Utter n00b looking to host a server to run Data Management Software for organization.

[gamefreakgcb]

Hello AT! I work at a small church type organization/school and I am an accidental techie and subsequently the only one here with an understanding of computers. We are deciding to go digital with all out student data/archives. The thing is, we are fairly low on cash and were hoping to find a low cost solution. We found OpenSIS, which is almost perfect for us, and it needs Apache 2.x, MySQL 5.x or higher, PHP 5.x to run. I am a complete and utter n00b when it comes to networking. Hardware is not an issue for me. I can build a lightweight computer or a mini-ITX AMD E-series/Atom or core i3 machine with an SSD or good mechanical drive and put it up as a server.

--Lightweight organization
--3-5 computers need to be able to access the software/data across the internal/external network
--

Is it possible to just go into this completely ignorant and learn as I go? I am good at following instructions. What other questions should I ask?

 

[aE0n]

Do you know how to install those server applications?
What is the minimum amount of time this organization can handle being without access to this data?
What happens if your server memory goes bad?
What happens if a server hard drive dies?
What happens if the building burns down?
What happens with any of these are you aren't available?

These are just some question to think about when you're planning this out.

A lot of this depends on how critical this data is to your organization. Basically, the more critical it is, the more you'll be spending. Based on your current plan, the data doesn't sound critical at all.

 

[gamefreakgcb]

1. I have no idea. Completely new to this stuff. But not scared to learn something new.
Right now all data is being handled manually without any sort of link in between (too much work)

As to the rest, the data isn't really too critical. I can even have 2 redundant servers running off site somewhere which can hold backups and can have traffic divert there if something happens to the first one. We're taking about student info for about 250 students. So lets just keep the data requirements around 10-20GB (That is a very very heavy exageration).

The only thing I was able to do was setup a RAID-1 NAS (Synology DS211J) last year and serve all the data from there for 5-6 computers, I perform daily backups and the backups are kept off-site. That was just normal file-sharing by mapping a network drive which was easy stuff.

Edit: Amazon's AWS(?) looks appealing. I think they even give 1 year free to not-for-profits (not too sure on that one, I heard a friend mention that once a few weeks back). Which product applies to me anyway?

 

[DarkManX]

why not just host the whole application online? its relatively low bandwidth... you should be able to get by with hosting for a few dollars a month. That way you dont have to worry about most issues that arise when running your own hardware.

 

[gamefreakgcb]

Where would I go to do the online app hosting? Is that SaaS?

 

[ViviTheMage]

Get a VPS box...whatever linux distro you want, or windows.

rsync data offsite nightly.

 

[DarkManX]

there are thousands of web hosts, that would support SQL, PHP and run on apache. such as hostgator and many others which are prolly cheaper.

 

[gamefreakgcb]

I have a hostables.com subscription for the next 2.5 years.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I have a hostables.com subscription for the next 2.5 years.

whatever site is that doesn't load for me.

what are you trying to host exactly? what application?

 

[gamefreakgcb]

hostable.com. the s at the end is a mistake

The application is called openSIS

 

[ViviTheMage]

So what's the question, you found your service?

 

[gamefreakgcb]

I guess this is a bit above my understanding at the moment. I don't even know how to create VPN. I am signing up for an online School Data Management Software where the company hosts the program on their servers for a fee of $25 a year and the program costs $249.

I wish to learn how to do this but I now have time to do so. Where would be a good place to start?

 

[ViviTheMage]

googling is the best place to start, in all honesty.

Find what you need to do, ask questions on here....unless you find someone who wants to tell you everything you need to do, it's going to be a lot of work, especially if creating a VPN is a challenge for ya.

 

[gamefreakgcb]

Thanks. A new project for next year for me I guess. Always wanted to get into networking. Now I have the motivation to do so.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Good luck, ask questions .

 

[gamefreakgcb]

Where should I start? Linux? Learn PHP coding? I'd appreciate any help.

 

[aE0n]

If you're considering OpenSIS start by installing it and trying it out. You'll probably run in to problems, but that's the best way to learn.

You can run Apache/MySQL/PHP on Windows or Linux. A shortcut to installing these is to get a Linux distro with these configured or a all-in-one type of Windows installer. This is referred to as LAMP for Linux and WAMP for Windows.

Linux: http://www.howtoforge.com/quick-n-easy-lamp-server-centos-rhel
Windows: http://www.wampserver.com/en/