[Koha] Cloud-based Koha vs locally hosted Koha

[Jesse Lambertson]

That's a very encouraging and affirmative recommendation.

Thank you Elaine.



On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 1:12 PM, Elaine Bradtke <eb at efdss.org> wrote:

> Our system is run in the cloud. We felt this was more secure/reliable than
> running it from our internal server.  We recently shifted from one virtual
> machine to another, including a change in the version of Linux we run.  Of
> all the online services we have, Koha was the easiest one to move, and had
> the fewest problems with the changes.
>
> On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 7:06 PM, Jesse Lambertson <jlambertson at sqcc.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Thank you mark.
>>
>> We already do have a good plan for back-up. But with these other issues,
>> your points are valid and jive with some other conversations I am having
>> as
>> we get ready to set this up (soonish).
>>
>> I will have to look at Brooke's other point about carefully picking the
>> (external) hosting environment - one that gives me command-line access to
>> update everything as needed.
>> The idea in this thread here seems to be that hosting elsewhere means that
>> it will not be as easy for me to update. But I have to imagine there is
>> some host out there that has everything partitioned in a way so that I can
>> manipulate my own data at will (maybe that is still just a dream).
>>
>> I will dig into that search next.
>>
>> Thank you everyone.
>>
>> Jesse
>>
>> On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 1:56 PM, Mark Tompsett <mtompset at hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Greetings,
>> >
>> > On 10 December 2014 7:06:37 am NZDT, BWS Johnson <
>> > abesottedphoenix at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> > [SNIP]
>> >
>> >> The only difference I can spot might actually weigh as a positive in
>> >> favour of cloud based service. When you have a physical server and
>> >> suffer a local catastrophe, such as an earthquake, fire, sinkhole, et
>> >> cetera, there goes your data.
>> >>
>> >
>> > Actually another cost consideration is the hardware costs vs. hosting
>> > costs. Hardware dies over time and needs to be replaced. Budgets get
>> cut,
>> > and a monthly hosting cost is less likely to be axed compared to a new
>> > server cost ever 4-5 years. So, in some sense, I think hosting
>> externally
>> > and not on your own local hardware is better.
>> >
>> > And comparing costs, you may be able to find hosting that works well
>> for a
>> > cost that when amortized over 4-5 years is actually cheaper. That is,
>> > $20/month (let's say) * 12 months * 4 years = $960 for 4 years. This is
>> > comparable to some cheaper machines which perfectly suffice, but I know
>> I
>> > prefer to drool over the $2500+ machines. :)
>> >
>> > Sadly, you aren't likely to be continually upgrading components. After 4
>> > years, a locally owned piece of hardware will have dropped from a middle
>> > class machine to low end machine, while the hosted environment may have
>> > progressed, because of hosting provider upgrades. :)
>> >
>> > And, you aren't having to do your own backups, if you hosting on the
>> > cloud. If you have locally hosted machine, you need to figure out how to
>> > back up elsewhere. A good backup plan has on-site same drive, on-site
>> > different drive, and off-site backups. A hosting provider tends to have
>> > these in place. Do you want the hassle of having that yourself? This is
>> > related to the point that BWS Johnson made.
>> >
>> > And what if your local machine dies? Sure you have a backup, but you
>> > actually have to spend the day rushing around buying a new server. With
>> > hosting, hardware failures like that are not your worry. No budget
>> > stresses, because you don't have the cash to go buy it now, and most
>> > service level agreements give you less than a hour downtime per year.
>> >
>> > GPML,
>> > Mark Tompsett
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jesse A Lambertson
>> Librarian
>> Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center
>> 1100 16th St, NW
>> Washington, DC 20036
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Elaine Bradtke
> Data Wrangler
> VWML
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>



-- 
Jesse A Lambertson
Librarian
Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center
1100 16th St, NW
Washington, DC 20036