Increased Traffic

[leehljp]

Sam,
I am starting to see the increased traffic on this forum. It has increased tremendously in the past few weeks. Do you see the need to possibly change servers, setup or other in the near future? Do we need to do something financially to help with the changes?

I don't know if it is my ISP or if the BT3Central site is slower at times, in responding, but I figure it is because of the number of people online simultaneous. I used to be able to view all the current "Whose Online" without scrolling, but lately . . . almost 2 pages worth.

Let us know how we can help.

[Sam Conder]

Yes Hank, on all counts. Since December 26th, 2003 the forum traffic has literally skyrocketed. Prior to the 26th, we were averaging 265.04 Meg of data transfer per day and 1,016 visitors per day. Since the 26th, that has jumped to 1.05 Gig of transfer per day and 2,109 visitors a day.

Currently BT3Central is hosted on what is called a "Shared Hosting" plan. We are just one website on a single server with many other sites. This type of plan is fairly inexpensive but is among the slower of the ways to host a site and has many pitfalls.

The next step up from a shared hosting plan would be a "Dedicated Server" plan. In this type of plan, I would lease an entire server that is sitting in a huge NOC somewhere. The company I lease it from would be responsible for any hardware issues, hard drive replacement, etc. This is a nice way to go, since you are the only site on the server and have full use of the processor(s), RAM, etc. With this plan, you pay a monthly lease on the hardware, as well as a monthly service fee for your bandwidth. Competitive plans with a reputable host would run around $150-$300 PER MONTH plus a ~$200 one time setup fee.

The third option would be for me to buy a server, OS license, and other necessary software and the go with a "Co-location" plan where I just lease the bandwidth I use. This is a little cheaper per month, but I am responsible for repairs if hardware fails. This type of plan runs between $100-$250 per month with a reputable host and carries a $100 to $200 one time setup fee. Also, with co-lo plans, I have to buy the server and Windows Server license, e-mail server license, etc. Probably a $1,000 - $1,600 investment.

The final option, which would be the ultimate, but also cost prohibitive, would be for me to lease a fat pipe into my house and have a server here. The server would end up being cheaper since I would not have to buy a rack mount server which is generally more expensive. Also, I would have more control. The cost on this would be in the neighborhood of $600+ per month for a 1.5 Meg leased pipe.


As you can tell, I have been doing some homework. We are definitely moving in a direction that is going to require a change. I just have to be ABSOLUTELY sure that I can support that change, both financially and technically. Currently site support and especially affiliates commissions are at an all-time high, but still not enough to support any of the above listed options. I am actively pursuing avenues of funding, both via advertising and commissions. I am also kicking around an idea for a "Premium Membership" for subscribers willing to commit to a monthly subscription. I don't have any specifics nailed down yet, but it could include things like your own "@bt3central.com" email address, product discounts from various vendors, Members Only private forums & chats, assorted "Premium Content", etc.

However, this is just a hobby, and not my day job! All of the items listed in the above paragraph will require MASSIVE amounts of work, coordination, and time. All of which I don't have a lot of. I have kicked around the idea of a "fund drive" with the goal of raising enough money for one year of managed hosting. This fund drive would occur yearly. I just hate to continually be begging for money!

I am open to all sorts of suggestions so feel free to e-mail me privately if you have any. I know that there are some with a lot more experience with big-time web development and hosting than me who will quickly point out that there are many discount hosts or that it would be cheaper to host on a Linux platform than a Windows platform. Unfortunately, I must stick with what I currently know because I don't have the money or the time to learn Linux security and management and how to script in PERL or PHP!!

Thanks,

[Thom2]

quote:Originally posted by sconder

Since December 26th, 2003 the forum traffic has literally skyrocketed. Prior to the 26th, we were averaging 265.04 Meg of data transfer per day and 1,016 visitors per day. Since the 26th, that has jumped to 1.05 Gig of transfer per day and 2,109 visitors a day.

[:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0]


Thom
nothing more to say in PA

[APSuess]

Friends,

Prior to becoming a professional woodworker I was knee deep in the Information Technology business sector. My area of expertise towards the end was in the analysis and planning for web systems, eCommerce, business inter & intranets. I'm provided analysis on problems similar to what Sam is encountering on innumerable occasions.

It appears that there are several issues that we are contending with:

Traffic Volume

Cost

Human Resources

On the human resources issue I am unwilling to propose any solution that would require any additional investment of Sam's time. Nothing is more important than family. From Sam's Bio I understand his desire to spend more time with his family, biking, and I'm certain his beloved BT3.

Therefore, the assistance of another member or two experienced in the complexities of Information Technology is in order. Sam, naturally, would continue to service in a managerial capacity with "skut work" farmed out to his assistants.

On the subject of traffic volume; innumerable solutions exist.

One such solution would be to modify the current BT3Central site to serve as a "portal" to other servers or IP addresses. Break up the forums and spread the load. Some forum links on the current BT3 site would exist on that domain while others would point to another IP address.

BT3Central-Newbies and related forums could be moved to another server.

