Why manage the LMS server separately from the platform?

The server and the LMS are two different jobs. The server needs security patches and backups, watched around the clock. The LMS needs tested updates and support from people who know your platform. Managed separately, each job is visible and priced on its own, and you can change one without touching the other.

When an LMS slows down at the wrong moment, the first problem is working out whose problem it is. The server team says the server is fine. The platform team says the platform is fine. Both can be right, and the learners still wait.

That gap is why Balanita runs the server and the platform as two services with a written line between them. This post explains where the line falls, how to use it and what each side costs. It builds on what a managed LMS is and what the provider does each month.

What is the difference between the server and the LMS?

The server is the computer, real or virtual, that the LMS runs on. The LMS is the software and course content on top of it. The server layer covers the operating system, web server, security patches and backups. The platform layer covers the LMS itself, its plugins and theme, your courses and your learners.

At Balanita, those layers map to three services, each priced and contracted on its own:

During a Launch project, Balanita provides the build environment at no extra cost. Your own server and Server Management fees start at go-live. You own the server in every case, either a cloud account in your name or your own hardware. Balanita manages it and does not own or resell it. Here is who owns each part of an LMS when someone else builds it.

Why do the server and the platform run on different clocks?

Server risks move fast and are mostly the same for every site. Platform risks are specific to your plugins, courses and users, so changes need testing first. At Balanita, server security patches go on within 5 business days of a vendor release, 48 hours if the flaw is being actively exploited. LMS updates are tested before they go live.

The reasoning is simple. A server patch fixes software that many sites share, and waiting leaves a known hole open. An LMS update touches your own plugins, theme and courses. A bad one breaks a live course, so it gets tested first. One layer rewards speed. The other rewards care. Putting both under one schedule means one of them is always wrong.

How do you tell which layer a problem belongs to?

Match the symptom to the layer. Certificate warnings, missing backups, full disks and unpatched systems belong to the server. Broken courses, plugin conflicts, permission problems and single sign-on faults belong to the platform. A site that is down is a critical incident, actioned within 2 business hours.

When one team holds both services, the question of whose problem it is does not need an answer first. That team triages. When two providers hold them, you coordinate, using the responsibility matrix that every Balanita contract includes.

What does it cost to manage the server separately?

At Balanita, Server Management is US$ 150 a month for up to 500 active learners and US$ 300 a month for 501 to 1,500. Manage is priced on the same bands. Larger bands are quoted. You can buy either service alone. Annual prepayment gives 12 months for the price of 10, on either service or both.

Prices are in US dollars and exclude taxes. Both services are priced by active learners. An active learner is anyone who logs in at least once in the billing month. There is no per-seat billing.

Server Management is billed monthly on the 1st from go-live, or as annual prepayment. Prepaid amounts are not refunded for early cancellation. Your band is reviewed every quarter, and a move applies from the next billing month.

Not included in the Server Management price:

The Balanita pricing page has the full list, last updated on 25 September 2026.

What are the downsides of managing the server separately?

There are two. You see a second line on the invoice, and when a fault could sit in either layer, someone has to work out which. If one team holds both services, that team does the sorting. If you split them across providers, you do it, using the responsibility matrix in your contract.

A single bundled price is simpler to buy. It is also harder to read. You cannot tell what you pay for the server work and what you pay for the platform work, so you cannot compare either against another provider, and you cannot change one without renegotiating both. We chose the split over the simpler invoice.

One more limit, stated plainly. Separating the server does not make it more reliable by itself. It makes responsibility clear. The uptime of the underlying server and network belongs to your cloud provider, under its own service level agreement, or to your own team if you use your own servers. We commit to patching, monitoring, backups and response times, not to the infrastructure itself.

When does it make sense to take Server Management on its own?

Take Server Management alone when your own team can run the LMS day to day but you do not want to patch, back up and watch a server. You then handle LMS updates, learner issues and maintenance in-house. Add Manage later if the workload grows.

This is one of the two paths after a Launch project. At handover you choose between them, and in both, server management continues, because the platform runs on a server you own:

If you take Server Management without Manage, the Standard support window applies to server requests. Standard runs on Sri Lanka business hours. Alerts that arrive outside the window are logged and actioned when it opens. Teams that need cover in their own hours can add Gold support, quoted based on their requirement level.

What should you tell us on a discovery call?

Tell us three things on the free 30-minute call: your cloud provider and region, your expected number of active learners, and how many people will be online at the same time at peak. We use them to size the server and confirm the arrangement, and we tell you honestly if we are not the right fit. A written summary of the call and our recommendation follows by the next working day, and your exact first-year cost is confirmed in writing before any payment.