Having an outstanding security setup for your LMS hosting is probably one of the decisions you will not regret when implementing an e-learning system. Doing a small investment on your LMS hosting security could save you big bucks on the long run, we all are familiar with the current security flaws and how hackers could exploit them and jeopardize the investment deployed for your instance.   

Nowadays, you will be able to find numerous great hosting providers in the market, offering a lot of features that you might be interested in, but “truth be told”; features should not be the decision-making factor; it is all about security.

Paradiso Solutions shares with you seven important security tips you have to be aware in the moment you choose a provider for your instance. So, the 7 LMS hosting security tips are:

BackUp: this is on our top 3 factors when choosing a hosting provider. Whether you chose a self-managed hosting service or a managed site, it’s always wise to create separate backups (you never know) for both your database and LMS content. Storing your backup on a different server than your LMS is probably the most effective way of preventing any bad situation. Providing secure access to your backups is a good way of staying in control, it is recommended you use FTPS connections for this purpose, it is also recommended to have daily backups in order to keep records of everything that has been done on the platform on a daily basis.

SSL certificate: one of the most important ways of securing your and your customers’ information is establishing an SSL certificate on your site, this way you know all your information will be encrypted and you site will be recognized for being on optimal security conditions by industry standards. Having an SSL certificate will be of your customers’ best interest and will provide you peace of mind that you are one step further on this ultimate hosting security road.

Hosting Type: we have some options as to how to store our LMS platform:

• Shared hosting: Also known as shared services or virtual hosting is the most inexpensive way of hosting your LMS, but it also is the one that provides more security risks. Shared Hosting is a shared storage facility, where everyone stores all types of websites, applications, etc. If you are trying to keep security at a maximum level, we strongly suggest you not to use this type of service.
• Dedicated hosting: Simple, “your house, your rules” using this service you will be able to “securely” implement you LMS instance. This type of hosting service can be acquired depending on your needs: how many users, concurrency, size of courses, plugins, integrations, etc. We suggest using Dedicated Hosting for your LMS platform.

Up-Time: staying up and running 100% of the time is almost impossible, but at least you can settle for something close. Depending on your investment; our recommendation is to settle for something no less than 99.9%. You do not want your users reporting server down time, and we all know your LMS is no good if it keeps on dropping.

Known and experienced hosting providers: these are tough times, every penny counts, but when it comes to protecting your investment it is always best to go “all in.” As we said before, there are a lot of good hosting providers, but some of them sacrifice security, in order to offer you “the best price.” We encourage you to remember “all that glitters is not gold”, Paradiso Solutions strongly recommend you to spend a little now in security and not later spending tons of money fixing the problems and solving other issues. You as an LMS admin should understand what are the risks that may appear along the way and act accordingly. Either look for a provider that understands, faced and has taken proper measurements with these risks before and suits your needs or host your LMS in-house to make sure that you know what are you dealing.

Support: this should be the first on your checklist when looking for hosting your educational or corporate LMS. Here is what to look for in a hosting provider with a good support:

1. Response time
2. Support plans and pricing
3. Tiers offered with your plan
4. Do they offer proactive monitoring, if so:
   1. What do they watch
   2. How does their alert system work
   3. How long does it take for them to respond to problems.

These are just some of the most important “features” as far as support goes that we need to look for in an LMS hosting provider.

Patches and Updates: Keeping you LMS platform updated with the latest releases from your provider is very important, even smallest updates might be crucial security fixes and “patches” for your system. Our advice here is to always update and patch you platform with all the releases from your LMS provider.

There are a lot more security tips and tricks to cover this big area. If you follow these advices we are sure you will be ahead when it comes down to LMS hosting security. For more info, please visit our website at ParadisoSolutions.com, send an email to Sales@ParadisoSolutions.com or call us at +1 800 513 5902