IT Development Department
We design, build, host, and maintain the University of Duhok's digital backbone — from public websites and e-learning platforms to the physical and cloud servers they run on. With very long experience across the full stack, our team keeps the university online, secure, and moving forward.
Who we are
The IT Development Department is the software and infrastructure arm of the University of Duhok's IT Directorate. Our developers and system administrators bring together decades of combined, hands-on experience — a very long track record covering everything from classic PHP applications to modern Python and JavaScript frameworks, and from on-premises HPE ProLiant hardware to cloud VPS and dedicated servers. Whatever the university needs on the web, we build it, deploy it, and keep it running.
Duties & responsibilities
Our work spans four closely connected areas of responsibility.
Web development
We build and maintain the university's websites and various web apps using PHP and Laravel, WordPress, and Python with Django and Wagtail — plus modern front-end and mobile work in React and Flutter. Databases are powered by MySQL and PostgreSQL.
Server administration
We manage a fleet of local servers, VPS, and dedicated servers running Ubuntu and AlmaLinux, administered through CloudPanel, cPanel, and WHM. Web traffic is served by Nginx, Apache, and Gunicorn depending on each application's stack.
Hosting, DNS & domains
We operate the university's DNS servers and manage domains and zones through Cloudflare, with hosting and registrar experience across Hostinger, HostGator, Contabo, and GoDaddy — choosing the right home for every service.
Platforms & collaboration
We host and support Moodle for e-learning, Open Journal Systems for academic publishing, university email on Google Workspace, and Zoom for online lectures and meetings across colleges and departments.
Our stack, from metal to browser
Every layer of the university's web presence passes through this department.
Achievements
- University-wide web presence. Built and currently maintain the main university website and dozens of college, department, and center sites — various web apps developed in-house on Laravel, WordPress, Django, and Wagtail.
- E-learning at scale. Deployed and host Moodle for the entire university, supporting thousands of students and instructors through online and blended learning.
- Academic publishing. Launched Open Journal Systems to give UoD journals a professional, indexed online publishing workflow.
- Modern infrastructure migration. Consolidated hosting from mixed shared hosting onto managed Ubuntu and AlmaLinux servers — a blend of on-premises HPE ProLiant machines (G6 through G8), cloud VPS, and dedicated servers.
- Resilient backups. Established a dedicated backup server and off-site backup pipeline to iDrive e2 cloud storage, protecting every hosted site and database with scheduled, retained snapshots.
- Unified communication. Rolled out official university email on Google Workspace and standardized Zoom for remote teaching, defenses, and conferences.
- DNS & security hardening. Centralized domain management behind Cloudflare with our own DNS servers, improving performance, DDoS protection, and SSL coverage across all university domains.
Services we provide
About The Directorate
It is one of the directorates of the Office of the Vice President for Scientific Affairs. This directorate is responsible for all electronic services; Providing software and electronic devices, managing networks, internet, servers and any related services to the university.
