Definition
The IT Division provides several Web Hosting services for Berkeley Lab Web sites:
- www.lbl.gov
, our highly available, secure public Web site:
- “static” (not database-driven) content and secure LDAP-based publishing access
- deep hierarchy underneath strongly branded sections
- redirection to less-well-known sites
- WebSnap, our easy-to-use shared hosting platform:
- Control panel and shell access
- Fully segregated “chroot” environments for added security
- One-click installation of databases and Web applications including wikis, blogs, content managers
- VM Hosting, our virtual private server platform
- Fully segregated virtual Linux host
- Administrative access for complete flexibility
- Hardware Hosting, our managed hosting service
- You provide the hardware, we provide rack, power, cooling
For largely static Web pages, laboratory groups can host their sites on www.lbl.gov. For more sophisticated hosting needs, the IT Division can host Web applications via the new (FY11) WebSnap service on Division infrastructure or provide consulting and operational support for customers hosting Web sites on their own or dedicated IT-provided equipment.[Google Sites] may be a option to consider to meet Web hosting needs.
Support
We are providing a Web-hosting service using the same model as commercial shared services. In order to offer the service at a low cost, IT will only provide the infrastructure (hardware and software), including daily online backups of each hosted Web site (plus daily incremental/weekly full off-site tape backups) and domain name registration. Customers should be knowledgeable about the basic services Plesk provides and should be able to set up their own environment. Please note: It is the responsibility of the customer to assess the value of any data stored on the system, determine an acceptable level of risk to data integrity, and to plan accordingly. If you have data-retention requirements that exceed the above, please visit [Backups] for more information.
In addition, although this environment is high quality, it is not high availability, so in case of hardware failure or catastrophic event, recovery might take as long as 24 to 48 hours. We are working to add redundancy without increasing cost.
Getting Started
Contact the IT Helpdesk at 486-4357 or go to the IT Help Desk Web site to get started. The Helpdesk can also help direct you to the best Web-hosting service to meet your needs.
For WebSnap, the Helpdesk will ask for:
- Site hostname (e.g., mywebsite.lbl.gov)
- Division/group name
- Primary billing/administrative contact
- Desired panel/shell login name
- Project account number
Help
For technical support, please call the IT Help Desk at 486-4357 or go to the IT Help Desk Web site.
