Windows Server Environment where I work.

[The Cobra]

SO for the last 7 years, I have been running the IT Department for a private school, PreK and church. I have reduced the server count from 6 physical machines to one Hyper-V machine with 5 VMs: 3 DCs, 1 windows storage server and 1 library linux machine that is no longer in production. We also have a Lenovo M90 series running as a domain controller. We run Google services in our env since we are a GAFE school along with a bunch of Chromebooks. We allow teachers to choose from 3 mid-grade machines (2 Lenovo's/one MacBook Pro) which come preinstalled with our image. Printers are the only thing we map anymore. We only used a map drive that has become a Wild West of movies and music for teacher sharing, lol. We have Google password sync turned on for gmail. We have windows Office 365 sync installed for those products and syncs thru Active Directory. Everything is backed up by Keep-IT in the cloud. Our local backup is a hybrid of a 2TB SSD drive that I carry home and a cloud sync that we use.

I really don't want any Microsoft servers here anymore, to be honest. Gone are my days of having to worry about local shares and having to edit KiXtart scripts from the NT document manual. Since I have a 3/4 class load for most grade levels and server as the registrar for the school, my IT needs to be sleek and smooth running.

Does AZURE offer any type of area where I can suck up one of my DC's, point our internet to that and boom...no more MS servers?

 

[Eulogy]

You didn't really say why you have MS servers / DCs at this point... so a rather blunt suggestion would be to look into Azure Entra ID.

 

[The Cobra]

You didn't really say why you have MS servers / DCs at this point... so a rather blunt suggestion would be to look into Azure Entra ID.

"Printers are the only thing we map anymore. We only used a map drive that has become a Wild West of movies and music for teacher sharing, lol. We have Google password sync turned on for gmail. We have windows Office 365 sync installed for those products and syncs thru Active Directory. Everything is backed up by Keep-IT in the cloud."

Right there, middle of the first paragraph.

I want to move to Azure in the cloud but can I do all my local group policies with it as I can locally? I am not caught up in the cloud knowledge wise...

Thank you.

 

[Eulogy]

Ok, if ALL you do is map printers, get rid of Windows DCs. You don't need them.

But then your follow up mentions group policies, so, your OP didn't really say what you're using things for. Getting snarky is a great way to not get help.

 

[That_Sound_Guy]

I have reduced the server count from 6 physical machines to one Hyper-V machine with 5 VMs: 3 DCs, 1 windows storage server and 1 library linux machine that is no longer in production. We also have a Lenovo M90 series running as a domain controller.

Uh, what? You reduced your physical machines to VM's with just one physical server? If that server dies? If Storage server dies? 4 domain controllers just for printers?

We only used a map drive that has become a Wild West of movies and music for teacher sharing, lol.

Illegally sharing pirated or copied media in a school. Spectacular.

As for the printers get an android app like printer share or just get a print physical server/hub and assign a share. In a Chromebook environment mostly likely using google docs and such, there is no need for anything MS.

 

[The Cobra]

Uh, what? You reduced your physical machines to VM's with just one physical server? If that server dies? If Storage server dies? 4 domain controllers just for printers?

Illegally sharing pirated or copied media in a school. Spectacular.

As for the printers get an android app like printer share or just get a print physical server/hub and assign a share. In a Chromebook environment mostly likely using google docs and such, there is no need for anything MS.

It is not "Illegally shared" media. As a school, we have a ton of DVD's that we have purchased over the years and have been converted to MP4's. Same with all of our CD's. We use these to watch because we don't sign up for all the streaming services as they don't offer some of the stuff we use.

I would invite you to watch movies for kindergarten and listen to music for 1st grade...

 

[That_Sound_Guy]

It is not "Illegally shared" media. As a school, we have a ton of DVD's that we have purchased over the years and have been converted to MP4's. Same with all of our CD's. We use these to watch because we don't sign up for all the streaming services as they don't offer some of the stuff we use.

I would invite you to watch movies for kindergarten and listen to music for 1st grade...

I also support a school and you are walking a very grey line. Even creating the MP4 copies is illegal due to anti copy rules.

Don't get me wrong, I get it. Convenience and instant access is king, just protect yourself.

 

[The Cobra]

I also support a school and you are walking a very grey line. Even creating the MP4 copies is illegal due to anti copy rules.
Don't get me wrong, I get it. Convenience and instant access is king, just protect yourself.

Yeah, we don't have any outside access to our network except for my VPN, which I never use anymore. All of our main stuff is in the cloud. And that media share is never backed up. There are only 4 teachers that even use it anymore.