We run our koha and library site on an Ubuntu instance in Hyper-V (2008 for 2 yrs and 2012 for the past month) and have for several years (Hyper-V 2012 actually has fantastic Linux support I would actually recommend it over ESXi or Citrix Xen, both of which I have been lucky enough to have used in production). I am a one man library/IT guy (collaboration: Me talking to myself)and I have a little more control over the servers then most. As far as updates on our Ubuntu VMs go I really dont have any issues because I normally just live clone the VM (I really like hyperv 2012 R2), issue apt-get upgrade, test, test, test, and then run apt-get upgrade on the production VM. Besides, our IT Consultants (shout out to Quo Vadis) are pretty Linux friendly, which is rare in the SMB market.
From what I understand, though, the above paragraph is the exception rather then the rule. I am interested to hear what others have to share.
//Riley
Riley Childs
Senior
Charlotte United Christian Academy
Library Services Administrator
IT Services
(704) 497-2086
rileychilds.net
@rowdychildren
________________________________
From: Cary Gordon<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Sent: ý9/ý2/ý2014 5:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Informal survey regarding library website liberty
Hi Junior,
We have been hosting library sites for 14 years and Drupal sites for over 7 years. Two years ago we shuttered our data center that was located three stories underground in an LA bank vault (really) and executed a plan that was four years in the making and moved everything to AWS. We leverage CI and other automation to reduce the boring parts of our job, and AWS's reliability reduces the exciting parts. We are AWS consulting partners and have been initiated into the AWS black arts and crafts.
While we would love to have more clients, this is not an ad for us. We have a long standing policy of answering any question regarding Drupal and Drupal hosting that is asked on the Drupal4Lib list for the low price of absolutely nothing. We might not have every answer, but if we don't, odds are that someone else on the list will. This is the good stuff. We don't hold back.
Drop in and fire away.
Thanks,
Cary
On Sep 2, 2014, at 12:17 PM, Junior Tidal <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Brad,
>
> When first starting working, our library web server was on a shared Windows IIS server with several other departments, which prevented us from using a CMS due to security concerns. The initial site was a static set of pages, so we couldn't install PHP, MySQL, etc.
>
> Through the encouragement of our then Chief Librarian, I wrote a proposal to our provost so the library could have our own LAMP server so we could install Drupal. The proposal was approved, but the tradeoff was that it was the library's responsibility (me) to administer the web server. IT hosted the server in their server room, but we had to maintain security, OS/site upgrades, and backups. That's not to say that our IT department wasn't helpful, they were more hands off.
>
> We've had our own server for the last 5-6 years, but it's now on its last legs. We've installed open-source CMSs such as Drupal, WordPress, and MediaWiki so we've certainly outgrown our current server. We also need to desperately upgrade our Drupal install, so we can rollout our responsive redesign.
>
> We're migrating (hopefully this week) to the cloud to an Amazon instance with a LAMP setup. IT was consulted to approve the purchase for the cloud instance. I think this is a wise move, since there will be less worry for everyone about hardware upgrades and systems maintenance.
>
> I personally think that if your library can system administrate your own server it not only makes you less dependent on your institution's IT, but it allows for the site to grow and evolve for newer web technologies.
>
> Best,
> Junior
>
> Junior Tidal
> Assistant Professor
> Web Services and Multimedia Librarian
> New York City College of Technology, CUNY
> 300 Jay Street, Rm A434
> Brooklyn, NY 11201
> 718.260.5481
>
> http://library.citytech.cuny.edu
>
>
>>>> Brad Coffield <[log in to unmask]> 9/2/2014 11:39 AM >>>
> THE QUESTION:
>
> What kind of setup does your library have regarding servers, IT dept
> collaboration, CMS restrictions, anything else? I imagine that there are
> many unique situations. Any input you're willing to provide will be very
> welcome and useful.
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