SchoolLan

computer networking as education support for primary schools

SchoolLan brings an Internet infrastructure to Dutch primary schools. Children and teachers can get access to e-mail and websites with minimal effort. The systems are pre-configured to fit best in the school environment.

The SchoolLan system is based on an off the shelf PC Linux server, serving its Windows clients, targeted for small-scale educational environments (50-75 computers per school, or several cooperating schools situated close together).

SchoolLan has been designed and configured to allow remote technical management within a (technically naive) school environment. SchoolLan also provides system/network administration applications which enable the school staff to install (Window) clients, maintain student accounts and working environments and use third party educational software from the server.

SchoolLan is a blueprint for a technical configuration/network model: its Open Source (GPL) design and configuration can easily be duplicated by primary schools elsewhere.

Implementation

The technical core of SchoolLan is a network environment with a central Linux server, serving a heterogenous collection of Windows based clients. The clients can be (re)installed very easily with a preconfigured Windows OS (originally via BpBatch software and scripts, but nowadays via a PXE Linux bootstrapping mechanism).

Networking services consist of (a.o.) Samba for Microsoft Networking, Sendmail for e-mail services, DHCP for dynamic IP address allocation, IPtables for hiding and protecting the intranet, BIND V9 for internal name service, Apache and webfiltering tools for internal and external web access, GipLan for student account management and educational software package management, etc.

There is a template system for incorporating Windows based educational packages into the system. An extensive backup and archiving system is provided to ease the unattended backups.

Stichting SchoolLan

The foundation "Stichting SchoolLan" aims at stimulating the development and deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in an Open Source fashion for (primary) schools.

The foundation is setting up the "SchoolLan Platform" as a group of cooperating companies and users to continue the support and development of the SchoolLan software. The operation is on a non-profit basis.