www.spyderworks.co.uk

Spyderworks - complete school network solutions

Spyderworks.co.uk have been providing school ICT/IT solutions that actually work since 2001. Based on their comprehensive and competitively priced 'EdNet' technology, a number of spin-off products continue to be developed and installed in schools around the UK.

"We recognized that schools need simple, inexpensive systems that require the minimum of on-site technical support, and which run reliably on mixed hardware." David Jackson, co-founder and marketing director of Spyderworks explains. "And we realized that there was nothing out there which met these requirements. So, working closely with local schools, we developed our own solution..."

The EdNet software is installed on a server attached to the school network -- computer and networking hardware can be provided if required. Once installed, the server acts as an 'information hub', providing safe, filtered and firewalled Internet access. For extra speed, web content is cached on the Ednet server. The server provides web-based email -- both internal and optionally external. The EdNet server also stores teachers' and pupils' files, including intranet web pages, with secure access controls. On-site and remote backup is also available. Pupils' user accounts can be created automatically via the SIMS database (Schools Information Management System), used by many LEAs. Educational CDROMs can be stored on the Ednet server and made available with licence controls, to users' desktops.

"When we began to upgrade our school network, we didn't know where to start." Paul Huskin, deputy head of Greystones Junior, Sheffield recounts, "Our budget was tiny and we had no on-site technical expertise. EdNet has given us a reliable system that lets us re-use our legacy hardware alongside our newer PCs."

The EdNet server is maintained by Spyderworks over the Internet. This includes fault detection and system updates. At school, a teacher/administrator needs to perform a minimum of maintenance, via a user-friendly, web-based interface.

In the classroom, computers -- which might be a mixture of old and new PCs running Windows or Linux, or the the newer Macs -- are managed by EdNet. If a computer crashes or gets infected by virus, it can be restored to pristine condition in a matter of minutes. Printers are also managed by EdNet, including quotas, queue control and accounting.

Via a password-protected web page, the teacher can see thumbnail images of a classroom's screens, zoom in, and take control of a pupil's desktop. This is ideal for demonstrations using a projector screen. The teacher can also send pop-up text messages to pupils' screens, and control Internet access during lessons.

Tony Jacklin, deputy head at Angram Bank Primary, Sheffield is another satisfied user. "We started with ten old Viglen PCs, no network and a shoestring budget. Over time, EdNet has enabled us to network 50 PCs throughout the school. Teachers can access the SIMS server for the school registers, and pupils can see their files from any classroom. It's reassuring to know that crashed PCs can be easily restored without an expensive call-out."

"By listening to our clients, we believe that EdNet now contains all the features that teachers need to help them teach, without the maintenance headaches" says Dr Ramen Sen, co-founder and technical director at Spyderworks, "and by using a Linux-based server solution, our schools spend much less on client software licences."

EdNet version 2.0 was launched in 2003 in competition with Microsoft-based systems. To maximize efficiency, EdNet and other Spyderworks products will be supplied nationally and internationally via specialist resellers. Different components of EdNet (CDROM server, system recovery and hardware detection modules) have been developed and successfully deployed in schools, and a business version 'BizNet', aimed at SMEs is to be released spring 2004.

For more information about Spyderworks and EdNet, or other products and services, visit www.spyderworks.co.uk, or call +44/0 114 221 4072.

www.spyderworks.co.uk