22 replies to this topic

[Frank Hagan]

Well, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of the forum death may have been exaggerated.

I moved my accounts to a new server, and the host has agreed to let me try archiving off posts older than a year old. Archived posts will still be accessible, but you won't be able to post in them. That saves about 30% of the load on the server.

We'll monitor the resource usage and see if the new server can handle the load. If not, I will try pruning some of the older messages to try and see if that helps. We still may not be able to keep the forums open long term, but at least we have a few things to try.

Thanks to all of you who wrote to me with suggestions; I didn't think about archiving as a way to solve the issue. We'll see if it does. Here's hoping.

[Hirilonde]

Thanks again for all your efforts Frank. I hope archiving works, but like I said in my mail I would rather lose the old content if it means we get to keep the forum.

[Kudzu]

How much does hosting photos consume? I would assume a lot. What about not hosting photos but linking to them instead. There are others that do that and lots of free photo hosting.

[Joe Anderson]

I did not and still do not realize all that is going on behind the curtain, but

this forum has been essential to my boat building. It was like turning off the blooming lights.

Thank you Frank for your great service.

[Oyster]

Thanks for your hard work. While I don't post much anymore with life's changes I do read and follow the forum. I feel sure that there are many here would throw a bone in in order to keep the lights on. I do understand that hosting photos in "house" requires a lot of additional space. But as others says off site linking reduces a lot and most sites and members work around this.

[Frank Hagan]

Well, the disk space is one issue, but the real problem is the CPU load and memory usage when a lot of users are online at the same time. The archiving of the older posts is supposed to help with that. So we'll see what happens.

[Kudzu]

I would think not having to serve photos off you server would cut down on the load. Of course your stuck with all the currently posted photos, but if we have to link to new photos from another host, that will go down as the new post become old post and are not served up as much. Or I am totally missing something?

[Frank Hagan]

I would think not having to serve photos off you server would cut down on the load. Of course your stuck with all the currently posted photos, but if we have to link to new photos from another host, that will go down as the new post become old post and are not served up as much. Or I am totally missing something?

That's probably the next step if the archiving feature doesn't work as planned. So far, it seems to be doing OK here on the new account. I'm really happy with the response from my hosting company to help me resolve the issues.

As most of you know, I'm now self employed as a SMB consultant, and a large part of my business is helping small companies with their IT/Web needs. Honoring Murphy's law, the old server's problems happened just as I was trying to showcase a new web design for a potential client. I have to have a stable platform for showing my work, even if I'm not reselling hosting on my server any longer. That may mean going the dedicated server route in the future anyway, but I have to get my business there first.

[Charlie Jones]

Frank- I don't see any of this showing up on the B and B Board. I assume the changes will affect that one also, but many there don't look at this one. Might need a heads up there also.

Was quite a shock to see the "unavailable" I tell you for sure. Good luck

[Frank Hagan]

Frank- I don't see any of this showing up on the B and B Board. I assume the changes will affect that one also, but many there don't look at this one. Might need a heads up there also.

Was quite a shock to see the "unavailable" I tell you for sure. Good luck

People who didn't visit during the "Internal Server Error" messages (every other page load) and the few hours the forum was actually offline may not know the difference. At least now, if it doesn't work, I'll be able to transition things in an orderly manner.

[Howard]

Now that the substantial expense of maintaining the forum is know, I have suggested to Frank that he establish a pay pal account that some of us can use to donate to the cause.

Perhaps we should conduct a poll, using the poll option on the forum to gauge the level of interest in this? Might help to know the number of those would would contribute and some idea as to amount. I know what "dinner for two" costs these days and I'd gladly give up one or two of those a year to be able to have this forum continue.

BTW, I always upload my photos to photobucket and post links to my photos in the body of the message. I presume that helps take the load off this site and to me, anyway, makes the photos larger and more visible.

[Frank Hagan]

Now that the substantial expense of maintaining the forum is know, I have suggested to Frank that he establish a pay pal account that some of us can use to donate to the cause.

Perhaps we should conduct a poll, using the poll option on the forum to gauge the level of interest in this? Might help to know the number of those would would contribute and some idea as to amount. I know what "dinner for two" costs these days and I'd gladly give up one or two of those a year to be able to have this forum continue.

Not a bad idea; but we should have plenty of time to figure this out. My host has me on a new server with only a few other accounts, so I'm almost getting dedicated server performance. That will degrade as more accounts get added, but he's promised I won't see issues like I did ... the errors were frequent enough that I was worried about trashing the database. A fully managed dedicated server costs around $180 a month. That could drop to less than $100 a month for an unmanaged server, but the time commitment can be huge. I may be able to find someone to share the server with me (perhaps one of my new SMB clients for my consulting business). In any case, the crisis was averted, and I have time to consider other options to keep the forum up and running.

BTW, I always upload my photos to photobucket and post links to my photos in the body of the message. I presume that helps take the load off this site and to me, anyway, makes the photos larger and more visible.

I think most people are used to doing this, so that's a solution that's "in the mix" as we move forward!

[markfitz]

Thanks, frank! This place is an irreplaceable collection of information. I definitely think a donation button is in order.

[Frank Hagan]

Thanks, frank! This place is an irreplaceable collection of information. I definitely think a donation button is in order.

Thanks, Mark. I'll go the donation route only if it's really needed. At least with the new set up I'll be able to see it coming and have time to plan.

I have been really encouraged by everyone's comments and emails. Thanks.

The archiving of threads over a year old is at 92% right now, with 7,253 of the old threads archived. When that completes, I'll be able to see how much of the "server load" archiving saves. The threads remain visible, with all the pics, etc., with the only impact that you cannot respond to a thread that's been dead for a year or more.

[Hirilonde]

....................with the only impact that you cannot respond to a thread that's been dead for a year or more.

I think we can live with that. If the subject arises again with importance a new thread with a link to the old one can always be made.

[Frank Hagan]

Just an update, the archiving is completed (sort of; each day it archives the posts that are 366 days old). The server share load is .42, so we're under the threshold for the account we are on, and we've had a few days with more than 100 people online at the same time.

So, crisis averted, and I think we are good to go!

[maligno]

Really appreciate your efforts to keep this great forum going!
Thanks!

[Greg Luckett]

I just noticed this thread and was a little concerned at first.
Frank, thank you for keeping this up and running.

[Frank Hagan]

I just noticed this thread and was a little concerned at first.
Frank, thank you for keeping this up and running.

It looks like the crisis is passed, so we are all set to continue doing what we've been doing since 2,000 (on the old forums, way back when).

[markfitz]

Excellent!