computerlab, networking, policies

Adil Ghori

Honorable
Oct 7, 2013
3
0
10,510
hey everyone, hope you people alright there.

I got a computer lab and it is on 16 computer, had done networking and switches and everything of basic, what else I can do with the but dont have a server and i dont need one, but i want to apply some policies to users and also some best networking tips to make the lab better day by day, want to share few folders for lab purposes as well, also have to block or restrict some social networking sites.
basically, teacher come in lab and make their examination papers and other necessary stuff which i need under my control being incharge there.

Kindly, guide me through.
I got windows xp and windows 7 on computer.

thanks in advance
 
Without a server it will be a more tedious and limited work with group policies, basically you'd have to make 3 policies, a general one for computer accounts, a general one for say "student" account, both of which you would have to export and then import in every machine, and finally a "teacher" account which should be in the pc the teacher would use.

As for what to configure exactly on each policy it's something you'll have to figure out by yourself digging into all the options the group policy editor has, since every1 has it's own needs depending their environments.

As for networking, starting from having a proper management of cables which I guess you've already done (cables protected not exposed to accidental/intended damage, properly labeled cables, organized rack with switch router etc.)

If you're using DHCP since you only have 16 machines you may want to use static IPs in order to reduce broadcasts in your network that are useless in a environment where there are no regular increase/decrease of pcs.

Finally, if your router supports it, you could block from it access to websites based on IP, else you could edit the hosts file and detour unwanted websites to a fake IP. (the hosts file would need to be copied to every pc ofc).