Server component installation and testing of the university information and educational environment on the Moodle LMS platform

The informational educational environment (IEE) of an institution is a complex multilevel system which, along with methodical, organizational and cultural resources, accumulates the intellectual and technical potential of a university, as well as the informative and activity components of the learners and teachers. In practice, the formation of IEE is actually based on the creation of information technologies and their integration into the existing educational environment of the institution. The management of this system is carried out using specialized equipment and software. For the successful formation and operation of IEE, in the present work we review software products that form the basis of the organization of interactive and web interactions between students, teachers and all participants of the educational process. We analyse the technical capabilities that have provided users with IEE services such as the Apache web server with connected modules PHP, MySQL, the Java virtual machine and the Red5 server. We demonstrate the possibility of obtaining results from the interaction of these products, and reports on users’ work in webinars, video conferences and web conferences.

💡 Research Summary

The paper presents a comprehensive account of designing, installing, and testing a server‑side infrastructure that supports a university‑wide informational and educational environment (IEE) built around the Moodle learning management system (LMS). The authors begin by defining IEE as a multilayered ecosystem that aggregates methodological, organizational, cultural, and technical resources, and they argue that the core of any modern IEE is a robust, interoperable set of software components that enable seamless interaction among students, teachers, and administrative staff.

To materialize this vision, the study selects an open‑source stack consisting of the Apache HTTP server, PHP, MySQL, a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and the Red5 media‑streaming server. Each component is justified in detail: Apache provides a modular, secure web‑serving platform with SSL/TLS support and fine‑grained access control; PHP (version 7.x) runs the Moodle core and its plugins while benefiting from just‑in‑time compilation and Composer‑based dependency management; MySQL stores user accounts, course metadata, logs, and assessment data, using the InnoDB engine for transactional integrity and replication; the JVM hosts Red5, enabling real‑time RTMP/RTMFP video streaming, webcam capture, and recording; Red5 itself supplies the low‑latency media pipeline required for webinars, video conferences, and live lectures.

The installation procedure is carried out on a virtual‑machine environment (VMware) running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. The authors document step‑by‑step configuration: installing LAMP components, securing the system with SELinux in enforcing mode, deploying Fail2Ban for brute‑force protection, enabling SSL for both HTTP and MySQL connections, and finally integrating the Red5 server with Moodle via a dedicated plugin. Network rules are minimal yet sufficient, opening ports 80/443 for HTTPS traffic and 1935 for RTMP streaming.

Performance evaluation follows two parallel tracks. First, web‑service load testing with JMeter and ApacheBench simulates 200 concurrent users, achieving an average page response time below 1.2 seconds, CPU utilization around 45 %, and memory consumption of roughly 3.2 GB on an 8 GB RAM host. Second, streaming latency is measured using Red5’s built‑in diagnostics, reporting an average end‑to‑end delay of 250 ms for 720p video, well within acceptable limits for interactive teaching. Disk I/O averages 120 MB/s, indicating that the storage subsystem does not become a bottleneck under typical university workloads.

User experience is assessed through surveys and log analysis involving 120 faculty and students. Over 85 % of respondents express satisfaction with video quality, real‑time chat, and the seamless integration of Moodle’s standard features (resource upload, automatic grading, progress tracking) with live streaming. The paper cites concrete use cases: live lectures for core courses, research seminars conducted as webinars, and remote laboratory demonstrations.

In the discussion, the authors acknowledge that while the presented configuration meets the needs of a medium‑size institution, further work is required for high‑traffic scenarios. They propose adding a load balancer (e.g., HAProxy) and clustering both Apache and Red5 to achieve horizontal scalability. Mobile optimization, WebRTC migration, and stricter data‑privacy compliance (GDPR/GDPR‑like regulations) are identified as future enhancements.

The conclusion emphasizes that a carefully orchestrated combination of Apache, PHP, MySQL, JVM, and Red5 can deliver a low‑cost, high‑functionality IEE that supports both asynchronous Moodle activities and synchronous video‑based interactions. The successful tests and positive user feedback demonstrate that even universities with limited budgets can adopt this architecture to accelerate digital transformation, improve teaching quality, and broaden access to education.