See Also: ServerToDo, ServerGoals

Background

The GNHLUG websites and mailing lists (and some of the local GNHLUG stuff) were generously hosted on servers owned and operated by Bruce Dawson's company, Codemeta. These servers also host services for his paying customers, so we had to be fairly careful to not screw things up. That means security and configuration management and all that stuff. It also puts a burden on Bruce which he really does not need, and sometimes cannot spare the resources for.

Why

One is that we can allow more people more access. Before, only a few GNHLUG people had shell access to anything. Fewer still have privileged access. Now that we have our own server, the requirements for access can be lower, as it isn't somebody's business that's on the line. This is not to say the root password is published on the TWiki; just that more people will be able to help do stuff. This also means that critical maintenance of GNHLUG's Internet infrastructure stops being just Bruce Dawson's problem. I'm sure Bruce appreciates that more than most. :)

That brings us to the next benefit: Pure and simply, it really was not fair to Bruce to burden him with all this crap.

Another major benefit, related to the first, is that we can more aggressive in our Internet activities. Doing things like upgrading TWiki, or Apache, or mailing list software, or installing new software to try out idea XYZ, is much more practical. I think there are a few applications of the technology that could really benefit us, and we can try them, now that we have a sandbox to play in.