Greetings, I've got a copy of Moodle 2.4.1+ (WAMP) I'm using that I'll probably end up using when I select a web host.
I've looked at some of the docs and other forum discussions to try to nail this down, but I think I have unique enough a case to warrant another thread. Basically, I'm looking for Moodle web hosting, but I know nothing about back-end server stuff to know exactly what's right for me.
I'm going to be using Moodle for a continuing education program. The classes will be primarily delivered in lectures, which will be video-recorded in standard definition. The plan is to embed these videos into course lessons as file objects, and have students watch them (other objects will be used as well, but that's the main). But here's the part where I can't find another case like mine; It seems like everyone's going for VPS or shared hosting, and don't need much space. We, on the other hand, want to store all of our lecture videos on the server. There will be about 20 classes at about 20 hours each. By my calculations, this will be about 850GB of video alone. Then we want to offer just the audio for those same lectures as an alternative.
I think a >=1TB dedicated server is probably my only option. But this is where I'm looking for advice.
1. We'll probably have anywhere between 10-20 students per class (does that translate to something like 50-100 concurrent users?).
2. I'll probably be the only front-end admin (though not the only one developing front-end content), and if possible, I don't want to have to be the server admin. So a Moodle Partner sounds good here.
3. We want to beautify our Moodle as well. I was thinking of also installing Joomla and integrating it with Moodle with Joomdle (can anyone vouch for this?)
4. We want a payment utility so students can pay for classes.
5. We want to be able to secure usernames/profiles, grades, courses, and especially the lecture videos.
I read about all this cPanel stuff, Bandwidth usage, RAID, and all these other parameters, and I have no idea what my Moodle-endeavor will require of a server in order to achieve the above goals. Things like, will I need root access? Will I need astronomical bandwidth with that many users and streaming video? Is it wiser to host videos on a third-party video host and just embed them in Moodle, which is then hosted by a separate provider? Do I need cPanel to develop a pretty theme? Shell access, customizable php.ini or .htaccess, custom panel, no chat scripts; I don't know if the presence or absence of all these kinds of things will preclude me from doing what I need to do.
Simply put, I don't know what I'll require of a server to achieve my specific Moodle goals. Anyone have/hear of a similar case to mine and can offer some advice/direction?
I thank you for your wisdom,
Gatlin