The school server, based on Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2003 Server incorporates a virtual machine (VMWare 4.1) with the Debian Sarge distribution installed on it. This Linux machine has the following services:

• Network configuration
• Mail server (failure notification and management system)
• Intermediate package repository (for the update system)

The school servers network is configured on the basis of Medusa project conventions. However, the autoconfiguration of them is a little more complex, for three reasons:

Network configuration system

Los servidores de centro configuran su red en base a las convenciones del proyecto Medusa. Sin embargo, en el caso de los servidores de centro la autoconfiguración es un poco más compleja, por tres razones:

• The school servers are always in two networks, an educational one and a private one. Therefore, they need two network interfaces.
• The school servers must be available for other machines, which is the reason why they must have fixed IP addresses (to follow the conventions of Medusa).
• At the moment the school servers are virtual machines, as that means they are more isolated from the hardware, and in particular they are isolated from the network interfaces.

Mail server (system for notification of bugs and failures)

The emails sent by the failure notifier do not go directly to the central system, but are routed through the local school server, and then relayed on from there. It works this way in case there are any connectivity problems, and in that event emails can accumulate in the school server until they can be forwarded to the central system.

Intermediate package repository (Release System)

Each school server will have a copy of the package repository available, that will be updated periodically from the central server. In this way, each center will be able to install the packages that they want to use, with no need of which have continuous connection to the Internet.

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