Campus Cloud Choice hosting provides the most economical hosting solution for medium to large-sized districts while providing the greatest degree of freedom and flexibility in selecting which specific version number of the product to run and when to switch versions. In the case of the unthinkable, Campus Cloud Choice hosting ensures data will always be available regardless of circumstances (e.g., a flood wipes out a district's network infrastructure, etc).
Campus Cloud Choice combines all the connectivity advantages of Cloud Hosting with the functional advantages of Onsite Hosting.
The following are some of the benefits of using Campus Cloud Choice Hosting:
- Full suite of Premium Products available
- Centralized application management
- Individual district database and server(s)
- Updates can be taken at the district’s leisure
- Staging site included
- Powerful Data Extract Utility is included free of charge
- Nightly remote backups to the Infinite Campus data center
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services access is also included in the Campus Cloud Choice hosting model. Districts can use SSRS to build custom reports and extracts not yet available within Campus. With SSRS, users can push event-driven reports to others and drill into Campus data elements. Created reports can be updated using any standard Microsoft tool. These reports are available to the district via custom outline links in the district’s production site, or to report administrators at their own SSRS url.
Available Premium Products
In this hosting solution, the following Premium Products are available:
- Ad Hoc Server
- Campus Analytics Suite
- Campus Learning Suite
- Campus Passport
- Campus Payments
- Campus Workflow Suite
- Data Change Tracker
- Messaging (including Messenger w/Voice, SMS, and Remote Dial-In)
- Multi-language Editor - Report Module
- Online Registration
- Point of Sale/Food Service
- Self-Hosted Data Warehouse setup (district owned server)
- Staff Evaluations
- Virtual Data Warehouse
Supported Sites
Campus Cloud Choice hosting provides districts with the following sites:
Customer Production
The production site (also known as the "live" site) is the web application and database where users do their day-to-day work. This includes all reports generated by Infinite Campus. This site handles all incoming activity from the production URL, interfaces with the district’s production database and provides all outgoing data to that URL. The Customer Production site links to the Campus Community for easy access to product information and learning material, and provides individualized logins for each district user including teachers, staff and students.
Each login is access-restricted, meaning each Campus user will only see the features of Campus they have been assigned to by their district’s administrator. Districts have the option of authenticating user accounts using LDAP or SSO/SAML and the Data Extract Utility is included at no extra charge. Campus Managed Services is available to assist with implementing any additional Premium Products a district may choose.
Customer Sandbox
This data is a replica of production and personal identifying information is not sanitized.
The sandbox is used to test and implement new features in Campus (such as enabling LDAP or SSO authentication types) in a production-like site. When the production site is updated to a newer version, the sandbox site is updated to the same version. Infinite Campus will refresh this site with data from the customer’s production site at the request of the customer.
Some data in the sandbox site is scrambled or removed and features may be disabled in order to prevent conflicts with the production site. For example, the messenger and task scheduler features are disabled, while some premium products such as Point of Sale/Food Service are available to test in the sandbox site.
Customer Staging
This data is a replica of production and personal identifying information is not sanitized.
The staging site is where customers can review new Campus application releases prior to updating their production site. By using a staging site, users can get first-hand experience on how new functionality works within Campus as well how the version behaves with their configuration and set of data. Infinite Campus will refresh this site with data from the customer’s production site at the request of the customer.
Customer Sites for an Additional Fee
Customer Dedicated Training Site
Infinite Campus will attempt to scramble this data but does not guarantee that all data has been sufficiently scrambled or that re-identification of data is not possible. This is not anonymization or de-identification of the data and some information may be attributable to individuals.
Customer dedicated training sites can be created for districts who want a training solution available for more than a year. A customer training site can be maintained and managed independently of customer production and staging sites. Customer training sites can be populated with district data or generic data. The generic dataset is a fictional school district that eliminates the risk of exposing personal identifiable information (PII). If your district uses LDAP or SAML for single sign-on, it will be disabled in your training site. You will need to use your local Campus login credentials for access.
Customer Development Site
If your district needs to create Custom Reports, please review the SSRS Report Options before requesting a development site.
Customer development sites can be created for districts who intend to significantly customize their Campus application. These sites are delivered via a single server and are intended for deep Campus customization. This server comes configured with a single development site. From that point forward, the district is responsible for application updates, data refreshes, and other configuration changes. For this reason, a customer development site requires you to understand details about hosting the Campus application.
You will receive additional tools and training to help you manage this site to make your testing effective. While you can test customization in this site, deployment of custom code to the Customer Production site will still be done by the Managed Services team at Infinite Campus.
Determining the Bandwidth Support Needed
To run a speed test of your network and determine the bandwidth support needed, see the Speed Test article for more information.
FAQ
The following is a list of Frequently Asked Questions about Campus Cloud Choice hosting.
Q: Will the districts IP address change?
A: Yes. The district will be provided a new URL prior to the switch to the new hosting model.
Q: How are extracts pulled for use with third-party software?
A: The Data Extract Utility in the Campus Cloud user interface allows the district to produce these extracts. Connect to your database instance using standard SQL Server database tools to perform any additional data extracts you require.
Q: Will the district still be able to have SQL Server connections to their database?
A: Yes. This access is provided on a request-only basis, and requires both district staff and superintendent approval before it can be provisioned.
Q: Will the district still have RDP access to the system?
A: No.
Q: Will the district still be able to utilize SSRS?
A: Yes. SSRS is available.
Q: What is the bandwidth into the Infinite Campus data center?
A: There are two diverse 10GB fiber connections into the Infinite Campus data center.
Q: How much bandwidth is needed at the district for Campus Cloud Choice?
A: Districts should plan for 70 bits/second/student for optimal performance. Infinite Campus Hosting can conduct a speed test from the district to our data center to determine if the district has sufficient bandwidth. Districts can also conduct this test by following the Speed Test instructions located here.
Q: Is Data Warehouse/Tableau still an option with this hosting model?
A: Yes, however the option for the district to provide the Data Warehouse server will no longer be available. Infinite Campus Hosting will provide a virtual Data Warehouse server at a cost calculated based on the size of resources needed per district.
