Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

by Shail Chopra -
Number of replies: 8

Hello,

For a project we're working on, we're expecting 1000+ concurrent users (I am discussing 'concurrency' on other thread http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=196000 ). I reviewed hosting plans from Moodle Partners, but pricing seems a bit on high end. On the other hand, cloud based hosting (e.g. Amazon AWS) seems more affordable and is also flexible in terms of scalability.

Does anyone have experience hosting Moodle on cloud? Which are some of the good providers, and are there any benefits/isues of hosting on cloud vs hosting on VPS/dedicated servers?

I'd appreciate any pointers to start with. If you could share your good/bad experience with any specific cloud provider service, it'd be tremendously helpful.

Thanks,
Shail

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In reply to Shail Chopra

Re: Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Run the "'Using Moodle' advanced search faclility" mentioned in the introduction to this forum: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/search.php?id=5&words=Amazon+EC2.

You should get (amoung other things):
- http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=194737
- http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=177936
- http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=195538
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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

by Shail Chopra -

Thanks Viswanath. Very heplful. I went through these and other topics on search page, but wasn't able to locate comparison and pros/cons of VPS/Dedicated vs Cloud to host Moodle (apart from the info on flexibility and more accurate pricing on cloud). Also, I saw references to bitnami, Turnkey Linux etc, but didn't see reviews/comments on their advantages compared to the plain EC2 based hosting. Do you also have any comments regarding these? Again, thanks for your time.

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In reply to Shail Chopra

Re: Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Hi

You wrote:
> on search page, but wasn't able to locate comparison and pros/cons of VPS/Dedicated vs Cloud to host Moodle (apart from the info on flexibility and more accurate pricing on cloud).

The whole topic of webhosting is an (unavoidable) side topic in moodle.org - this is the community site of the software Moodle.

> Also, I saw references to bitnami, Turnkey Linux etc, but didn't see reviews/comments on their advantages compared to the plain EC2 based hosting.

I'm sure there are specialized forums to dicuss those subjects.

> Do you also have any comments regarding these?

No, sorry. I have the luxury of beefy state-of-the-art (dedicated) servers. As I tried to say earlier, the hardware part is the cheapest - in the Western World at least.

Since we are at it, why do you believe that your server should be a "cloud server"?

Another question: In your other thread you were talking of 1000 users in total. This one is about 1000 concurrent users. Are these two different projects?
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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

by Shail Chopra -


Since we are at it, why do you believe that your server should be a "cloud server"?
>> Thanks for the reply on both my threads. I contacted a Moodle Partner in US with my project details (30mins narrated audio made from ppt slides of 2/3 mins each, with no quiz/database access) last week, and they said I'll need a premium account to handle 1000 concurrent users. Since this was a bit outside the budget, I requested information on this forum about concurrency requirements and alternate hosting options like cloud. I inquired for cloud as it allows better flexibilty to scale up/down with unknown amount of load (as in my use case) and will charge appropriately. Once we understand the load/requirements better, we can think about any other (better?) options.


Another question: In your other thread you were talking of 1000 users in total. This one is about 1000 concurrent users. Are these two different projects?

>> No, it's the same project. It all started from my inquiry to a Moodle Partner based in US.

Thanks,
Shail

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In reply to Shail Chopra

Re: Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Hi Shail

Isn't that a paradox? We are trying to discard everything unessential to web and live a near zero cost zero effort life, see for example "Replacement for the present "higher education" system..." http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=197029. But wenn it comes to something concrete as a technical measurement, the distance matters!

I can send you a form, which you may use to call for quotations. Send me a personal message, if you are interested. (Visit my profile -> full profile -> Send a message)
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In reply to Shail Chopra

Re: Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

by Ramil Valitov -

We've been using Moodle only on VPS (VDS). On one VPS we have about 1700 users, on another - about 2500 users. It's total amount of users, not concurrent users. In this case it's OK to use a 'classic' configuration of the VPS: Apache, MySQL, PHP. No need to use some 'geek' approaches like ngninx/lighttpd, PHP FastCGI, memcached, eAccelerators, etc.

In case of 1000+ concurrent users we've implemented a scheme where several VPS are used. It's very expensive! (we use Tier 3 class data-center). But it's worth it.

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In reply to Shail Chopra

Re: Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

by Bryan Williams -

Shail,

We've actually been running Moodle in the cloud since 2010, having partnered some years back with Red Hat. If you are interested in discussing a fully managed solution from an authorized Moodle partner company we can certainly help. Supporting 1000 concurrent users is no trivial task and while Amazon or a lowball.com service might be cheaper, you will likely be totally on your own support wise. I'll also mention that when you use a Moodle partner company you are directly supporting the development and long term future of Moodle itself. Amazon and the lowball.com services do not support Moodle in any way.

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In reply to Bryan Williams

Re: Cloud hosting for Moodle: Options and pros/cons

by Ruvi Wijesuriya -

Bryan - When you say "...in the cloud" - are you referring to a true cloud stack that gives you elasticity (expansion of processing power to handle spikes) and high availability (zero downtime upgrades, etc.)  Or are you referring to a hosted traditional install of Moodle?   Thanks - Ruvi

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