The post I did not want to make

[lrogers]

Woo, scared the stuff'n out of me Sam! Loosing the site for a weekend was bad loosing it forever......
You can count on my support as well. Just place a new banner up when needed.

[BobSch]

Sam,

Add me to the list. Go with the autobackups and make life easier for yourself. And I'm going to up my monthly payment.

Oh, and I'll reload my pics.

[RayintheUK]

I've just called up all my (non-archived) posts, trawled through them and uploaded the necessary files to restore the (26) pictures. While I was about it, I created a folder on my hard drive in which a copy of each uploaded picture is now filed. If this happens again, I'll have them all in one place to ping back up and it's no trouble to update the folder with copies of any newly-posted pics.

My view is that members are responsible for their pictures. We are the ones who want to post them and - prior to Sam obtaining space - we used all sorts of ingenuity to display our efforts, drawings, whatever.

Sam, don't beat yourself up about this! The provider messed up big time by formatting the graphics hard drive and that's not down to you. When we used other methods of posting, we had to look after ourselves. Just because you've provided a space for us shouldn't mean that you get loads more grief out of it.

Processes aside, I cannot see any justification in that size monthly fee for backing up. My provider provides backup as a part of the service. As Knuckles said "So we lost pictures - up they go again." I reckon that just about says it all!

Glad to have the forum back and appreciative of all the work that goes on to provide it.

Ray.

[jaywood]

Just my two cents worth... but I don't think the hosting company is coughing up enough for the problems they've caused. I think you ought to hit them up for 3 months of free hosting or free backups for a year. At least there is no harm in going for it... the worst that can happen is that they say no.

[dedaddy]

Sam, in my former position I was responsible for backup and recovery of about 1.5 Terabytes of data on 150 servers. We contracted that out when it got to be a real time sink. There are a few things you should make sure you get when you have them back up our data:

1. Get a Service Level Agreement (SLA) spelling out the frequency and type of backup. Spell out the downtime allowed for different types of failures. Get commitements on refunds for not meeting the SLA. It is amazing how much more serious a vendor gets when a mistake on his part will cost him money.

2. Get an SLA for the hosting itself. Agree on what penalties occur for failure to be on line for a period of time. Have some kind of refund for not meeting uptime requirements, not just refunds of our rent for the downtime.

While loss of the forum does not cost us business like an e-buisiness, it does cost us (and especially you) valuable time and eats up our karma. The information recorded in the posts is very useful to us and we are always researching past posts for answers. We all realize the value of the forum once it is not available. So I think it is worth the money to pay for the backup. But get some kind of agreement on time to restore.

And I, for one, will pay for a month's backup.

Thanks for your work, Sam. I am greatful.

[bruffc]

I'm not knowledgeable about whether this is a good deal or not but I do know that I'd be able to pick up a month.

[Whaler]

Count me in.

[Handy Al]

I'm all in for automation. Go for it Sam. I agree with dedaddy about SLAs. Make sure they're contain real penalties to the hosting company if the SLAs are not met.

[dkhoward]

Sam,
I hate to put another load on your but at 960.00 per year for tapebackup, how much would it cost to buy a tape backup unit, install it in your computer and add the software to automate the backup process? I am no techie, but you can buy a lot of hardware and software for that kind of dough. And considering it is an ongoing fee, the cost is actually much more over the long run.

Just a thought

[germdoc]

Glad to pitch in for the backup.

Glad it was only pix. I'd hate for all my snarky, half-baked postings to have been lost. Or for my posting count to be reset to "0"...

[LarryG]

Boss, we luv ya, but your choice of Sub: line wording could sure use some work.

I think it's fair to say, and by now obvious, that whatever you decide is best to do, there'll be plenty of us willing to step up and help as necessary to make it happen.

[430752]

I kinda agree with the diy approach, either sam does it himself from time to tiime and/or we do it outselves and just repost if necessary.

with that said, I also appreciate the ease and convenience of someone else doing it. especially where it maybe easier on sam.

so, whichever way sam and the board goes, I go. I would thus also match one month's back up if it comes down to it.

curt j.

[ErikS]

I'm with RayintheUK - pics are the posters responsibility, heck most forums don't even allow/have space for pictures. Also, you didn't loose any of the more valuable things such as the techincal data (articles, etc).

As for the backup? Put me in the camp of "no", $80/month as an ogoing fee just doesn't make sense - that's over $1800 in just two years. If you had been paying that since the site's inception the tab would be????

And besides, if they screwed the pooch w/ formatting the drive what makes you think they'll get the backups done on time & target?

There are several automated packages that can perform the backups to your computer on an as needed basis. Somethins as simple as an ftp progs that logs on & copies the data (heck most of them do syncing which means only new data is backed up). If they don't allow FTP then ask them what they do support & I'm sure someone around here will have some ideas. If storage space is an issue you can take the contibs & buy a massive hard drive (about 2 months of that "service").

Here's a link to FTPVoyager, it has secure FTP (both SSL & SSH) & a scheduler - $59 (with 2 years of upgrades).

http://www.ftpvoyager.com/

There are many other programs, this is just an example. The ISP can tell you what they support & what they don't.

Seems to me that a one time investment is more cost effective than an ongoing subscription.

I'd tell them to stick the backup & give me a couple more months hosting free.

[tropicaffair]

Boss Dude,
Count me in whichever way you decide.

[tropicaffair]

By the way, where to I go to renew my Patron contribution for 2005? Can't seem to find it.