Hosting discussion

[TheHolo.Net]

In the last couple of weeks I have noticed an alarming amount of downtime for our forums and also read and received several complaints. As such it as been thought that we should consider moving to a new host for our forums. All our forums.

Through communications with another vBulletin board owner I know of another host that has a comparable package to the one we currently have on our site’s host now, but also includes more server space allocation, better administrative control, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. My friend, the fellow vB board owner, has had good success with this host and I think we should give it a try.

Contributions for keeping SWFans.Net Forums up and running on either a new host, or even the current host are welcome, but not required.

The easiest way to contribute is via paypal at www.paypal.com. You can submit your contribution to c_schertz@msn.com. Include your SWFans screen name in the note if you would like to be listed as a contributer. Thus far I already have enough contributions from members to cover us for nearly a year on a new host. All contributions will be tracked and ALL will be applied to further hosting time and/or bandwidth.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments please feel free to post them, email me, or send me a private message.

Contributors so far are as follows (will update as more arrive):

Myself
Morgan Evanar
Lilaena De’Ville
Eve
Taylor Millard
Callista
Master Yoghurt

[Bette Davis]

Question: Will all accounts have to be re-registered?

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by Bette Davis
Question: Will all accounts have to be re-registered? Nope. Everything should be just as it is except we will have a new domain name (URL).

Moving to a new host will require our domain name to be changed. www.sw-fans.net is the one available that is closest to our site’s name, which I have signed us up for at the new host, but we do have 7 days to cancel the new hosting package if we find it unsatisfactory. I believe that seven days starts once they activate it, but I will find out for certain soon.

The new hosting package includes the ability to have 5 subdomains for no extra charge (I will investigate the cost for more to be added). Subdomains would mean that some of the forums could have their own personalized URLs if it is so wished. IE: www.gjo.sw-fans.net could lead to the Greater Jedi Order forum index and so on.

[Severen Morkonis]

Is it possible you could give us an exsample of what the baord may look like?...IE: post a URL of a board already using the package...

[TheHolo.Net]

It may be possible for the www.swforums.net URL to be transferred to the new site if the move is successful and our current hosting package is canceled. I will look into that if and when the time arrives.

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by Sieken Kasstra
Is it possible you could give us an exsample of what the baord may look like?...IE: post a URL of a board already using the package... It will look exactly the same as it does now. No difference.

[Taylor Millard]

Originally posted by SWFans.Net
It may be possible for the www.swforums.net URL to be transferred to the new site if the move is successful and our current hosting package is canceled. I will look into that if and when the time arrives.

Sounds good to me.

And the only thing that will change is the server.

Of course I don't even know what a server does so I'll take your word for it. :lol

*is the non-technical mod*

[Jeseth Cloak]

Assuming that Shawn will still be handling financial support for the board, would it be possible for me to make a contribution to him personally? I can't register a new PayPal account, and my current one is already tapped out unless I pay a fee to make it one of their "gold" accounts, or whatever they call it.

[TheHolo.Net]

The new hosting package being investigated will be financially supported/paid by me. If we remain on this host, Shawn would still be the primary financial supporter, though I myself made a payment today for the next month since our service plan had expired. Shawn is the owner of the software and will remain such.

I have new information that helps compel me to wish to make the move to the new host if it is technically possible, which from my study of vB shouldn’t be too much trouble.

On our current host, the forum owners are responsible for all database backups, which with our current plan is very difficult to do (ie: it takes me more than four hours to complete the entire process and I have to make the board inoperable for 15 to 20 minutes each time). The host told me tonight that they do no DB server backups at all.

The new host I have set up an account with provides free daily backups of the site and DB, that are available to the customer for restore purposes (such backups probably wouldn’t affect our uptime at all, being run from their end). Something I feel any web host should do without question.

BTW: Snail mail for contributions would be fine, just PM me if you would like to do so in that method so I can privately provide my address.

[Figrin D'an]

You mentioned the package is comparable... will there be an increased hosting cost with the new provider?

If we could get the current URL transferred with the board data, that would be a big plus.

If the service is better while maintaining a reasonable hosting cost, then I'm for a change. The recent rash of downtime has been unacceptable, placing a label of "unreliable" on the current hosting service IMO.

[TheHolo.Net]

There is a cost increase but the account has other administrative benefits besides the backups that I mentioned and the 99.9% uptime guarantee. I have been unable to find any host that offers what we currently have now for the same price. I said compararable because the alloted bandwidth is the same as we currently have and the server would be a UNIX one, which I am familiar with when accessing via a secure shell

[Ninjai]

How much is needed in total? Even though you already have what you need Id like to contribute to this fine community.

[TheHolo.Net]

We have collected enough funds for a single year's hosting already. The annual cost is $ 239.40, which includes one gigabyte of server space and 20 GB/month transfer. Any further funds submitted will be applied to extending the duration of hosting and/or additional bandwidth costs in case we go over the 20 allowed each month.

[Nupraptor]

I'd just like to state that I'm very sorry for any inconvenience incurred to everyone here. Tera-Byte had previously sent me a total of 3 e-mails, stating the site would automatically be renewed for 1 year and charged to my credit card. It should have been renewed on the 18th of this month. In fact, they specifically told me not to manually renew it unless I wanted to change the CC info on the account. I just got 2 different e-mails today telling me that there was a problem with the transaction, and that they were suspending service until I could clear it up.

