GHS Tech Help

During the Thanksgiving holiday week, Grossmont High School will perform on update and upgrade on many of its computers and server infrastructure.  This will be done in an effort to bring Grossmont staff the next generation of technology being developed.  It will also allow us to integrate with the District FITT tablet PCs.  There will be some noticeable changes to the way you use some of the computers around campus.  To make this transition as seamless as possible we will develop instructions that will address the more common foreseeable issues.  These instructions will be available on this web site within the “How To” section, they will emailed to staff members as well as placed in staff mail boxes.  As with most upgrades, unforeseeable issues may arise, and Grossmont HS site support staff will be available the week we return from Thanksgiving and will be dedicated to resolving these issues.  Thank You in advance for our patients!

Last night, Grossmont upgraded to the newest release of the 2X ThinClient Server Software.  This release has resolved all of the issues we experienced in mid-April and through some of May. The original upgrade that took place over Spring Break failed as soon as students and staff members returned and placed the server under load.  After several weeks of submitting bug reports and server logs to 2X, the software manufacturer finally realized they had released a bug riddled product and began working with Grossmont extensively to resolve these issues.  After beta testing for several weeks they released the upgrade to me.  I began my own testing in my virtualized test environment and found that, in fact the newest release was far more stable.  I began a phased roll-out starting with the Open Lab (550) and Library. Aster several days without issue, I decided to complete the roll-out campus wide. Today is the first day on the new server, and so far I have received positive feedback. If you experience any issue please submit a HEAT ticket @ http://heat.guhsd.net/Site.

Thank You for your patience while we strive to bring Grossmont the most cutting edge of technologies!

A recent upgrade of servers has caused considerable instability of certain network resources.  That combined with a power outage in our main server room has caused various and significant anomalies which just adds to the complexity of troubleshooting these issues.  I have been working for the past week with the software manufacturers to find the cause of and solution to these errors.  As of today, we are unable to solve the issues associated with the latest version of software.  Therefore to hopefully reduce computer downtime, I will be rolling back to an older more proven version.  This will take place over the weekend, primarily Saturday 4/25, and may cause intermittent down time. So if you plan on doing work on campus this weekend please plan accordingly.  Thank You,

To prepare for new server infrastructure over the winter break, I will be cutting over several key network services during the next few days.  This may cause intermittent network interruption and or delays.  The cut-over will take place after school ends each day to reduce potential impact on students and or finals. I appreciate your coperation and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank You,  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I’ve started to post video tutorials on some of the most common questions I receive.  In the past I’ve had some people say that the online documentation doesn’t help them enough, or is tough to follow.  So I decided to make video tutorials that step you through the process.  Check them out on the “How-To” page.  Please leave comments, I’d love to hear what you think and improve them over time! Thank you!

RESOLVED – 10/21/08

Statement from the district:

Due to technical problems the main District website has become sluggish and unresponsive. I&TS is aware of the issue and is working to resolve it. During this time the District website may be unavailable or very sluggish to respond.

Thank you in advance for your patience.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TEACHER WEB PORTAL

If needed, the Teacher Web Portal can be directly accessed via:

https://its.guhsd.net:4459/pls/htmldb/f?p=321

The Open Lab AND the COW are both in room 550.  Every department will be receiving one key to the room.  You may use the key to gain access to the Lab/COW to sign up or when you bring your class. The sign up folder for the lab is located immediately to your right as you enter the lab.  The COW sign up folder is located on the COW.  Each department should keep the key to the lab in a secure location that is accessible by staff members only.  MAKE SURE YOUR STUDENTS KNOW THEIR eBACKPACK INFO FIRST! You can check eRoster for your students account info.

All the thin client computers around campus have been updated with a great new search feature. It allows the user to find any document or file instantly just by typing a word in the file’s name or in any part within the document. This can quickly and easily allow you to find those files you know you saved, but can’t seem to find.  The search bar is located in the lower right of your screen for easy access.  Click in the box, and just start typing.  Instantly all documents that contain that search string will appear! Click the file to open.

If you click the “Search Desktop” button, a program window will appear.  It will list all the matching files on the left, and actually give you a quick file preview on the right. You can quickly browse all files without opening them one by one.  Give it a try, It’s probably the easiest way to open files, no more digging through folders and folders to find that file again!

Grossmont High School will be undergoing routine server maintenance over the weekend.  Please expect some disruption of network services including, but not limited to email on Saturday and Sunday. In addition, please shutdown your computer workstation before you leave on Friday.

I hope everyone had a great Summer break!  The Tech team worked hard over summer to get ready for the start of the new year!  We hope to start this year off on the right foot by providing everyone a full day of training on the upcoming technologies we hope you find useful!  Grossmont’s newest remodeled building is the Library building or ‘500′ building.  It is looking amazing with great features and will house all six of Grossmont’s classroom computer labs.  The “Open Lab” location has changed a bit.  Instead of 530 it is now in 550 – upstairs facing the lower quad.  It should be available for sign up by the 2nd week of school. I’m working all weekend to get the other 5 labs operational before the start of school. Its a busy, but exciting time for Grossmont!