1. Web Hosting
The intent of this document is to describe central Web hosting services provided by the Office of
Information Technology’s (OIT) Operations, Infrastructure and Architecture (OIA) unit, define
boundaries of such services, and identify levels of services all users should expect.
OIT provides common good central Web hosting to University units. This hosting is done on Unix
systems and does not include database back ends. Web content is maintained by staff in local units.
Definition of Services Provided
http://webhost.oit.umn.edu
OIT provides a comprehensive, common good Web hosting service for University units that enables
them to post their own content online. Content is securely managed via separate servers by Web
developers from each local unit. Performance and Web traffic is monitored carefully and continually by
OIT staff to maintain high levels of quality and performance.
Features of Central Web Hosting:
Web Servers
A pool of Web servers is available to host Web content. Multiple Web servers, in several locations
around campus, support central Web hosting. An outage at one location or on one server is highly
unlikely to result in a system-wide outage.
Shell Access
UNIX shell host access permits interactive editing of content. Access to the shell servers is protected by
UNIX permissions, and controlled by the local unit’s Web developers. Only developers that are part of a
unit’s Web site group are able to write to Web site directory space or other files.
Virtual Hosts
Custom Virtual Hosts (VHOSTs) will be defined so the Web servers will answer traffic for the Web site
name selected by the local unit.
Server Side Includes
Server Side Includes (SSI) are supported on central Web servers. SSI provides another method of
producing dynamic Web content. SSI commands are put into an HTML comment, which is interpreted by
the Web server, resulting in dynamically-generated HTML
CGI (Perl, sh, etc.)
CGI is one method for executing binaries or interpreted scripts that generate Web pages, which allows
units to create dynamic Web sites. CGI scripts may be written in a variety of programming languages.
Office of Information Technology – University of Minnesota 1

2. Please note that an additional (fee-based) level of Web hosting is available from OIT: Premium, which is
monitored more closely and has the option for SSL support.
Service Performance
Hours of Operation
It is OIT’s goal to provide central Web hosting services 24x7x52, except for scheduled maintenance
periods. OIT’s OIA unit provides support for central Web hosting. Normal work hours for the unit are
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday – Friday, with on-call staffing for after-hours emergencies.
System status is available at: http://systemstatus.umn.edu.
Performance Measurement Description
Availability
Up time
System Performance
Response time and Throughput
Customer satisfaction
Service Delivery Performance
OIA unit response and resolution Maximum amount of time before response is made to a service request
times Maximum amount of time before a request is resolved
Severity Response Time Resolution Goal
Level*
1
2
3
4
Customer Satisfaction
 Standard severity-level definitions for service interruptions are being developed by OIT
Disaster Recovery Services
Scheduled Maintenance
Because a load balancer and multiple Web servers are used, most outages can be avoided. When
maintenance is required, OIT will update the System Status Web page prior to the maintenance period.
The announcement will include the start time, anticipated end time, and a description of the
maintenance to be performed (upgrades, patches, etc.). If the maintenance window extends beyond
anticipated end time, the System Status Web page will be updated accordingly.
Office of Information Technology – University of Minnesota 2

3. Dependencies
Central Web hosting is dependent upon the University data center power, network, and related
systems. The availability of those systems will have a direct impact on the availability of this service.
Service Dependency on Service Service Provider
Power There must be power to Web and authentication servers Network &
Telecommunications
and Operations,
Infrastructure and
Architecture
Network There must be network access to Web and authentication servers Network &
Telecommunications
Environment There must be chilled air to the Web and authentication servers Network &
Telecommunications
and Operations,
Infrastructure and
Architecture
Storage There must be connectivity to the Network Attached Storage system OIA
Vendor Vendor support may be required for resolving complex problems. Vendor
Support timetables from vendors are highly variable and will extend
time needed to resolve problems.
Service Provider and Customer Responsibilities
Staffing
OIT’s OIA unit is responsible for the implementation of the product, updates/upgrades, management of
the central service, and providing best practice recommendations about service administration for local
units. The OIA unit can be contacted via e-mail at: oialinux@umn.edu.
OIT Duties and Responsibilities
OIT will set up, configure, maintain, and upgrade server hardware and peripherals, including server
CPUs, adapter cards, memory, hard disk arrays, tape backup units, and removable storage units etc. OIT
will install, configure, maintain, and upgrade operating system software on servers. OIT will also install
and maintain operating system vendor supplied versions of Web hosting software including, but not
limited to, Apache, PHP and Perl. OIT will manage and maintain SSL certificates.
Web log analysis can help provide a better picture for how users access and use a Web site. This can
provide valuable information such as hits, page views, page errors, broken links, and number of visitors
to units and Web masters. Log statistics analysis is available from OIT using software named UM Web
Stats (http://www1.umn.edu/httpstat).
The common good Web hosting service is monitored 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday. Problems
discovered during this time are responded to immediately. Outside these times, problems are
responded to on a "best effort" basis. OIT will actively scan and monitor all servers to ensure systems
are secure. OIT will review and remediate any outstanding issues that are based upon results of security
scans.
Office of Information Technology – University of Minnesota 3

