STAGEnet Frequent Asked Questions
General Information
- Does my school need to designate a contact person for all State Network issues?
- Yes, one person from your district should be appointed as the contact for all state network issues. They will be notified of pertinent information and they will be responsible for reporting problems to the EduTech Help Desk. The most logical person is the school technology coordinator. If the contact person changes, please notify the EduTech Help Desk so that information is directed to the right person.
- What is the role of EduTech?
- EduTech serves as a liaison between schools and the Information Technology Department. If legislative funding is approved, EduTech provides distributed networking and information technology support to eight defined regions in ND.
- What is the role of the Information Technology Department?
- The Information Technology Department is responsible for network infrastructure.
- What if I need additional bandwidth at my site?
- You are able to purchase additional bandwidth if needed. Contact John Gieser at EduTech to discuss the details and your request will be forwarded to the Information Technology Department.
- What is the price of an additional ATM T1 connected to the State router?
- The cost for one or more additional ATM T1s to an existing K-12 state router is available at this location. A one time installation fee of approximately $200 (after E-Rate) applies.
E-Rate
- How is E-Rate being handled?
- The state of North Dakota applied for all e-rate wide area network discounts for K-12 (e.g., ATM-T1, Internet service, state WAN equipment). Local school districts will apply for discounts on services unique to the local school district (e.g., telephone service, long distance service, internal connections). Contact Jeff Schoenack at EduTech for details.
Internet Protocol (IP) Numbers
- Does my school need to use new IP numbers?
- Yes. New IP numbers are dynamically assigned using DHCP when your school connects to the state network. In addition, the EduTech Help Desk will assist you with static IP address requirements for local school district servers and services that require such static IP addresses.
A form has been put online to request static DHCP addresses. The form is located by following the STAGEnet link on the EduTech page and then clicking on the Request Static IP Numbers link. Read the directions for filling out the form carefully, fill it out and click on Submit. The form will be e-mailed to someone at EduTech who will look it over for errors and completeness and then forward the request on to ITD. The URL for this form is http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/cgi-bin/static_ips/request.cgi. - What is NAT?
- Network Address Translation – an IP addressing scheme commonly used by large WANs like our new state network. Local IP addresses are 10.x.x.x numbers “inside” our network.
- What about DNS services?
- DNS services is managed by the North Dakota Information Technology Department (ITD). ITD and the EduTech network analyst will provide DNS services to K-12 schools.
Outages
- How will planned and unplanned outages be handled?
- Information on planned outages will be sent to building contacts by e-mail as far in advance as possible. Unplanned outages will be remedied as soon as possible. For status reports call the EduTech Help Desk.
- Who do I call if there are problems at my site?
- Contact the ITD Service Desk with details of the situation/problem. Include school name, contact person, telephone number, and a general description of the problem. The ITD Service Desk number is 877.328.4470 (toll free).
- What improvements should I notice after the ATM T1 has been installed?
- Your school will have more “dedicated” bandwidth to the Internet Service Provider. Depending on several factors such as the amount of Internet and video traffic and bandwidth presently used by/available to you, you should see an increase in traffic speed.
Last Updated On November 2, 2007