LANdesk, Router, general questions

Hi all,
I have been recently called as a Stake assistant clerk over IT. I have spent the last couple months characterizing the FHC here in Anchorage AK, and have some questions.

How do I get and configure LANdesk on new computer builds so I can utilize it's deployment
portal.

I heard there is a volume license for WXP, how can I get more info on this? Is the same available for server OS's?

How do I determine DHCP configuration/range on router. Is there a range of IP's available for static assignment? Can Church HQ's peek in the router and report back to me, or do I need to access the router locally?

Folks here in the past attempted to install an AD 2000 server. But doesn't work. It's static IP gets reassigned by the DHCP to other computers.

What is the Church's vision for the future re domains? Is there any guideance in preperation/anticipation of such?

Are there email address I can use to contact people on these resources?

Thanks,
LeEric

LeEricMarvin wrote:How do I determine DHCP configuration/range on router. Is there a range of IP's available for static assignment? Can Church HQ's peek in the router and report back to me, or do I need to access the router locally?

If your FHC has a church issued ASA 5505 firewall/router, then check THIS post for information on how the DHCP is set up and which addresses are skipped. You won't be able to access the firewall locally, but the Global Service Center certainly can if you need their assistance.

I will defer to others for the rest of your questions.

LeEricMarvin wrote:How do I get and configure LANdesk on new computer builds so I can utilize its deployment portal.

I heard there is a volume license for WXP, how can I get more info on this? Is the same available for server OS's?

Contact Family History support at 866-406-1830. They can deliver you a DVD with the disk image for a Family History Center computer, which includes WinXP, as well as LANDesk (including the Software Deployment Portal). They can explain the licensing issues as well.

LeEricMarvin wrote:How do I determine DHCP configuration/range on router. Is there a range of IP's available for static assignment? Can Church HQ's peek in the router and report back to me, or do I need to access the router locally?

It depends on whether it is the older Cisco PIX firewall which was typically installed in FHCs several years ago, or the newer Cisco ASA 5505. But in either case, the firewall is managed by the Global Service Center, not locally.

LeEricMarvin wrote:How do I get and configure LANdesk on new computer builds so I can utilize it's deployment portal.

You can install the LANDesk Support Agent from the site http://remote.familysearch.org/. Click the link in the lower right of the screen that says Family History Centers Only Tools. Then click the appropriate language version you would like to install.

Note: Do not attempt to install this software on any computers other than those within an official FHC. After install you will be required to set up the security protocols requiring you to provide information related to the FHC, such as FHC unit number.

LeEricMarvin wrote: I heard there is a volume license for WXP, how can I get more info on this? Is the same available for server OS's?

For FHCs the volume license is only for Church provided computers. Donated computers must come with the operating system and license. In the past the Church allowed the volume license to be used to upgrade donated systems that at least had Windows 2000. This is no longer the case. As Alan stated you should contact Family History support for more current information and the image DVD. The Church does not currently provide server operating systems for FHCs.

jdlessley wrote:FHC unit number

Note that a FHC unit number should not be confused with a Stake or Ward unit number. And this only applies to an officially sanctioned FHC, and not to some computer room that the local leaders call a FHC.

I also want to stress that FHCs are managed by a different IT department and plays by different rules then the Admin computers. What we've talked about here applies to FHCs and should not be tried on Admin computers. Only the routers are common to the two systems.

While you are certainly welcome to post questions here, you should also be aware of the FamilySearch forums as it appears that it is or will become the official support site for FHCs.

Mikerowaved,

Thanks, the link was helpful. We do have the router/firewall setup you mentioned. I have noted that my subnet mask ends with .192 I suspect I have a problem.
I have a single wireless access point in the FHC. And there is a 2000 Domain server. Could either of these be trying to hand out DHCP as well with wrong sub mask? I'll examine further this Tuesday and report my findings.

So I have only 5 ip's available for fixed assignement. Enough for now anyway.



Alan, Thanks for the phone number and knowledge about a image disk, sounds great!



JD, Thanks for link to LANdesk app. Also for more detail on volume license stuff.



Russell, thanks for FHC link. I'll make future inquires there.

LeEricMarvin wrote:I have a single wireless access point in the FHC. And there is a 2000 Domain server. Could either of these be trying to hand out DHCP as well with wrong sub mask?

That is entirely possible and would be a good idea to check.

Now, there's more then one way to set up a AP. It's ok to set it up so that it provides a DHCP to it's clients, but do not allow it to DHCP back to the main network. That is, if the network connects to the "WAN" jack on the AP, you should be fine. But if it's connected any other way, then the DHCP in the AP has to be disabled.

LeEricMarvin wrote:I have noted that my subnet mask ends with .192 I suspect I have a problem.

Why is that? I think you'll find the Firewall is handing out a segment of the church's internal IPs. (You are VPN into the internal network, not just a small independent node.) As such, it will have an unusual IP range and not the more common ones you see.