Twitter
Facebook
You Tube
Blog
Forum
undefined
Trustpilot
Contact us Wishlist Support Blog
Account
Login or sign up
Personal details Payment details My delivery addresses My orders Return an item Check return status
Basket
Basket Updating...

Gaming PCs

Reign Gaming PCs

All Reign Gaming PCs NVIDIA RTX Gaming PCs AMD Ryzen Gaming PCs Intel Gaming PCs PCs by Game VR Ready Gaming PCs Next Day Gaming PCs

Reign Scout Gaming PCs

1080p Gaming

Reign Sentry Gaming PCs

1440p & 4K Gaming

Reign Vanguard Gaming PCs

4K Gaming & Content Creation

Desktop PCs

Custom PCs

Configure an Intel PC Configure an AMD PC View all

Home PCs

Intel Home PCs AMD Home PCs View all

Office PCs

Intel Office PCs Mini Office PCs View all
Browse our range of next day PCs, in-stock and ready for delivery

Workstations

Workstations by Use

All Workstations Media & Entertainment Architectural, Engineering & Construction Manufacturing & Product Design Deep Learning Forensics Multi-Monitor Rackmount

Filter by Technology

Intel Core Processors Intel Xeon Processors AMD Ryzen Processors AMD EPYC Processors NVIDIA GeForce RTX Graphics NVIDIA Quadro Graphics AMD Radeon Pro Graphics

Custom Workstations

All Custom Workstations Custom Intel Core Workstation Custom Intel Core X Workstation Custom Intel Xeon E Workstation Custom Intel Xeon W Workstation Custom Intel Xeon Scalable Workstation Custom Dual Intel Xeon Scalable Workstation Custom AMD Ryzen Workstation Custom AMD Ryzen Threadripper Workstation Custom AMD EPYC Workstation

Servers

Tower Servers

All Tower Servers Intel Xeon E-series Intel Xeon Scalable AMD EPYC

Rackmount Servers

All Rackmount Servers Intel Atom Intel Xeon E-series Intel Xeon Scalable

Storage Servers

All Storage Servers All Flash Array JBODs

GPU Servers

All GPU Servers NVIDIA DGX AMD EPYC

Laptops

Category

Everyday use Mobile Workstations Pro

Use

Home Business Gaming

Laptop Extras

Adapters Accessories Batteries

More

All Laptops Laptop Repairs Carepack Information Clearance Laptops Repairs

Monitors

Type

All Monitors NVIDIA G-SYNC AMD FreeSync 4K UHD 32:9 Ultrawide 21:9 Ultrawide

Refresh Rate

240Hz 165Hz 144Hz

Size

28"+ 27" 24" 21.5" to 22" 19.5" to 20" 18" to 19"

Monitor Accessories

All Monitor Accessories Monitor Mounts Monitor Stands Privacy Filters Screen Cleaning Audio & Video Cables
Check out our Monitor offers here

Peripherals

Keyboards

All Keyboards Gaming Keyboards Mechanical Keyboards Wired Keyboards Wireless Keyboards Keyboard Accessories Keyboard & Mouse Bundles

Mice

All Mice Gaming Mice Wired Mice Wireless Mice Mouse Mats Keyboard & Mouse Bundles

Other Input Devices

All Input Devices Gamepads Joysticks & Flight Control Steering Wheels Graphics Tablets

Audio & Visual

Headsets Gaming Headsets PC Speakers Microphones Webcams Projectors & Accessories

Gaming Chairs & Desks

Gaming Chairs Gaming Desks

Printing

Printer Cartridges

PDU & Surge Protection

View All

Components

Graphics Cards

Top Graphics Card Deals NVIDIA Graphics Cards AMD Graphics Cards NVIDIA RTX Series NVIDIA GTX Series Professional Graphics

Processors

All Processors Intel Processors AMD Processors Thermal Paste

Memory

All Memory DDR4 Memory DDR3 Memory Laptop Memory

Motherboards

Top Motherboard Deals All Motherboards Intel Motherboards AMD Motherboards

Power Supplies

Top PSU Deals All PSUs Modular PSUs Non-Modular PSUs PSU Cables

Cases

Top Case Deals All Cases Full Tower Cases Mid Tower Cases Mini ITX Cases Mini Tower Cases Rackmount Cases Case Accessories Case Cables

PC Cooling

Top PC Cooling Deals All-in-one Watercoolers Open-Loop Watercooling CPU Coolers Case Fans

Part built Bundles

Intel Barebone Bundles Intel Motherboard Bundles AMD Barebone Bundles AMD Motherboard Bundles

Other Components

Sound Cards Optical Drives Clearance Components

Storage & Networking

SSD / Solid State Drives

All SSDs M.2 NVMe SSDs M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSDs

Hard Drives

All Hard Drives All 3.5" Desktop Hard Drives All 2.5" Desktop Hard Drives SATA Cables

Other Storage

External SSDs External Hard Drives Flash Memory USB Memory Sticks Clearance Storage

Wireless Networking

All Wireless Wireless Routers Wireless Extenders Wi-Fi Adapter Cards

Networking

All Networking Powerlines Network Switches KVM Switches Network Interface Cards Network Cables Clearance Networking

Network Attached Storage

All NAS Solutions Desktop NAS Solutions Rackmount NAS Solutions

Business & Education

Training & Defence

Training & Defence Solutions Rack Integration GPU Solutions Virtualised Environments How we work

AI & Deep Learning

AI & Deep Learning Solutions Technology Platforms Research & Development Proof of concept Proof of concept

Education

Education Solutions Desktops for Education Laptops for Education Google for Education Internet & Safeguarding
Future Proof your
school
Enhanced Fulfillment
Services
Blog Your account Contact & Support
COVID19 and Showroom Collection Information
×

case study

Archbishop Ilsley Catholic School.

