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In addition to technical expertise, there are staffing issues to consider.  A '''developer''' will help you write code to enhance or add new functionality.  Many installations find that they do not need a developer, or they can hire development on an ad hoc basis.  An '''LMS/Moodle administrator''' needs to have a good understanding of the system side of moodle.  The more this person knows about databases and general web applications, the better.  If you don't have an IT person to run the server and manage security, then the LMS/Moodle administrator may need to oversee these important duties. '''Content creators''' usually assist instructors with planning and creating course content.  Large installations may need dedicated IT staff and database administrators.  Consider the mix of people you have to support Moodle in your organization.  You may find that you can cover all these bases with your current staff.  If not, you may want to look at a Moodle Partner or a "full-service" host.
In addition to technical expertise, there are staffing issues to consider.  A '''developer''' will help you write code to enhance or add new functionality.  Many installations find that they do not need a developer, or they can hire development on an ad hoc basis.  An '''LMS/Moodle administrator''' needs to have a good understanding of the system side of moodle.  The more this person knows about databases and general web applications, the better.  If you don't have an IT person to run the server and manage security, then the LMS/Moodle administrator may need to oversee these important duties. '''Content creators''' usually assist instructors with planning and creating course content.  Large installations may need dedicated IT staff and database administrators.  Consider the mix of people you have to support Moodle in your organization.  You may find that you can cover all these bases with your current staff.  If not, you may want to look at a Moodle Partner or a "full-service" host.


==Types of Moodle Instances==
==Who are you?  Types of Moodle Instances==
Before you choose a host, it would probably be helpful to have a firm understanding of who '''YOU''' are.  What do you intend to accomplish with your Moodle instance?   
Before you choose a host, it would probably be helpful to have a firm understanding of who '''YOU''' are.  What do you intend to accomplish with your Moodle instance?   



Revision as of 21:53, 7 November 2008

Purpose

These pages are meant to serve as an additional guide to help users work through variety of questions, issues, etc. as they choose the best way to provide Moodle as an LMS to their users. We hope that these pages will help to steer the user to helpful materials that may not be easily found by the docs search engine. This is an ambitious undertaking, so we would be very pleased for more authors to add to the content!

https://docs.moodle.org/en/Decision_FAQ

Planning a Moodle installation

If you are interested in installing and using a Moodle instance in your school, organization, or business, there are many things you must consider. Not only do you have to think about the technical aspects, you also should put some thought into how you would like to use the system, maintain the system, create the content, and support the users.

Depending on the scope and scale of your instance, and the technical expertise you can bring to the table, you may decide that you can host Moodle yourself or you may realize you could use some help! This page focuses on making decisions about how or where to host a Moodle site. Other pages will be developed to address the separate issue of retaining consultants apart from the question of hosting (though many of the concerns in addressing both are comparable.)

In addition to technical expertise, there are staffing issues to consider. A developer will help you write code to enhance or add new functionality. Many installations find that they do not need a developer, or they can hire development on an ad hoc basis. An LMS/Moodle administrator needs to have a good understanding of the system side of moodle. The more this person knows about databases and general web applications, the better. If you don't have an IT person to run the server and manage security, then the LMS/Moodle administrator may need to oversee these important duties. Content creators usually assist instructors with planning and creating course content. Large installations may need dedicated IT staff and database administrators. Consider the mix of people you have to support Moodle in your organization. You may find that you can cover all these bases with your current staff. If not, you may want to look at a Moodle Partner or a "full-service" host.

Who are you? Types of Moodle Instances

Before you choose a host, it would probably be helpful to have a firm understanding of who YOU are. What do you intend to accomplish with your Moodle instance?

Typical types of Moodle instances include schools, companies, agencies, churches, and a wide variety of non-profit organizations. A single individual may want to deliver just two or three courses. Some moodle instances serve as portfolios or special project spaces. Moodlers are very innovative!

Each of these types of Moodle users will have differing requirements and needs. Each may have different ideas about what kind of content they want to provide, who will be facilitating the "course work" (or if the course work will be automated), how they will enroll the users, and how strictly they want/need to enforce privacy for users.

These issues are of great importance when selecting a host. If you can identify exactly what you want to do and how you think it can be best accomplished, then you will likely recognize whether or not you can "do it yourself", if you need to look for full-service hosting, or if you can accomplish your goals with a consultant or ad hoc development.

Types of Hosts

Full-service hosts who are Moodle Partners Moodle Partners are companies that have been vetted by and approved by Moodle Pty Ltd to provide and advertise that they provide Moodle hosting. They do contribute 10% back to the moodle trust to support Moodle development.

Moodle Partners can be found in many countries, and different partners specialize in different areas. You can read more about them at

https://docs.moodle.org/en/Decision_FAQ#What_is_a_Moodle_Partner.3F

Full-service hosts who are not partners

Hosting without service

In-house hosting

Choosing a Web Host

How Do I Find the Right Web Host For Me?

Maybe some generic info here as well as a discussion of MP vs non-MP

The User Experience

A matrix has been created so that users can provide information on various web hosting options here.

Please feel free to add to the matrix, but respect the footnoting conventions and the table structure please.

Why Use A Web Host

General areas of concern are:

Keeping Your Software Current

Software such as Moodle is not static; it changes all the time. Indeed Moodle software changes sometimes daily. Software may be altered to fix security issues or to make improvements. Sometimes a fix in one respect causes a bug in another.

Additionally, as noted below, Moodle is not the only product you may want to keep current, and any time you are trying to keep multiple applications current you are bound to run into compatibility issues.

Keeping Your Software Compatible

Moodle is not "just" Moodle. The Moodle experience relies on a set of software applications, including a web server (often but not necessarily Apache), PHP, and a database engine (often but not necessarily mySQL), as well as the Moodle code itself.

Each of the elements involved is regularly updated and this will result in compatibility issues. A fix to one application may cause a problem in another.

Backups

Data

GUI

Databases

Software

Security

Criteria for Selecting Web Hosts

Here is the real meat and potatoes, which we can put here or actually put on additional pages (my prefs) SO a link to range of service, types of support, security, e-mail, mysql support, panels.... perhaps as well, pages on SLAs generally, boilerplate and guarantees, punchlists

Perhaps specific sections, with breif descriptors and links to more detailed pages.

Planning an Installation

Alphabet Salad - RFPs, RFQs, RFTs, SS, etc

Preparing a Project Proposal

Developing Specs

Do It Yourself

https://docs.moodle.org/en/Planning_your_installation