I'd like to thank every single person who chipped in to pay for further hosting. I wasn't trying to weasle out of paying for further hosting, but it's still appreciated. I feel really bad that I wasn't around to help take care of this sooner.

[TheHolo.Net]

Apology accepted. We are all human and are capable of making mistakes, it happens to the best.

The staff here is a team and I will strive to support it and the community at every opportunity. And as this topic shows, so will our members. :)

Thank you all.

[Sith Ahnk]

Would you be able to redirect somehow, or is that frowned upon?

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by Sith Ahnk
Would you be able to redirect somehow, or is that frowned upon? If we still pay for hosting this site we can do whatever we like with it, which means yes we can redirect, but once it is no lonnger being paid for we should be able to transfer the routing of the current domain name (swforums.net) to the new site.

[Sith Ahnk]

So I won't need to change my bookmark then?

[TheHolo.Net]

Can't say with absolute certainty right at the moment, but hopefully not.

[TheHolo.Net]

The forums on the other server are set up for testing purposes. Currently the registered domain name is not resolving, but you can use the forums with your existing log in information by following this link:

http://216.73.113.165/forum/

Please have a look around, do some posting, send some PMs and all around give the new server a test run. RP posts should continue to be made here until we reach a final decision, sometime within the next 7 days. I can back up this site's DB and restore it to the new host quite easily, but in doing so will erase any posts or PMs made there during this test period.

[TheHolo.Net]

Let me stress a point here. Please do not make important posts or PMs on the other host (linked above) unless you make them here too. I will overwrite the database there with the most recent copy from this site if the new site passes our tests and our move is finalized.

[ReaperFett]

I will make a donation if I can

[Sith Ahnk]

Wow... that was quick

[The Deliverator]

Maybe you answered this and I missed it: Do posts we make at the test board go toward our post count here? I'm spamming my butt off over there for the sake of testing and I'd rather not have tons of spam logged on my post count...

[TheHolo.Net]

They will not. Posts made there during the test period will be overwritten when I restore the most recent copy of the database from this site upon move finalization.

[Sith Ahnk]

So we can flargh around over there with no rhyme or reason?

[TheHolo.Net]

Obsenity or insults are not welcome, but for now spam all you like.

[Leeloo Mina]

^_^

[TheHolo.Net]

Please pay attention to the tag on this topic.

[Taylor Millard]

So're we going to go ahead and do the switch or nay?

[TheHolo.Net]

I'm still discussing some things with the host. Our site is very server intensive and pretty large. A final decision has not yet been reached.

[Taylor Millard]

Okies. Thanks.

[JMK]

How else can we contribute if not by paypal? Just contact that email addy you provided?

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by JMK
How else can we contribute if not by paypal? Just contact that email addy you provided? Yes, that will work.

[JMK]

Excellent. Thanks, I'll do that when I get home from work tonight.

[imported_Firebird1]

Can't spam. Test board is down.....

:p


LOL. I think this is a good idea as long as we can afford it, or else we may have to come back here. But since it looks like we will have one year already paid for, I say do it.

[TheHolo.Net]

The forums have been successfully moved to the new host. The URL sw-fans.net should start working in the next day or two and the URL swforums.net should start directing you here in the next week or so. Let me know if you notice any problems with forum topics and or pages and or overall performance.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Looks good so far :)

[Taylor Millard]

Yup...and will we get swforums.net ever again in tghe future or what?

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by SWFans.Net
The forums have been successfully moved to the new host. The URL sw-fans.net should start working in the next day or two and the URL swforums.net should start directing you here in the next week or so. Let me know if you notice any problems with forum topics and or pages and or overall performance.

[Taylor Millard]

Okay..so sw-fans.net is the new URL.

So I'll have to update my bookmarks again.

[TheHolo.Net]

No. swforums.net will work for this site in about a week or so.

[Taylor Millard]

Right but after that...I'll have to update my book marks

[TheHolo.Net]

No. swforums.net will automatically load this site after that time.

[TheHolo.Net]

This site will have two URLs.

sw-fans.net

swforums.net

[Morgan Evanar]

This forum is moving faster than a .50cal bullet greased with hawt butter on teflon.

If you could, sir, take the images for Nights off of my little smidge of an account and host them here?

[TheHolo.Net]

Zip em up and link me to em.

[TheHolo.Net]

And if someone speaks with LV sometime soon, please ask her to zip the TSO images (all of them including banners and BG) up and link me to them too so their images will work all the time rather than 10% of the time.

[Morgan Evanar]

Edit: stupid terabyte is corrupting everything over 45k

Talk to me on AIM tommrow?

[TheHolo.Net]

Got it. You may remove your link if you wish.

[TheHolo.Net]

The swfans.net domain is now functional.

http://sw-fans.net

I will check the status of the swforums.net domain transfer (parking) tomorrow during regular business hours. :)

[Leeloo Mina]

WOO-HOO!

No more linking peole and them telling me "I thought you said it was called "star wars FANS?"

[TheHolo.Net]

The www.swforums.net domain is also functional now.

As a note to current contributors and future contributors: I am now offering yourname@sw-fans.net email addresses which can be used via your favorite email application to anyone who contributes to our forums continued hosting. The “yourname” part can be anything the contributor chooses. :)

[Leeloo Mina]

Gasp!!!

*drool*


:cry


If I only had some money :(

[TheHolo.Net]

Let me go ahead and also mention for clarity and to avoid confusion, that any and all contributions are welcome, but to receive the yourname@sw-fans.net email address recognition for making a contribution, please remit the sum of at least $10 US. Thank you.