[Web4lib] Drupal on a Windows server?

[K.G. Schneider]

> The server is what it is.  Why they have chosen IIS, I don't know.  I'm
> trying to gauge whether or not what they're providing us with is able to
> handle what we need as we move to Drupal.  If not, then we'd need to
> outsource our hosting.
> 
> Sarah Houghton

We had a good discussion last week about matching system capabilities to
library needs. Since that time, one librarian wrote me to ask if they
couldn't do XYZ at their library, did that mean they needed a different
host? Well, I said, maybe...

I know Sarah well enough to anticipate her response to this, but the
question really goes beyond Drupal: the question is does this network
operating environment--not just its OS but its access controls,
installations, management, bandwidth, disk space, support, etc.--have what
Sarah's place needs for the, shall we say, implementable future. That might
include extensions to Drupal, wiki and blogging software, and who knows what
else, all combined with increased demands on disk space and bandwidth, and
possibly on support. For example, does this mean the consortium will now
have to install and maintain PHP and MySQL, and are they willing/able to do
so? Or do they already have these available? 

This is neither a pro- or anti-Windows post; it's a comment about matching
services with needs. It could well be that the shortest, easiest, most
cost-effective path to Sarah's library's needs is off-site hosting... or it
could be that the consortium is a good match... but her technology plan and
its objectives will (with luck) drive that decision. It could also flow
back, influencing decisions at her consortium, for that matter. My guess is
this is not the first time this question has come up in this network (in
fact, I know it's not).

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at bluehighways.com