age is very light, and resource utilization stats on the VM bears that out.=
However, based on my calculations, this VM can scale quite effectively. =
To keep load reasonable, we use Lighttpd instead of Apache, PHP running in =
Fast-CGI mode, and a PHP caching engine. Moodle 1.9 brought along many, ma=
ny code improvements as well, bringing overall script execution time down.
My biggest concern with continuing to keep Moodle in-house is our power sit=
uation. Key is in an older, residential community that frequently looses p=
ower during major storms. Our battery backup system only runs us for an ad=
ditional 20 minutes before shutting systems down, so in the event of an ext=
ended power outage that would shut down the school, our Moodle site would a=
lso be shut down. I'm considering moving Moodle off-site to a hosted VM, b=
ut I want to maintain LDAP authentication against AD for our logins. Of co=
urse, if our power is out on campus our AD is down, so even though Moodle i=
s off-site no one could log in. So now I'm looking at two VMs, one for Moo=
dle and one for a read-only domain controller.
Anyway, the point of this post is that planning is everything, and uptime i=
s more than just about having your Moodle server up. If it depends on LDAP=
authentication, your internal mail server for communication, etc, you need=
to take those things into account.
S
---
Steven Dickenson <sdickenson@keyschool.org>
Computer Network Manager
The Key School, Annapolis Maryland
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A forum for independent school educators [mailto:ISED-
> L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Inman, Alex
> Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2009 8:02 PM
> To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Re: moodle questions
>=20
> Good points, Jim. Karen, I know you guys have a lot of bandwidth and a
> skilled tech in Justin who is not afraid of Linux. I host our Moodle
> server on a virtual Linux server on VMware. If you can do your own
> Linux server, you can scale the heck out of it. Plus all sorts of
> simple performance hacks can be found at Moodle.org.
>=20
> Alex Inman
> Whitfield
>=20
> Sent from my iPod
>=20
> On Jan 17, 2009, at 3:28 AM, "Jim Heynderickx" <jheynder@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>=20
> > Hi, Karen
> >
> > We also use Remote Learner for our consulting/support group, and they
> > have been good when we have needed them.
> >
> > We started with an in-house Moodle server, but the 1:1 program in the
> > Middle School swamped it most effectively. Basically, the teachers
> > wanted to use Moodle with all students in the classroom at the same
> > time, for materials, file exchange, and quizzes. If you read the fine
> > print, a basic Moodle installation on a Windows 2003 server is more
> > suitable for lighter, evening use. If you have more than one
> > classroom of students doing something significant on Moodle, like a
> > quiz, a slower box will blog down. (At least in our experience...)
> >
> > We upgraded (with Remote Learner's help) to two Linux servers,
> > optimized to run Moodle. One is the database, and the other is the
> > processing front end. Since this change,we have one of fastest Moodle
> > servers I've used, our usage is almost double what it was last year,
> > and there have been no complaints about access speed by classrooms
> > (except when our wireless network becomes bogged down by backups or
> > other such delights, another work in progress).
> >
> > After a review, we decided to do an in-house server cluster because
> > our students are moving so many files into and out of Moodle,
> > including podcasts, digital images, etc. I would have preferred a
> > hosted Moodle solution, but we were concerned about Internet bandwidth
> > and the cost of ramping up to a dedicated hosted server to meet
> > processing needs.
> >
> > In the near future, I hope to work on creating a single sign-on
> > feature in our school web portal, so that once students and teachers
> > log in there, they are also authenticated into the Moodle system
> > embedded in the school portal.
> >
> >
> > Jim Heynderickx
> > Director of Technology
> > American School in London
> >
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>=20
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
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non-
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