NEW BLOG ADDRESS

This blog has been moved to:
www.khanya.co.za/blogs/tech

Plan your downtime

Starting from 2 April 2008 our electricity supplier has introduced scheduled (pre-emptive) load shedding. ESKOM hereby guarantees the non-supply of electricity during certain periods according to a predetermined scheduled. Although load shedding in general is not conducive to the productivity of schools, this type of shedding is more acceptable since it provides us with a guaranteed schedule that can be used to properly plan activities in our computer laboratories. One good thing one can say about ESKOM is that this time they are managing to deliver according to their schedule.

It is thus important for schools to consult the schedule obtainable from the ESKOM website - http://www.eskom.co.za/. Activities should carefully be planned around it and important time lost in the computer laboratory should be made up in one or other way. All schools should make sure that all computers equipment including the server and UPS are switched off before such a scheduled power outage to protect the equipment against damage caused by suddenly being disconnected from the energy supply.

Preventing hardware problems caused by power outages is in the hands of the responsible people at the schools. Do not be caught with your pants down (or is it server up).

Who must install ?

Software installation is most often a time consuming task. This does not necessarily imply that one needs to be an IT specialist to be able to successfully install the educational software packages used on the Khanya networks. In fact, the installation of most of these packages is a fairly easy task where the installer only needs to have a basic background of the Khanya setup. Detailed installation notes are normally provided with the software and can be followed by anyone who has been exposed to the Khanya networks for some time.

Taking the above into account it is a concern that most LAN administrators at the Khanya schools are not given the opportunity to make use of the knowledge gained in the LAN administrator training courses to take charge of their schools laboratories and do the installations themselves. Does this mean that we are failing in our task to make Khanya schools technical independent? Does it mean that the LAN administrator training courses fail to effectively empower LAN administrators to do the first line support expected from them? Or is it perhaps an indication that our LAN administrators are just not interested or do not have enough time at hand to do these installations?

Update before it is too late

With over 500 viruses being discovered on a monthly basis, it is important that virus prevention strategies be high on the agenda of all LAN administrators. Every school should have an AUP (acceptable user policy) which should include such a virus prevention strategy. All users of the laboratories should be aware of these policies and the importance of adhering to it can not be emphasized enough.

All Khanya networks are configured with antivirus software which protects the network against attacks of known viruses. The full benefit of such antivirus software can only be felt when the virus definitions are updated on a regular basis. Updates are generally done via the internet and should be done on a weekly basis as part of the duties of the LAN administrator at the school.

Too often it is reported that networks are either slow or down due to virus attacks, which has a detrimental effect on the curriculum delivery process at the school. Facilitators should take charge in ensuring that the Khanya networks are not open to virus attacks by making sure the virus definitions are always up to date.

No school should compromise the security of their system by not regularily doing these crucial antivirus updates. In cases where schools do not have access to the internet (which should generally not be the case), antivirus updates can be done by copying the latest virus definitions from http://www.ceie.org.za/ftp/pub/antivirus/datupdate/symantec/ and installing it on the server of the school by making use of a flash drive. These virus definitions can also be obtained from the Khanya project support office and are updated on a weekly basis (every Friday).

Is the non-availability of a reliable internet connection at some schools enough reason not to update their virus definitions on a regular basis?

Saving energy

We are constantly reminded by the media of the vital role we can play in the drive to use energy more efficiently by switching off non-essential equipment not in use. At schools we often see that the workstations in the computer laboratories are kept on during the night causing it to go into “sleep mode” until the next morning when it is interacted with for the first time. The question to ask is whether switching off the workstations at the end of a day will have any significant effect on the school's energy consumption.

It is estimated that an average computer uses about 186 Watt of energy per hour while it is in use (110 Watt for the CPU and 76 Watt for a CRT monitor) and about 145 Watt of energy while not in use (sleep mode)

Scenario: School X uses their Khanya laboratory on average 6 hours per day. The workstations are kept on at the end of the school day, but are only turned off during weekends and holidays. The workstations will go into sleep mode when not used and will wake up in the mornings when it is first interacted with.

We can calculate the energy usage of school X on a monthly basis as follows:

Daily usage while in use (6 hours) = 27 900 Watt (25 x 186 Watt x 6)
Daily usage while not in use (18 hours) = 65 250 Watt (25 x 145 Watt x 18)
Total weekly energy usage for school X = 465 750 Watt
Monthly energy usage for school X = 1 863 000 Watt = 1863 kW

Total monthly cost @ R0.2945 per kW = R 548.65

From the scenario above it is clear that more energy and money is spent on the equipment while it is not is use. School X will be able to save 1 305 000 Watt of energy (which equates to R 384.32) a month by simply turning off the workstations in their computer laboratory at the end of the school day.

Is the above enough reason to switch off the workstations at the end of the day?

Do we have the power?

In the previous posting the question was raised on how we can deal with the current electricity crisis we are facing with. With more than 820 schools currently involved in the Khanya project, while more sites are rolled out on a continual basis, the need to look at ways of preserving energy needs to be high on the agenda.

The Khanya project is known as a project that always explore innovative ways of dealing with issues that have the potential of negatively affecting our goal of becoming the leader in using ICT as a curriculum delivery tool.

In view of the above, Khanya is currently rolling out a pilot project to test the viability of using solar energy to power a full computer laboratory. It is planned to have the pilot project up and running during the second term and the results will be available soon afterwards.

Do you think that such an alternative way (considering the cost implications) of producing enough energy will be a viable option to fight the energy crisis and to ensure business continuity independent of the ESKOM energy grid?

Going Green

While the need for energy efficiency might be top of mind for all South Africans, it is an issue which is not confined to our borders. Internationally, individuals, households and companies are rethinking their approach to energy usage as the threat of power shortages and the global cost of excessive energy consumption is counted.

At an ICT symposium I had the privilege to attend it was evident that as a result of this global energy crisis we are faced with, the major manufacturers of IT equipment are turning their attention to the production of technology which is more environmentally friendly. This concept of “Green Technology” has led to the release of various environmental-friendly computer components which are designed to decrease energy costs through reduced power consumption, achieved without sacrificing any operational performance or functionality.

An example of such a green component is the “Green Ethernet” switch released by D-Link, one of the major networking equipment manufacturers. The switch is designed in such a way that it can detect inactivity on the network and automatically switch off ports that are not in use. It also detects network cable length and adjusts power usage to save energy. This way, a port connected to a 20 meter cable only uses as much power as it needs, instead of using full power, which is only needed for 100 meter cables - reducing power and saving energy. The company claims that by using the “Green Ethernet” technology you can save up to 85.6 % power.

The trend is also to move towards flat screen (LCD Monitors) which use much less energy than CRT monitors. Taking the above energy saving initiatives in mind, is it not time that we in Khanya also look at more effective ways of minimizing the energy usage in our computer laboratories? What methods can we put in place to contribute to the global trend of using more energy efficient systems?