We provision virtual servers for faculty and staff who need to run custom applications that are not available through existing supported services.
This offering is ideal for technically experienced users who require greater flexibility and control over their own environment.
Virtual servers are provisioned on a cost-recovery basis and include the necessary infrastructure to get started. Users are responsible for administering and maintaining their own servers and should be comfortable managing the operational, security, and application requirements of a custom environment.
Service items
We offer the following support for Arts faculty and staff:
- General inquiries — Answering general questions about virtual servers
- Consultation — Providing an overview of hosting solutions available and recommendations based on desired outcomes
- Setup — Setting up virtual server and providing access (this does not include support for any custom software or additional installs)
- Troubleshooting — Fixing any incidents or issues you may be having with using virtual servers
- Decommissioning — Turning off and deleting virtual servers
Considerations for the requestor
Before requesting a server, ensure that you have considered the following:
- Lifecycle — Before requesting the server, consider the lifecycle of the server. Provide a (preliminary) decommission date for when the server is expected to no longer be needed.
- Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) — Consider whether a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is required based on the intended use of the server. Consult the UBC Privacy Office to confirm if a PIA is required before proceeding.
- Shared responsibility model — The department head has a duty to know that the server exists, the applications installed, and the security measures in place. The requestor is responsible for informing their department head and obtaining their approval before the server is provisioned.
- Full ownership — The server owner will be fully responsible for configuring, managing, and maintaining your virtual server and any applications installed on it.
- Accountability — In the event of a security, operational, or technical issue, the department may be responsible for any costs required to investigate, remediate, or recover the service.
- Additional contact — Provide one or more alternative contacts that are informed about the virtual machine in case the original server owner is unavailable in the future.
Server owner responsibilities
We will support the initial provisioning and setup of the virtual server. By default, servers come with Red Hat Enterprise, PHP 8.1, MySQL 8, and Apache 2.4. However, we do not manage or support any applications, platforms, or configurations installed on the server after provisioning.
As the server owner, you are responsible for:
- Management and maintenance of the virtual machine
- All software installed on the virtual machine, including operating systems, applications, and supporting tools
- Ensuring that all installed software remains functional, secure, and up to date in accordance with vendor recommendations and current security standards
- Any costs associated with the virtual server, including ongoing usage and resource consumption
Contact us for a consultation to determine whether this solution aligns with your needs.