Wireless Network
Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 in Illinois has selected Aruba Network's wireless LAN technology and identity-based security for use across the district's 28 schools. The district has 29,000 students and 3,500 faculty and staff.
(6/10/2008)
Franklin ISD Implements Audio over IP in 2 Schools
Franklin Independent School District (ISD) in Franklin, TX has begun using Barix AG Exstreamer 100 Audio over IP decoding devices for school-wide voice, music, and bell-tone distribution in two schools. The solution provides administrators and teachers with a control system that interfaces with audio and video devices in the schools.
(6/9/2008)
Suffolk County District Moves to Virtualized Infrastructure
Center Moriches School District in New York has revamped its infrastructure and adopted a new technology delivery model, opting to virtualize its servers and deploy a Citrix Application Delivery solution. The overhaul was handled by technology services provider DynTek.
(6/6/2008)
Washington District Ramps Up High-Speed Access
In an effort to bolster its technology infrastructure for teaching and learning, Highline Public Schools in Burien, WA is rolling out high-speed services in 35 locations. The new network services, which include Qwest GeoMax and Qwest Metro Optical Ethernet, are being funded through E-Rate.
(5/28/2008)
Pueblo SD Rolls Out WiFi for 1:1 Program
Pueblo School District No. 70 in Colorado has deployed a WiFi network across three of its schools to support the district's 1:1 computing initiative and to support various mobile devices used in the district. The deployment was handled by WiFi developer Xirrus.
(5/22/2008)
Unified Communications System in Tulsa Powers Virtual Classroom
Tulsa Technology Center, a school district with four campuses that offers career and technology education classes in Oklahoma, will be deploying a Nortel and Microsoft unified communications platform. The district will be using Xeta Technologies, a national provider of converged voice and data communications solutions. The platform is expected to enhance student-teacher communication while reducing school expenses.
(5/21/2008)
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)