BT3Central - Around the Coffee Pot and related forums to another server.

etc, etc, etc...

Do not, under any circumstances, allow Sam to bring the server/traffic volume problem, literally, in-house. I've done this in the past myself. Your personal life ceases to exist. You cannot go on vacation or any prolonged absence in the event a server goes down. It quickly becomes a full time job.

Though it's sometimes nice to have a big pipe coming into the house and a couple servers to play with, my use of the words "do not allow Sam..." are not ment to be taken as an expression of any form of ownership in the BT3Central enterprise. They are an expression of concern for a friend based on personal experience.

It is readily apparent that BT3Central is providing an invaluable service to Ryobi. We are, without question, saving them a considerable amount of money in terms of both Information Technology and Human Resources Costs. Every question asked and solution provided through this site saved Ryobi money. Using very conservative industry-wide estimates, if each contact with Ryobi Technical Support costs them $5.00, and BT3Central simultaneously answers 100 questions per month, they are saving $500.00. A monthly figure that would/should accommodate our intended goals.

We should consider actively soliciting Ryobi's financial assistance. After all we are not only selling their tools, we are also providing technical support as well as R&D investigations.

If BT3Central is converted to a subscription or pay site, membership numbers would indeed drop. However, it is all a numbers game. If total membership fell from 1400 to 500, but those 500 were willing to spend the paultry sum of $1.00 per month, $500.00 per month could easily be realized.

Another opportunity exists with affiliations. At one time in the past I was able to garner $675.00 per month with an Amazon.com affiliation on a well-designed, purpose-built web site that served a far smaller hobby community. Elaboration would exceed necessity at this point.

One issue that I/we are completely in the dark with is what exactly are the monthly costs for the BT3Central enterprise at this point. With those figures would be in a getter position to solutions to the current situation, provide for future expansion, not to mention having a clearly stated goal.

At this point I would suggest that Sam solicit the expertise of two or three members to quickly develop a plan of action for his approval and acceptance.

Any thoughts?

Respectfully,

A. P. "Tony" Suess AKA "Dr. Suess"

[mudder]

quote:Originally posted by sconder




I just hate to continually be begging for money!

Sam,

I just don't see it as begging for money. I see it more like supporting a site that has been a HUGE value to me since I joined in July. There are currently 3 sites that I give my support to because they have been valuable to me and I would like to see them "stick around". The first is BT3Central.com (and I am due to send you some more when I get out of the current cash shortage). the second is www.linuxiso.org because I get most of my Linux stuff there. And the third is www.bootdisk.com because he sends out a newsletter (the bootlist) of computer fixes that have saved my butt a time or two. I mentioned a while back about the little support bar on www.linuxiso.org and I watch it carefully. That guy consistently gets $990.00 every 3 months for the costs and recently things were so good that he only needed to raise less than normal. I would also welcome a "premium" membership, and I would like to know when it is to be implemented so that I can Join. My point is that I would bet that 1/4 th of this forum probably does not know the extent of money and time that is required to keep this site in operation and letting folks know that help is needed is not "begging" in my book at all. I do not have the skills or time to keep a site like this in operation and I would surely be saddened if this site were to fall because of lack of funds for operation. I believe that we are family, and as family we should share whenever we can.



Scott Hettel
A.K.A. Mudder

[JeffW]

This forum is the main forum I use. I have received so much information here, that paying a little for membership is not a problem. One of the nice things about this site is that is not a "corporate" site. Yes it does save Ryobi money and such, but the fact that is run by "just people" is one thing that make sit great IMHO.

Check you pay-pal Sam.

[jbalders]

I'll be interested to hear some of the solutions. The LOML and I have been discussing setting up a forum for her crafts. She does scrapbooking and stamping, and I thought it would be a great way to drum up interest, as well as increase attendance when she does her stamping parties.

I have an extra system for it to run on and I found some excellent (free!) content management, page templating, and forum software. Now it's just a matter of rebuilding my web server and setting the site up. I figure we're set for the short term, using our 144kb IDSL line, but once we outgrow that, I'll need to look at other options.

Regardless, I've been trying to make sure I support the site using the passive support options (i.e., buying from Amazon, Rockler through the links) whenever possible, but if worse comes to worse, I wouldn't see a yearly fee of $12 being too onerous. According to their website, a two year subscription to Wood Magazine is $28 right now. With the number of experienced people and amount of information found on the site, $12/yr is a bargain!

Jeff

[Zich]

Sam,

I think I speak for a lot of people here when I say I would gladly provide some financial compensation to keep this site at its best. Just let us know what you decide on, and I'm sure you will get an influx of paypals coming your way.

[meika123]

I've been thinking about this for some time now. Since Sam started talkin about changing and the cost involved. With the number of members we have here, a coupla bucks from each of us would easily get things "over the top". And I, for one, would be delighted to chip in a sum to help defray the costs of switching. Why don't we find out how much is needed, do a little math and see what we can come up with.
As much as Sam has done for us, this is the least we can do.
WHADDAYA THINK?

