Visvanath Ratnaweera

There were many related discussions in the past. Try the Advanced search: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/search.php?id=5. Here are some examples:
- Moodle set-up across multi-site campuses https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=222646
- Offline Moodle https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=318565
- Moodle offline https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=281744
- working with Moodle Offline https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=260100

The fact is that, Moodle in its full functionality does not allow distributed operation. Well, there may be advanced approaches using https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_delivery_networks, I doubt it is what you are looking for. Think of the problem as splitting a betting site, say https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/eBay, in to local servers per country or continent and then synchronizing the bets sporadically! (Don't forget: People are allowed to bet across countries and even continents!)

But not all is lost. Still there might be (limited) solutions to your particular application, like uploading or sending course _material_ to teachers every couple of weeks. First you need to understand the various possibilities of feeding Moodle with content.

Whatever, you should not forget that Moodle is not Computer based training https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology#Linear_learning. You need a so called LAMP stack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAMP_%28software_bundle%29 per site for it to function. The tricky thing is, it doesn't always need a "server" but could be running in a teacher's computer, even as a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_CD !

P.S. I wonder what the correct forum is. I can see discussions in Installation problems, General problems and Hardware and performance and now in General developer forum!

P.P.S. Qurat, please don't go to each of the discussions I've mentioned and revive them; they are discussions on other peoples' problems. If you request the moderator to move this discussion to the right forum, you will get answers tailored to your situation.

Interesting. These days one hears a lot about JavaScript, specially in connection with Node.js. Is it the future of Moodle?

Ken, no harm meant, the information you've provided will definitely help others - but not the OP. He has no shell access, and is not going to get one any time soon!

> we have to use their site on their terms. they have given us an account on their VPS which is souped up in terms of space and memory etc, but they have crippled it for us in many ways i.e. no SSH.

> So please do not lecture us in what type of hosting we should have - we know what we need, but for internal corporate reasons we cannot get it. We just have to make do with what we have been provided.

And you ask us:
> "why is it so hard to upgrade moodle?"

Hi

Your question on splitting students amoung many courses than having then in one, No, there is no difference.

For the other questions about performance, there is a dedicated forum called Hardware and performance: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=596. There is some starting pointers on its entry page. The full information appear only when you start a new discussion: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/post.php?forum=94. Go though them. In the mean time you may request the moderator to move your enquiry to that forum.