As school districts across the country consider plans for how to best use mobile computing in the classroom, Zeeland Public Schools of Zeeland, Michigan recently became one of the first to put such a plan into action.

Zeeland distributed iPads to 1800 district high school students as parts of its iLearn 1:1 computing program.

The idea behind Zeeland’s iPad program was simple:

Provide learners with a portable computing device so they can create, collaborate, communicate, and critically think.
–from Zeeland’s iLearn Website

But long before the first iPads were handed to students, Zeeland administrators realized the load from so many wireless network devices would be best handled by the creation of a new network infrastructure.

To build this new network, they turned to Optimal Solutions.

The challenges and requirements of the project included:

• The need to handle 30+ computing devices per classroom using the network
• Network authentication that ensured prompt access to the right resources
• Centralized management of nearly 300 wireless access points
• Locating and blocking unauthorized access points using wireless sensors
• Supporting the district’s Acceptable Use Policy and the Children’s Internet Protection Act
• Providing power-over-ethernet for lower costs and energy savings

After reviewing the project needs, Optimal Solutions submitted a project plan and budget that were eventually selected by Zeeland Public School administrators. The project to design and install the new wireless network included several important steps:

• Step 1
• Ordering all necessary wireless access points and wireless controllers
• Configuring, testing, and documenting all hardware “in-house” before deployment
• Step 2
• Meeting with Zeeland administrators responsible for the iPad initiative to finalize project needs
• Configuring the core network switch based on Zeeland’s specifications
• Step 3
• Conducting an on-site survey to determine the quantity and placement of access points
• Documenting the final wireless deployment plan
• Step 4
• Installing the core network switch in Zeeland
• Configuring network infrastructure for all necessary servers and services
• Step 5
• Physical installation of all wireless access points
• Configuration and testing of access points and controllers
• Step 6
• Providing Zeeland with training on overall operation of the system
• Answering any questions and making final adjustments as necessary
• Step 7
• Providing hard-copy and electronic documentation for the entire network infrastructure
• Step 8
• Meeting with Zeeland Public School administrators for a final walk-through and project closeout

The switchover from Zeeland’s old network to its new, best-in-class network took place over a 5-day span during Christmas Break in 2010. And the results were outstanding. The network met all requirements for the project, allowing students to use their iPads easily throughout the schools without losing signal or stressing the bounds of the network’s capacity.

If you would like to ready more about Zeeland’s iPad initiative, various news outlets have covered it, including the USA Today.

And if you’d like to talk to Optimal Solutions about your next network project, please use the form below. We would love to answer any questions you have and help ensure your network is a powerful, reliable asset for your business.

We will be hosting a customer event for Novell users on Wednesday, October 26th at 2:00 PM. The event is open to the public and will take place at our offices in Wyoming, MI (map and directions).

As a Novell Gold Partner with decades of senior engineering expertise in this technology, Optimal Solutions has been very busy with a full load of OES, GW & ZCM upgrades, virtualization, new HP servers, HP storage, backup and so on – so we too have been anxiously awaiting new announcements.

Two of our senior systems engineers with many Novell miles (Lee Steinbach and Mary Mathews) just returned from BrainShare with a lot of things to communicate.  Two high level Novell employees (Dean Lythgoe, Director of Collaboration Products, and Karyn Victory, Sr. Sales Specialist for the Central Region), will be on site for this meeting and ready to answer questions related to Novell’s products and direction.

Topics will include the following:

• Attachmate acquisition and new direction toward the common good of its customers (what you can expect to see)
• GroupWise 2012
• FILR – (New Product) – eliminates drive mapping, easy end user sharing, etc – enhancements to the user experience
• ZENWorks (ZCM) – discussions on Novell’s new focus on the product, commitment to stability, newer strategies and upcoming functionality/performance (add ons, improved key manipulation {AJAX}, etc {common customer requests})
• Q & A

Having Novell executives on hand will give us all an opportunity to hear from them while voicing our ideas and concerns.

If you or your technology staff would like to attend, email or call Rebecca at (616)281-6040/(888)832-3400. 

Keeping with OSI tradition, we will provide the usual snacks, etc.

Comstock Schools, Parchment Schools and Gull Lake Community Schools in Kalamazoo are leaning on the expertise of OSI’s network integration group to upgrade, optimize and streamline their network and server infrastructure. Work includes implementing a Storage Area Network (SAN) with virtual servers and deploying a centralized workstation management solution via ZenWorks, including imaging, application deployment and security policies.

Optimal Solutions’ engineering group is wrapping up a deployment of more than 250 new Axis IP surveillance cameras. These H.264 cameras are being centrally managed by 5 new HP servers running the OnSSI NetDVMS platform.