Oxfordshire secures school internets
County council begins use of web filtering system to protect pupils
Oxfordshire County Council has nearly completed the installation of Linux software to support a protected web access system for its 282 schools.
The web filtering system will work in all of the county's primary and secondary schools and stop pupils from accessing inappropriate or dangerous content.
The money for the system has come from the government's grant 31B for improved internet access in schools, says Kathryn Proudlock, IT project manager at Oxfordshire County Council.
'We had to look a fresh at how best to enable our pupils to work in a safe environment but still deliver a fast and reliable online learning experience,' she said.
The Websense web filtering software runs using Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS and two Intel-based IBM System x servers at each secondary school and a single one for primary schools.
These systems also run to protect against inappropriate content. A single server solution is deployed in primary schools.
The complete system comprises 426 academic servers with each school getting tiered access to the county council's high-speed internet connection, via a central cache.
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