Determining Where to Host Moodle

If your organization doesn't support a Moodle site and you cannot convince your System Administrator to download it for you to the organization's server (even after you've tried bribery), you will have to look at other options. In a crunch, your three options are on your computer, on your server, or through third-party hosting. The following list highlights a few pros and cons to help you to decide the best option for you:

• Running Moodle on your computer: Running Moodle on your home computer is not really a difficult process, setting it up doesn't take too long, however getting your Moodle site online is more cumbersome. If you want learners to access your course, it's a complex process involving a Web server, and you may as well use a third party to host it. However, if all you want to do is learn how to build a course and play, then it's a good way to start. Make sure you read the system requirements before you download it.

  To download Moodle on your own computer, go to http://moodle.org/downloads and scroll down to Moodle for Windows or Moodle for Macs OS X and follow the instructions.

• Run on your own server: If you have your own Web server, I assume you have the skills needed to set up Moodle. Go to http://moodle.org/downloads and click the Standard Moodle Packages link.
• Third-party hosting: There are few options for third-party hosting. You may find non-profit organizations that offer free hosting for educational organizations. For example, Key-to-School http://www.keytoschool.com or similar organizations such as ORVSD (Oregon Virtual School District), a free resource for online teaching learning, offers free hosting to Oregon educators. Check with your district education office for information on similar government- and grant-funded programs.

  Many ISPs support open source software and enable you to download Moodle. You have to make sure you have Linux hosting and the ISP supports MySQL. This is a good option if you have few technical skills. Most ISPs will not provide technical support for third-party software.

  If you need technical support with the third-party hosting option, I recommend that you contact a local Moodle.org partner. These partners will host, maintain, and provide a secure environment for your Moodle site. Moodle partners are located in many different countries. Go to http://moodle.com/hosting for a list of companies that have partnered with Moodle.org.