Overview

Sector

Education

What we did

Networking

Archbishop Ilsley Catholic School in Acocks Green, Birmingham, has over 1,200 pupils, yet manages to remain true to its central ethos of looking after every one of them as individuals. Headteacher Glen Alexander says, “We have a saying here; ‘Everybody counts or nobody counts’. We consider each person as special and unique and we recognise and respond to their gifts, their needs and their aspirations. We care for all individuals, celebrating achievement and providing support.”

Challenge

The school’s ICT Operations Manager John Swain echoes this philosophy; “The quality of a school’s ICT and the strength of its network is not only essential to good teaching and good lessons, but also essential to allowing individual students to succeed and to reach their full potential.”

John was very keen to increase the efficiency and capacity of the school’s servers and started discussing Virtualisation options with his Novatech Account Manager Tom Gregory to plan for a smooth transition when they approached the end of their operational life.

“I get on very well with John and he mentioned it was something they were planning on doing, so I recommended that they should look at a VMware virtualisation setup utilising centralised SAN Storage and a NAS back-up solution.” That led to deeper, more technical discussions with Novatech’s server team and an unusual plan was hatched. With most clients the installation of new servers, the migration of their systems and data, and the shutdown of the old server array happens in one delicate, and sometimes fraught, project over a holiday. John favoured a more measured approach and together with Jamie Wilson, Novatech’s Technical Director, decided to build three new virtualised servers, install them, test them and get to know them, before even thinking about migrating from the system that was functioning in situ.

Over a period of 3-4 weeks John tested the new VMWare solution and experimented with different operational scenarios, all with the support of Novatech’s teams, but with the safety net of not being ‘live’ on the school’s network. Once John was happy, and again with Novatech’s help, he slowly began the careful migration of individual operations and data from his old servers to the new virtualised array. The full migration took just over 2 months but this methodical approach enabled John to manage a complex transition without any serious headaches and without the school experiencing any downtime or loss of productivity. Archbishop Ilsley now runs a lean, energy-efficient network with three virtualised servers with an integrated SAN and a NAS in a separate location for automated back-up.

“We didn’t need to rush this project. We did have the complication of migrating from one MIS to another during this period but we were fortunate enough that we had a working, albeit ageing, system which meant we could plan properly and get everything right the first time. In fact we did most of the migrating mid-term with no downtime for our staff & students. Tom, along with the technical guys, answered all of our questions and I had confidence in them to do a quality job from the beginning.”

The project also helped to facilitate another important part of Archbishop Ilsley’s role within the local education community, assisting their feeder primary running on different systems. This is a relatively new idea, but schools are increasingly pooling their knowledge in an ever-changing ICT world, with the most proficient now offering assistance to others through on-site help desks to resolve problems. It is an arena in to which the school has stepped, buoyed in turn by the support it gets from Novatech.

"“Working with Novatech is a truly collaborative experience. They have listened to what my team and I wanted to achieve for the school and then have gone to great lengths to find the right solution. Like most ICT professionals, I find that choosing the hardware is often the easy part, but finding a supplier who’ll support it – and us – throughout the whole procurement and installation process is much harder. Because I also help to look after a wider network of local primary schools the support element becomes even more important, and that’s the real strength of our relationship. I’ve enjoyed working with Novatech. They are a highly skilled and friendly group and I’m hoping we can work on more projects with them.”"

John Swain ICT Operations Manager

Related case studies

Get the latest from Novatech

Signup to our mailing list to get the latest info on deals and events before everyone else. Don't worry, we won't fill your inbox with spam.

Contact Novatech
  • Technical Support
  • Sales
  • Customer Services
  • Our Showroom
  • Get in touch (webmaster)
  • Forum
  • Blog
  • Latest News
About Novatech
  • Careers at Novatech
  • Who we are & What we do
  • Why Buy From Us
  • Trust Pilot Reviews
  • Privacy & Security
  • Novatech & WEEE Regulations
  • Quality & Environmental Policy
  • Modern Slavery Statement
  • COVID-19 Risk Assessment Policy
Your Account
  • Login / Register
  • Track an Order
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy & Security
Services
  • Repairs / Service Centre
  • Affiliates
  • Trading Schemes
  • Payment Methods
  • Finance Options

© Copyright 2000-2021 Novatech Ltd - Computer Supplies | Company Reg No: 2605046 | WSV 8.2.1-JMM - ren

Head Office - Novatech Ltd, Harbour House, Hamilton Road, Cosham, Portsmouth, PO6 4PU

db

We use cookies to provide a better customer experience on our site. By continuing to shop with us, you consent to our use of cookies. Our cookie policy is available here