[Web4lib] blue sky thinking

[Blake Carver]

We actually do this type of thing for a couple public libraries, an academic
or 2, and one state library. There's not much to it in terms of DNS,
assuming access to the domain registrar, it's easy to point any subdomain at
any IP. Most comonly we just host a blog or a wiki that someone couldn't get
support for in-house.

Apart from the obvious potential downsides,  there's probably a few flies in
the ointment, but the upsides are pretty big.

The one I hear again and again is that the library is suddenly "free" of the
slow moving IT department that they're used to dealing with. So while there
are certainly pros and cons to going outside for "extra" hosting services,
it can help get things done as well.

-Blake Carver
LISHost.org
Librarian Web Hosting
http://lishost.org


On 7/25/06, Mark Gilman <mgilman at dallaslibrary.org> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> This is just blue sky thinking and not pertaining to any institution in
> particular.  What if an institution wanted to gain the benefits that
> accrue
> to libraries that have excellent server access and support in, say, a LAMP
> (Linux / MySQL / Apache / Php & PERL) environment but had limited means
> and
> possibilities.  Is there any reason why something like this scenario
> wouldn't work?
>
> 1)  buy cheap space on a Linux shared hosting server that provides root
> access such as
>      http://www.spry.com/plesk-vps/ <http://www.spry.com/plesk-vps/>  /
> http://support.jodohost.com/showthread.php?t=1726
> <http://support.jodohost.com/showthread.php?t=1726>  /
> http://www.linode.com/products/linodes.cfm
> <http://www.linode.com/products/linodes.cfm>
>
> 2) identify open source tools that significantly expand capabilities (i.e.
> Content Management Systems or other database server driven tools)
>
> 3)  either install and configure these tools oneself or simply outsource
> it
> to someone via a site like http://www.elance.com/ <http://www.elance.com/>
>
> 4) point a DNS at this server only for those pages that rely upon the LAMP
> environment, but leave everything else "in situ".  What would be the best
> way to do that? Could www2.yoursite.com be made to point to a different
> server from www.yoursite.com <http://www.yoursite.com>  (the difference
> being the insertion of the Arabic numberal two just after the www, or is
> that not workable?)
>
> Apart from the obvious potential downwides (i.e. the guy who bids the job
> proves not be sufficiently capable) is there a fly in this
> ointment?  Seems
> like the upside would be to enable public libraries to participate in some
> of the innovation that academic libraries are able to access by virtue of
> being embedded in technically forward looking environments with lots of
> computer science folks running around pushing the envelope, etc.
>
> Regards,
> Mark
>
>
>
>
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