Website Hosting
This page describes current web hosting services. Please read the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and then the FAQ. Please also read the usage guide for the web template.
Overview
The Biological Sciences Division Information Services (BSDIS) Department offers academic departments and business units in the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) of the University of Chicago free website hosting on our divisional server for sites that meet certain requirements, described in the Service Level Agreement. BSDIS is currently evaluating a fee-for-hosting arrangement using virtualized servers for those interested in a dedicated (rather than shared) hosting arrangement.
The BSD has a few important requirements for hosted sites that you should be familiar with before beginning development of a new site, which are described in the SLA and the description of the BSD template. BSDIS does provide several samples that can be used for the design of your site, but we do not provide website design services or website content maintenance/support.
Service Level Agreement
Please refer to the Service Level Agreement (Adobe PDF) document for details on all services.
Owner's Guide
If you are responsible for a BSD-hosted site, please also read the Website Owner's Guide.
Frequently Asked Questions about BSD Hosting Services
This FAQ is offered as a supplement to the other documents available from this page.
- What is the SLA? Why should I read it?
- The SLA describes the web and related services that BSD provides as well as the user environment and responsibilities. You agree to the terms and conditions of this agreement when hosting your website with BSDIS, so please read the Agreement carefully.
- I have a site already hosted by BSDIS. What are the most important changes in service?
- BSD has a new web template which offers greater flexibility than the old template; we encourage you to update your site to use the new template. All current sites will continue to be hosted without charge, and we have added a new fee-based hosting option (dedicated server) described below. BSDIS' web site development support role is changing in response to the changes in the template system. Instead of desktop support for website editing, we will focus on improving infrastructure and adding site enhancement services (e.g. site search, optimization for search engines, usage analysis, accessibility, link checking, programming, and more).
- What is shared hosting?
- Shared hosting means that your site is sharing a server with other BSD sites. Shared hosting is free and more than adequate for most sites--and is in fact what nearly all existing sites are using. For example, a site with a large number of web pages (HTML files, PDFs, Word docs, graphics, etc), some Flash animation, a contact form that uses BSDIS' software to send email, and a secure folder that is password-protected for a small number of BSD users, would still be able to run on the shared server. If your site requires additional server software installed or special server configuration, or has some unusual security settings, you may not be able to host your site on our shared server. For example, a site that uses custom server programming and/or stores its content in a database rather than in HTML files would need a dedicated server or some other arrangment.
- I want to update my existing site using the new template. How can I do that?
- Learn about the options available with the new template. Unless you have web development staff available you will need to contract with a web developer. More information about working with a third-party web developer is available on this site.
- I have read the material and I'm ready to have my new site hosted. What do I do next?
- Submit the request for new site hosting.
- I have a question not answered by the SLA or this FAQ. What should I do?
- If you have unanswered questions about hosting services, please contact BSD Web Services.
Downloads
Download the Service Level Agreement for BSD Web Services (Adobe PDF). The SLA is the official description of web hosting services.
Request new site hosting
Submit a request for new site hosting.
More Information
If you have unanswered questions about hosting services, please contact BSD Web Services.
