Research website hosting service
RCaaS offers a free, facilitated research web hosting service via a third-party company called SiteGround.
Web hosting services can help with the responsibilities of maintaining operating systems, web servers and database software; keeping them up to date. This includes vulnerability patching and ensuring the functionality of underlying hardware.
Secure your data
Researchers may have the expertise and local infrastructure to host WordPress and other websites and potentially maintain them during the course of their project. But when funding ends there’s often limited capacity to keep them running – a neglected and unmanaged website can soon stop working properly or create security issues that can be exploited by a motivated hacker.
- As more websites are published and the number of unmanaged sites grows, the problem gets worse.
Failure to deal with website security in a managed fashion can expose not only a single website but potentially others that share a server, or even those that exist more widely within the network or organisation to the risk of compromises. The impact has the potential to be devastating.
One of WordPress.org’s recommended hosting providers suggested that: in 2018 over 90,000 hacking attacks per minute struck WordPress sites and WordPress hosting across the world.
Hosting facilities
Our hosting facilities for research websites is up to a standard limit of 2GB in size (including all software, media, files and database content).
Empty WordPress sites can be deployed on request, but the platform also supports bespoke sites that use PHP in combination with MySQL or PostgreSQL databases. Platforms like Drupal, MediaWiki and Joomla can all be deployed straightforwardly.
SiteGround provides guidance for installing and configuring a wide range of software. In many cases RCaaS staff will be able to assist but (with the exception of those aspects supported by SiteGround) the functionality and integrity of hosted sites, content and software remain the responsibility of the responsible research owner.
We can also facilitate migration of existing sites including WordPress sites.
Eligibility
Any staff member or postgraduate student at the University of Glasgow is eligible to use the research website hosting service.
Only sites that can reasonably be described as research websites may be hosted
- For each hosted site a University of Glasgow staff member must be named as the research owner who must accept responsibility for the site and its content
- Where a student requests hosting services the research owner must be one of that student's academic supervisors
- If the named research owner leaves the University their responsibility must be assigned to and accepted by another suitable staff member
Request access
RCaaS staff will agree appropriate access to assigned hosting space. For users that require only access to WordPress content management system tools this can be arranged.
In other cases where users need access to underlying filestore and/or databases these can be provided via FTP, SSH and/or remote database connections.
Privacy notices
The University's Data Protection and Freedom of Information Office should be consulted if a website does or will contain personally identifiable information, or if the responsible research owner is unsure whether it does or will. Any guidance received must be followed for sites to qualify for RCaaS hosting
The Data Protection & FOI Office has privacy notice advice, including a checklist, which should be consulted for all University websites.
There are obligations and information related to the University’s commercial agreement with SiteGround must be passed on to website end users.
RCaaS staff and University Contracts can advise on any additions or changes required to existing notices. For sites that do not have existing terms and conditions or privacy notices standard versions of both can be provided.
About SiteGround
SiteGround manages the operating systems, web servers and database servers that we use, as well as individual WordPress installations. They provide a solid, patched foundation for hosted sites.
Security features include:
- power and hardware redundancy - protects against downtime caused by power or hardware failures
- site isolation - if a single site is affected by a security compromise the impacts are limited to that site
- real-time server monitoring
- anti-hack systems and proactive patching
- spam protection and automated or on-demand backups.
SiteGround will automatically apply WordPress site upgrades (core software and installed plugins) whenever new updates are available, subject to a customer’s request to exclude particular upgrades that may impact upon site functionality. SiteGround does not prohibit or restrict the use of any plugins or templates (although for WordPress sites certain plugins are required as a condition of use of the RCaaS hosting service)
These features are complemented by others that improve the performance and utility of hosting, such as:
- staging servers
- wide ranging technology support
- optimised site performance
- straightforward site migration features