4. The OIA unit will be expected to:
 Communicate and coordinate with IT staff in local units to minimize disruption to end users.
 Notify customers about scheduled maintenance via the System Status Web page
 Meet response and resolution times associated with service-related incidents
Customer Duties and Responsibilities:
OIT requires at least one primary contact, including name, e-mail address, chart string and phone
number for every Web site. OIT will contact the primary contact(s) directly in the event of a problem or
question about a Web site.
It is the responsibility of units using central Web hosting to maintain, modify, and delete their own Web
objects and structures. OIT staff will not perform content maintenance.
Usage Guidelines
The following guidelines include information about the most common acceptable use issues. This is not
a comprehensive list; projects must follow these guidelines, but are also encouraged to use industry
best practices. When in doubt, contact us for further guidance at oialinux@umn.edu.
Security Considerations
Access to and management of applications and content stored on central Web hosting servers is done
using the University’s x.500 system. Use of personal x.500 usernames and passwords is required. Shared
or “departmental” accounts are not allowed.
The central Web servers and shell servers are shared by many departments. As with any publicly-shared
servers, you should consider these servers to be unsecure. Please do not store sensitive or private data
on Web sites, as this can lead to accidentally sharing this information to the public. This shared nature of
central Web service also has important security considerations for Web applications that access local
files; please program scripts accordingly.
Disk Quota
There is no disk space limit for the Web hosting service. However, if a site uses so much space as to
disrupt services to other customers, we may discuss alternate options with you, such as a service fee for
disk used.
Backups
Users are responsible for their own backups. While we encourage Webmasters to make regular backups
of their work, these backups should be offloaded from our servers to better provide a source to restore
your own data. OIT staff members maintain backups for system recovery purposes only and will
(generally) not restore Web site content on demand. If you have a particular need for per-request
recovery, please contact us.
CPU Usage
Please do not use our servers for general data processing or CPU-intensive work, such as the operation
of distributed data analysis programs like SETI. Normal document processing activities (i.e. creation and
management of Web site content) are acceptable.
Office of Information Technology – University of Minnesota 4

5. Bandwidth
There is no data transfer limit for the Web hosting service. However, Webmasters are encouraged to
develop Web sites that are viewable by users over dial-up (i.e. limit the size of images, and keep other
content down to a reasonable size).
All customers of central Web hosting are expected to:
 Adhere to any related policies, processes, and procedures
 Report problems using reporting procedures described in this service statement
 Provide input on the quality and timeliness of service
Problem Management
The status of University systems is available online at: http://systemstatus.umn.edu. Whenever
possible, users are encouraged to check the status page before contacting technical support.
Users are strongly encouraged to first contact technical support resources in their local unit if they are
experiencing problems with computers or applications. Local technical staff will be able to resolve many
problems or escalate them to the appropriate levels, helping to increase the speed and effectiveness of
the service response. Response time is dependent on the local unit’s technical support processes and
policies.
If local technical support resources do not exist or are not available (e.g., outside of normal work hours)
users are encouraged to contact the University’s 1-HELP service (http://www.oit.umn.edu/help):
 On-campus – 1-HELP (1-4357)
 Off-campus – (612) 301-HELP (4357)
 E-mail – help@umn.edu
1-HELP hours are found at:
http://www.oit.umn.edu/help/contacts/
Hours as of May 2009:
Monday-Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday: 11:00a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday: closed
Outside of these hours, or on University holidays, callers may leave a message, which will be responded
to the following business day.
1-HELP will escalate incidents, when necessary, to appropriate service providers. All incidents and
changes reported to 1-HELP will be logged into Service Center.
Disaster Recovery
Central Web hosting is an important service. In the event of a disaster, recovering central Web hosting
services is a high priority. Multiple, highly available, load-balanced Web servers are used for central
Web hosting, providing a redundant and fault-tolerant environment with an automatic fail-over process.
Degraded or failed service receives immediate attention and all available resources are brought into
force to recover full operations. Expected recovery time from failure would be two hours.
Office of Information Technology – University of Minnesota 5

6. OIT will perform full and incremental backups of server data for use in disaster recovery. A typical
backup schedule will provide 45 days of data retention. In case of a system-wide disaster involving loss
of data, OIT will re-install the operating system(s) and restore data.
In the event of a campus-wide failure or another event causing multiple service failures, central Web
hosting will be placed at a non-business critical level in the recovery queue, depending on the nature of
the failure. In other words, services like PeopleSoft or e-mail would be a higher priority.
Communication
Normal Operations
The operational status of the service will be available via the System Status Web page. Planned updates
and maintenance will be announced in advance via the System Status Web page..
Unexpected Interruptions
In the event of unexpected service interruption, OIT will update the System Status Web page and send
notification of service interruption to units utilizing central Web hosting within 15 minutes of service
loss identification by the OIA unit. Post mortem will be released after the resolution of the interruption.
Policies
University of Minnesota Information Technology policies are available on the Web at:
http://policy.umn.edu/Policies/it/Use/ITRESOURCES.html
Polices related to this statement include:
Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources
http://www.policy.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/Policy/Acceptable_Use.cfm
User Authentication for Access to University Computer Resources
http://www.policy.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/Policy/x500pol.cfm
Service Statement Maintenance
This statement of service will be reviewed annually.
Last revision: May 2009
File Name: Web Hosting.doc
Office of Information Technology – University of Minnesota 6