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Practical Web Management
Christopher GutteridgeIWMW 2009
Christopher Gutteridge?
Full time webmaster/manager for Southampton Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) since 1997
ECS hasWebteam of 3(ish)10 Infrastructure webservers running 310
sites.100 research webservers.
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Find out what's actually going on
Work out what you are supposed to be doing
Fix what's not working
Expand and optimizewhat's working
Improve ways of knowing what's
going on
…repeat until promoted
1. Know what's going on2. Have a plan3. Be pragmatic
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
What does an IWManager do?
Same as anyone at a University should be doing!
Doing or Facilitating: Teaching Research Communication of Research via
Publications (and websites)EventsWorking with Industry
Where we were failing
Losing research output sites "go away" or software bit-rots
Dropping the ball on basic requests Not shutting down broken unloved sites Finding out about issues via user reports Not knowing what software we're running
Wiki's, blogs etc. Unable to perform basic security patches
Team not sharing information Not knowing who owns a website
Solutions to Problems
Technology,Policy
&Culture
Problem: Dropping the ball
Basic tasks:Create a new websiteCreate a MySQL DBSet up a wikiSet up a blogCorrect an error on a page
Solution: Dropping the Ball
Identify standard essential tasks Create simple web forms for each
Ask all the questions in one go Manage expectations
Web form submits to a queue Shared web account Task management system DON’T NEGLECT THIS QUEUE
Create scripts!
Research Communication
Most Researchers only think as far as the next funding bid.
It's our problem!We provide continuityBetter to plan from the start, than pick
up the pieces after each project ends.Or worse, let it rot.
Problems of Preserving Research
OutputWebsite maintenance
patching wikis and blog softwareWeb 2.0 sites (Flickr, Twitter, Blogger,
YouTube, Slideshare)Orgs I.P. beyond your control
Short term/external DNS registrationsConferences and ProjectsCostsMoving sites
Soloution:Maintaining Tools
Provide central blog & wiki servicesPlan how to "fossilise" dynamic sitesEncourage use of central services and
wiki/blog software suitable for fossilising.
Solution: Offsite Content
BlogsProvide hosted blog serviceWordpress is a good choice
TwitterNo best practice yet
Solution: Offsite Content
Youtube, Slideshare, FlickrEncourage staff to also deposit this
content in the IR (Institutional Repository)Make the IR provide the cool features that
have driven users to use external tools
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Embeddable slide-shows and streaming video coming soon to…
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
<advertisement>
Solutions: DNS Registrations
Web team registers domains for projects, requiring X years payment in advanceAt least 3 years beyond end of projectConferences maybe 10 years or moreGood use for a request form
Monitor DNS entry for each website
Problem: Who owns a site?
Whom to forward queries toTrying to shut unwanted sites downTo see where resources are being usedWho to bill about DNSSecurity Issues
Solution: Website Database
Built from comments in apache config.#meta owner=cjg23r,dsc93#meta type=project
Script to build webpage report periodicallyJoin against your list of current users to see
when a site is a candidate for deletion.Keep config. files in version controlGenerate useful reports
Discovering webservers
Ask the firewall manager about port 80Virtual Servers are causing a
proliferation!
Problem: Waiting for complaints
UnprofessionalHard to manage workloadOften would have been easier to fix
earlier
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Solution:Build a batcomputer
Nagios is a good starting placeNeeds to be actively looked after
Usually "champion" moves on and it rotsMonitor failures and uptime
What to Monitor…PINGHTTP & HTTPSHardware (Disks failing etc.)BackupsHTTP from external siteHTTPS Certificate expiryMySQL ServersRivals?
UptimeMonitor your webserver uptimeMonitor things beyond your control
which make it unavailableExternal connectivityBuilding power
Don't bother getting your uptime (much) higher than the things beyond your control!
Some Benefits of Monitoring
You and your team know what's going on
Fix problems before they cause harm(nobody will call you a hero anymore)
Uptime graphs help make pragmatic decisions, and justify them
Provide management with facts and figures about what you do
Standardisation FeverStandard solutions are Good
Enforced standardisation can be very Bad
One Size does not always fit all!
SummaryDon't try and be a heroFind out what's going onKnow where your job isHave a planBuild a Batcomputer