OK.  So it has been quite a while since I updated my blog so I had better write something worthwhile!  I have been involved in quite a few interesting projects recently and one of these was becoming a reseller for a very clever server appliance that provides my business with access to our  lights out office using two factor authentication through a secure, fast (hardware encryption) and reliable connection anywhere in the world.

This actually an update of my previous blog post about remote anywhere. The Linux powered server provides all the server services typical needed by small to medium sized businesses and schools as well as coming pre-configured with software such as SugarCRM and Plone or Joomla but one of its key features is to provide  high performance encrypted remote access for email and data.  

So at one end we have a unique Linux server and the other a SPOK (Secure Portable Office Key).  The SPOK is a high performance USB drive which initiates a connection to the Linux server from either a windows or Linux desktop (it can also work on Mac).  The program that runs on the SPOK can also be configured to do port mapping so once the connection has been made services  / protocols like http, imap or smtp can be run on the desktop and tunnel through the secure ssh connection.  Making use of portable apps means I can read my emails or access files from any pc anywhere in the world without the data leaving my office server!

We have found many uses for the server appliance but one of its strong points is to avoid issues with business or schools data leaving site.  By utilising the right technology with Invictus we can ensure that your data and your customers data will not end up as another statistic on pages of the ICO (Information Comissioners Office) highlighting breeches of the Data Protection ACT.

Simple efficiency measures in schools' use of technology are often all that's needed to save energy, resources and the environment.

It is very very frustrating working in schools at times.  If we are talking about a green ICT agenda or dare I even say a green or environmental policy for a school then we would take  a massive leap forward by just making the school or Head Teacher responsible for their financial budgets.  To often these budgets are largely determined by what you spend and little focus or local government transparency is given to what the school should actually be spending!  A little more emphasis on budgets in-line with the private sectors way of thinking would be a big step forward.

Of course technology is great but the flip side of this is the misuse of it.  Only the other night I was undertaking some remote support on a clients laptop and I notice the support console indicating that a school pc used by the management team had been left on.  I duly logged in and shut it down.  I DREAD TO THINK how many pc's are left on like this in schools - in some case whole ICT suites probably.

This is an interesting article from the Guardian by Julie Nightingale, in which:

The SusteIT Project also produced a tool to help estimate the energy and carbon footprint of an institution's ICT estate.

http://www.susteit.org.uk/files/category.php?catID=4

From the SusteIT Project, a tool to help you decide on what kind of client to use:

This is an Excel tool designed to help Education Institutions and businesses estimate the costs and carbon emissions of thick (PCs) versus thin clients over a given evaluation period. The tool is designed to be easy to use and contains a number of default assumptions which can be easily modified. Based on the input assumptions, the results are displayed in a worksheet within the tool.

This is an updated version of the tool (June 2009) which introduces a factor for air conditioning in computer suites in the thick client energy costs worksheet. The tool can be used freely, provided that the source is attributed, and that the whole spreadsheet, or its accompanying text, is not incorporated into other materials.

http://www.susteit.org.uk/files/category.php?catID=5