Dave in NC

[dkhoward]

I agree that this site is far to important to the woodworking community and especially those of us who are devout bt3 fanatics to allow it to slip into obscurity because of the kinds of problems that Lee has raised.

Dr. Seuss appears to be well versed in the problems and solutions of managing the growth of a site like this past the point of being a volunteer community service operation.

It sounds to me that, Sam willing, he might contact a number of the members of the community who have the talents and training to form sort of an advisory committee in an attempt to find the solutions to the problems which are apparently just on the horizon.

For myself, I can offer some financial help, time (being retired myself), and at least a minimum level of technical expertise (I owned a software development company a number of years ago and actively programmed)

I can also offer my expertise in management and planning. I really should put my MBA to some use I guess.

Just some thoughts.

Dennis K. Howard, MBA.
www.geocities.com/dennishoward

[dedaddy]

Having been in IT for over 20 years in the main data center for a 4.2B dollar company, I know the problems supporting servers. I wrangled over 140 Windows servers which included email and numerous web servers. I don't think Sam should ever have anything like a server in his house were he as to worry about power outages, network problems, backups, security, updates, etc. Leave those headaches to someone else. That still leaves the question on how to raise more money.

Being very new to this forum I think I can speak for a lot of the lurkers. If all the good stuff that appears on this forum even cost a dollar a month to see, I would not have stayed to find out how great it was. Be very careful what you put behind the dues wall!

You may be creating a "them and us" situation. There is also the administrative costs of keeping track of the membership. Is an audit required? Are any legal thingies about to pop up if you start getting money from the public? My company is now required by our legal department to keep archives of all emails that go through our servers.

Maybe for a buck a month, contributors could have a distinctive font, format or recognizable login visible to the rest of the world (like an "ATTABOY"). Maybe they have first dibs on auctions or discounts. The incentive must not exclude the browsing newby from anything of interest.

I would never had bought my BT3100 if I had not found this forum. I saw the machine first in HD under a pile of stuff and did not give it a second look. The big Rigid saw was prominitly displayed. I live near the Bridgewood distributor and was looking at those saws. Then a search on ebay for table saw led to a listing for a new BT3000 in the box. I searched for BT3000 on the web and found this site. After a few days of reading, I went back to HD, convinced the sales people that I wanted one and happened to be there for the 20% discount. Now I am building a shop for it. (more on that in another thread someday) Also, this site has made recommendations for Ryobi tools other than the BT3x. Here is my point: Ryobi should be supporting this site! Let us mount an email and letter writing campaign to Ryobi and ask for support of this site. Just stating the number of hits this site gets should get their attention.

This would cost us little except some time. From the postings I have read on this forum I think those creative people who have written some very thought provoking notes could really make an impact.

Thanks you all for the education and entertainment you have provided me. I would hate to see this site fold. I can put up with the speed. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

[isddarms]

As another fairly new convert to the cult, I strongly agree that it would certainly be in Ryobi/HD's best interest in supporting this site. I probably would not have purchased the saw except for the strong community represented by this site. Of course I'd be leery of any strings that may come attached to the support, but if Ryobi has any sense outside their BT3100 engineering department, they would see the value of an independent voice.

As to the dues issue, I'd agree that that you'd be opening a real can of worms to establish membership, etc. However, I think there are a lot of us who would voluntarily pay some nominal amount ($20-$40/year??) to support the site. I've been lurking since before I bought my saw last May and though I rarely contribute due to lack of knowledge, I find the willingness and knowledge of those who do very valuable (and hope, some day, to be able to pass along what I'm learning now).

So, thank you Sam!!! Let us know what we can do to help.

[Lefty]

I'm on board with dedaddy's suggestion of some sort of 'attaboy' thing. This site depends on many voices of experience sharing vast dimensions of knowledge. That would suffer if restrictions are imposed on that knowledge. Maybe a special badge on posts or free BT3K thongs for paying members.

Seriously, Sam. We've all got a good thing going here. I'd be happy to pay. While I wouldn't promise to wear the thong, I will sure contribute what is needed.
Keeping the servers out of your house is a must.

[Norm in Fujino]

quote:Originally posted by sconder

Yes Hank, on all counts.

Sam, I've been a moocher, I guess. I haven't donated anything to your operating costs, but I've always "meant to." My main thing is "how" since I live in Japan. Easiest for me would be if you had a page set up that accepted credit cards for a fixed (or voluntary) donation; we could just go there, click on the amount and be done. I don't have a U.S. checking account, and can't send cash, obviously, but we should be able to figure out some way to have a funding drive and work this thing out.

[Scottydont]

I work in the IT industry providing on site servers and asp's to over 10,000 clients nationally. In no way would I recommend Sam doing anything such as an in house server that would be infringing on his free time (I know Oxy moron). I agree with Mudder and many others posting comments about this issue. I do think that Ryobi should be contributing to the site but not at the expense of loss of control or creativity. I for one tremendously value Sam, the website, and the forum and it's members. I would welcome supporting those efforts through a fund drive or regular membership.