Roaming profiles vs non roaming

[max8699]

Not sure where this discussion belongs but as it's a 2003 server i'll plonk it here
I am about to take over a school site and rebuild the network, the servers are on lease which runs out very soon and they want new servers in place. At the moment they are all on roaming profiles all students, teachers and admin staff.
I am not a fan of roaming profiles especially for admin staff and teachers that log onto the same pc all day everyday and would prefer just to have their folders redirected to the server instead. The students i can understand as they move around from class to class from the lab to laptops in there own class.
I have one teacher (he was the old network admin but was needed back in the classroom to teach)on site that is demanding the the profiles stay as they are in the new system. So what do others think? To Roam or not to Roam?
Roaming profiles or just folder redirection.

Regards
Max
Never argue with an idiot, they drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

 

[Roadki11]

I dont like roaming profiles, personal preference i guess. Bigger question is who is in charge of the network, you or him? That should answer your question.

RoadKi11

"This apparent fear reaction is typical, rather than try to solve technical problems technically, policy solutions are often chosen." - Fred Cohen

 

[gavm99]

I'd stay strong and get rid of them.

Roaming profiles just seem to cause more problems and require much higher maintenance than none roaming.

Folder redirection is the way to go. Things like Outlook 2007 configure themselves now a days so this should be an issue.

Gavin Moorhouse

http://www.lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/lucidblog

 

[2ffat]

One question I have is how often do the teachers roam. I've been in schools (pre computer days, though) where one room have have two or three different teachers during the day.


My wife is an assistance librarian at our local high school. Sometimes the teachers go to the library to do research. Would they need a roaming profile there, too?

Why does the old admin recommend roaming? Did he go through this same process and come up with that answer or is he just a fan of roaming? (You ARE in charge but don't disregard the experiences of your predecessors without good reason.)

IMHO, if you answer questions like these then you can determine what you need.


James P. Cottingham
^{I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!}

 

[max8699]

Thanks for the replies.
I was after cold facts for and or against (hopefully against) to give to the principal of the school to win him over to my way. Another company came in and set up the network and they recommended the profiles be used and the old admin i guess is a fan now and is used to it. You know the "but we've always done it that way" guy.
But I've looked around the site and they don't really need that, but he has the ear of the principal so was after some facts to get the principal on side.




Regards
Max
Never argue with an idiot, they drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

 

[1DMF]

Folder redirtection is not the way to go.

I currently have roaming profile issues, but when we tried folder redirection, the whole system crashed, killed our server and every user moaned there system stopped working.

DO NOT TOUCH FOLDER REDIRECTION!!!!

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!

 

[gavm99]

1DMF - I use folder redirection on many Small Business Server sites, all without problems??

Gavin Moorhouse

http://www.lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk

Check out my blog

http://www.thelucidview.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/lucidblog

 

[1DMF]

Lucky you, never again for me!

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!

 

[max8699]

Well the project is done and folder redirection is in place and all is well and right with the world. The only issue we have is the teachers who were used to having lots of unused icons on there desktop now have a clean desktop and can now save anything they want to there laptops. But that is just a matter of teaching the teachers how to use there pc's now. They are not used to such freedom of use on there systems. They also understand that if they do something that breaks there pc then they will be without a pc until I can around to fixing it

Regards
Max
Never argue with an idiot, they drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

 

[1DMF]

I'm glad you have it working satisfacory, I had a mare when I tried it.

All users moaning the system was soo slow, even slower than when using Roaming Profiles.. and trying to turn off Folder Redirection, what a nightmare.

In the end I had to manually go to each machine and force the mydocs folder back to the usual place.

We have gone back to roaming profiles now, rather slow, but seem to work better than folder redirection did for us.

though their desktop shouldn't have emptied just because you use folder redirection, all it is supose to do is store the data on the server instead of local machine, the desktop should remain as was.

If it didn't , you may find it hasn't worked properly.

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!

 

[max8699]

No it was set that way. The staff had a PILE of useless shortcuts on there desktops that they did not need or use.
But the rebuild resulted in a clean desktop which confused a lot of them, but they are all happy now. new pc's and a new network.

Regards
Max
Never argue with an idiot, they drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

 

[1DMF]

I wish we could get new PC's and a new giga-lan! alas, still on crappy p4's and 10/100 lan - booo!

"In complete darkness we are all the same, only our knowledge and wisdom separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!