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Storage Management Most schools do not have sophisticated storage servers or CD burners in every room. Below are suggestions to help schools manage storage with modest technology, as well as information about a variety of useful storage devices. Storage Suggestions •
If teachers need a file temporarily, they can save it to the desktop of their computer. Remind teachers to delete the files as soon as they are finished using them.
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Direct users to download their videos to a shared folder on their network server. To prevent filling up this server, technology coordinators can restrict folder sizes or schedule purges of video folder content at regular intervals. Users will be informed when to transfer downloaded videos to a more permanent location (library, computer lab, resource center) or to save to a storage device (see below).
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If streaming and downloading are not allowed during school hours, teachers can download videos at home. They can make virtual e-worksheets for their students, with all the video clips hyperlinked from a folder, and put the e-worksheets in a shared folder for students and other teachers. Downloaded clips can be brought to school in a variety of portable storage devices (see below).
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The administrator can configure unitedstreaming to restrict the hours of streaming and downloading. The Administrative User Guide provides extensive instructions. It may be necessary to have this functionality enabled; contact Discovery Education at 800.323.9084.
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Users can schedule video files to download during off-peak hours by using Network Manager. This application relieves daytime bandwidth congestion and provides powerful administrative controls for limiting the size of individual downloads, as well as the amount of time downloads sit on a server. Administrators: Please contact Discovery Education to have this functionality enabled; call 800.323.9084.
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Teachers and students can use the Playlist to store the URL paths to specific clips to stream or download later. The paths are stored on unitedstreaming servers.
Storage Devices One minute of unitedstreaming video equals approximately 1.8 megabytes (MB) of storage space because the videos are formatted at 256 kbps. One megabyte is roughly the storage size of a 3½” diskette. Listed below are devices that can be used to store unitedstreaming media. Flash Drive Flash drives—also known as a solid-state drives, memory fobs, or jump drives—are small portable storage devices. They are available in a variety of sizes from 128 MB to 4 GB. The flash drive connects to a computer through a USB 2.0 port. Prices range from $20 to $300. Zip Drive and Disk An Iomega Zip disk can store 100, 250, or 750 MB, which holds about 25, 50, or 375 minutes of video, respectively, not including any multimedia application files that may embed the videos. The Zip drive connects to a computer via a FireWire or USB 2.0 port. The price for a 750 MB drive may be about $149.00; three zip disks cost approximately $45. CD A CD-R/W stores approximately 700 MB, which is about 350 minutes of video. Most burners will include a list of recommended CDs. Burner prices range from $75 to $175; a spindle of 100 CDs costs about $25. DVD One DVD stores 4.7 GB of video (about the same amount as seven CDs); one DVD+/-R/W can store 2,450 minutes of video. Most new computers have internal DVD burners. The DVDs range from $15.00 to $35.00 for a spindle of 30. Note: Be sure to match the DVD format to the burner and player. DVD+ and DVD- have different formats, and not all burners and players are compatible to both; check your hardware documentation for accepted formats. (An external DVD burner must connect to the computer via a FireWire or USB 2.0 port; this type of burner costs about $75 more than an internal drive. Prices range from $100 to $500.) External Hard Drives High-speed external hard drives can hold up to 1 TB (about 200 times the storage of one DVD). They connect to a computer through a FireWire or USB 2.0 port. An external hard drive is necessary only for very large files or for transporting great amounts of data. They may have USB 2.0 connections, FireWire, or both. Prices range from $100 for 80GB to $950 for 1 TB. Check for compatibility, a good warranty, and a return policy when purchasing any technology.
