Environmental Law Foundation

Summary
What happened?
What difference has ICT made?
What was learnt?
Find out more

Summary

This case study describes how using recycled PCs refurbished with open source software can breathe new life into old kit and get a new fileserver*.

Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) helps people use the law to protect and improve their local environment and quality of life. Through its network of specialist lawyers and consultants across the UK, ELF provides free guidance and continuing support to those in need of assistance.

Joint Application Development enterprises (JADe) are an ICT consultancy providing ICT services to charities.

What happened?

A Lasa Health-check established that the age and state of some of the Environmental Law Foundation’s (ELF) equipment was inhibiting the progression of their ICT plans.

The small peer-to-peer network was under strain, email was sometimes lost and it was difficult and time-consuming to back up data successfully. In addition, the Access database that had been redeveloped recently by an iT4Communities volunteer, would benefit from being located on a “real” server.

Being an environmental organisation, ELF wanted an inexpensive, high ‘green factor’ solution to their issues. JADe, an ICT consultancy, obtained a number of refurbished PCs provided by Action Aid.

One of the PCs found new life as a server* using the Cent OS open source operating system. ELF recognise that the PCs, which are around 4 or 5 years old, may have a limited lifespan and that replacement will again be needed soon, but they have some breathing space to develop a plan for a longer term solution.

What difference has ICT made?

ELF now has a fileserver*, where it previously didn’t. This has helped ELF reduce the risk of losing data by being able to centralise its files and make back-ups easier. The setting up of shared resources – files, internet and printers – has also helped make working life at ELF more efficient and effective

What was learnt?

There is value in recycling old hardware. ELF also recognises that the PCs, which are around 4 or 5 years old, may have a limited lifespan, but they have some breathing space to develop a plan for a longer term solution.

Recycling and keeping existing computers longer is the ‘greenest’ ICT solution.

*A fileserver sits alongside a network of computers, providing a shared location for computer files.