Our Technology

The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for educational development has grown dramatically over the past decade.  The Global Learning Portal is at the forefront of this shift, designing and implementing holistic, innovative, and cost-efficient solutions that improve teaching and learning outcomes around the world.  While people are the core of GLP's activities, we would not be able to create change the way we do without the technology promoting it.

Servers and Hosting

GLP uses dedicated Dell PowerEdge 1950 & 1850 servers for mission-critical systems. All GLP servers have access to a network with a peak data rate of 100Megabits a second.

Operating System and Software

To deliver the right technology to achieve GLP goals, the technical development philosophy is:

  • Open Source software when possible
  • Commercial software when necessary
  • Custom development when required

Selecting Open Source software solutions, wherever appropriate, reduces total cost of ownership for each GLP community and portal.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is the standard operating system for critical GLP systems. GLP determined that that the reliability, performance, and support that SUSE Linux offers outweighs any benefits provided by the alternative options. At present, SUSE Linux 10 is operating.

Apache Server

The Apache HTTP Server is a powerful, flexible web server that implements the latest protocols. Apache is highly configurable and extensible with third-party modules and has been the most popular web server on the Internet since April of 1996.

MySQL

MySQL was selected as the database platform for GLP because of its reliability, its cost-effectiveness, and because it posesses key features required to support GLP now and in the future.

Liferay Portal

Liferay Portal is the world's leading open source enterprise portal solution using the latest in Java and Web 2.0 technologies. Liferay features a built-in content management system (CMS), over 60 portlets (features) available out of the box, and localization to 22 languages, with the option to add more languages as needed. Liferay has been benchmarked among the most secure portal platforms and runs on all major application servers, databases and operating systems.

Security and System Monitoring

A firewall protects GLP back-end systems from unauthorized access. The GLP system is monitored 24/7 by Nagios, a host, service, and network monitoring program. Automated notifications warn the GLP technical team of potential problems so that issues can be resolved before users are affected.

Service Level and Uptime Guarantees

GLP’s Service Level Agreement guarantees minimal disruption of service and outlines the procedures for routine maintenance and responding to user requests for support.

GLP follows established good practices for the design, development, testing, release, and support of its portals and the maintenance of its infrastructure. GLP’s change management practices minimize unplanned downtime and reduce the number of bugs that are allowed to affect portal users.

Technical Team

The GLP technical team is comprised of seasoned professionals who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to customer service. In-house staff are experienced in server administration, web project management, netwtork security, software requirements management, front-end development, and other key areas. A team of subcontractors provide expertise in software engineering, database administration, and quality assurance.