New exciting products and upgrades are now in the pipeline. Some of the products have already been launched and some will be launched next year (2009). These new products and upgrades have new features that are good news both for students, teachers and Network managers.

Skanix Illusion may be the answer to your needs. Who does not want a product that can make the job of administrating the network much easier, without making more restrictions for the students? Skanix Illusion can protect school laptops and reduce overall cost of ownership – without creating limitations for the students.

Skanix Illusion and Network Suite protect and reduce TCO for several hundred thousand computers in both Norwegian schools and schools in other European countries. Most new computers in schools today are laptops and they are used both inside and outside the network. Because of this, it is more important than ever to install the protective software locally on each computer. Network software can not protect the individual laptop when this laptop is outside the network.

When setup and installation can’t be contaminated or tampered with by outsiders, the computer will run smoothly for as long as the electronics work. Skanix Illusion reset the computer back to its original state on every reboot. This can be called proactive protection.  

What sets Skanix Illusion apart from other proactive protection software is the possibility to adjust and allow. We can allow catalogues, files, applications and registry keys to change permanently. These changes are carried out through the protection software; it does not need to be turned off. When you get to know the system, it is easy to let something be “allowed to change” and “not allowed to change”. With this functionality, this protection is very flexible. When Skanix Illusion Wiz is installed, most of the setup and configuration is done automatically. This saves time and makes the software easier to use. Both antivirus software and windows security update will be automatically updated without having to deactivate the software.

Norwegian schools buy laptops for the students instead of using the traditional computer rooms. High schools give each of the students a personal laptop that they use throughout the years they go to the school. Skanix Illusion saves the IT-managers a lot of time and work, maintaining and updating these laptops. Students can make mistakes and learn from these without giving the IT-managers a lot of extra work. It saves both time and money when the system is reset every time the computer is restarted. It is still possible to save all documents, pictures and sound files that the user want to save permanently. Alternatively image store and policies can be used, but this will take lots of resources as the school through the years gets lots of different kind of laptops. The simple use of resetting the computer on every reboot will be the best and simplest way both with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista.

Effective network administration is possible also with Skanix Illusion activated
To administrate a network with laptops is quite another task than to run a network with stationary computers. Some choose to organize public offices and school network into one large network, but soon realise that this is not the best solution. Public offices usually have stationary terminals connected to a terminal server that doesn’t move around. In the school network more independent applications are used and the workstations are moved around, without having access to the network everywhere. With more personal use of the computers it is a difficult task to use policies with restrictions. Because of the different needs in public offices and in the schools there is also a need to administrate the networks differently.

Skanix Illusion® and Network Suite are specifically made for a situation with independent individual computers like the environment often used in schools. Through the last eight years these products have been developed, tested, used and improved.

One of the new functionalities in Network Suite is that updates and maintenance is done automatically. When the computer is in the process of logging on to a Windows 2003 Server network, it will check if there are new packages that need to be downloaded and installed. If this is the case, Illusion is deactivated and the packages are installed. Illusion activates itself again when this process is completed. All of this happens before the user is logged on to the network. Log in to the network will take a bit longer than normal, but maintenance will be fully automated with the use of very little resources.  Windows security updates and updates of the antivirus software it also something that needs to be maintained. These processes will run by itself through Illusion and when the computer is in use. This functionality is one of the new features in the newest version of Network Suite. With this functionality the maintenance can be just as simple and cost effective with Illusion still activated and protecting the computers.

Skanix Network Suite can also be used to control the activities on the student computers during tests and exams.
Several schools in Norway have allowed the use of laptops during exams and tests. Many of the same computers are in private use and it is difficult for the school to know/control their configuration. It is also difficult to monitor if a user get help through chat, e-mail or other kind of connections like GSM, WLAN and so on. Blocking this type of activity automatically is almost impossible. Monitoring the computer manually is the best way to solve this.

Skanix® Network Suite is the right software to use for this purpose. If all student computers have an activated client set up against the central crossroad server in Network Suite, they will register there as soon as they are started in the classroom. Computer name or Mac address is used for identification. The Client software can be activated at all times, this will not disturb any other activity on the computer. Classroom Manager makes it easy to set up a classroom or a group having an exam. It is easy to use drag and drop. This can also be set up in advance. Teachers can monitor groups from their own computer. The students’ computer screens appear as lots of small screens on the teacher’s computer, much like mosaic. These are of course frequently updated. If the teacher discovers any inconsistencies on any of the screens, he or she can enlarge the screen to inspect further. It is possible to take a snapshot of the screen to use as proof. If a client is deactivated or goes into hibernation mode, the teacher’s computer will discover this right away and a manual control can be done.

It is better to monitor the students this way than to trust the logs. Locally stored logs can be manipulated and central logs may just register activities that go through the server. Looking through these kinds of logs for all the users is an exercise not many of us want to do. It is a very time consuming task.

Classroom Manager can be a useful tool in a regular classroom situation. Teachers can see if the students do what they are supposed to do and it may be easier to see who may need individual help. This kind of monitoring is legal in Norway, as long as the students know about it. Control of IP and URL is also possible. Teachers can make a list of websites that the students are allowed to access in each class/subject. With the use of this option, the students will not be allowed to access any other website than the ones that are listed. It is possible to set up this in a way that automatically gives the student full access when class is over. This is just in case the teacher forgets. Classroom Manager can help the students to focus by turning on/off the control of computer screens and keyboard. By doing this the students attention will be focused on the subject and not distracted by something else.

This is not a strict control of the activities in the classroom, but the teacher will feel more in control. Skanix® Network Suite with Classroom Manager is an easy way to ensure a good learning environment for both students and teachers.