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Recent down time MUST READ

jar546

jar546

CBO
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
12,756
Location
Not where I really want to be
OK, I am about to get a little ****y because the site has been down 3 times in the past 4 weeks and that should have never happened. I just want to keep everyone in the loop with what happened, where we are and where we are going.

We lease a server out of Canada that had a great history of uptime. Recently, including yesterday, they had a power outage for the second time that caused us downtime. No server company should ever, ever, ever have this issue. In between the weeks of power outages that caused us to go down, our server lost a hard drive and we had to shut down while that was corrected. It was at this time that I realized we don't have enough redundancy because if the other drive failed at that time, all of the data from this site would be permanently lost.

So what did I do? Glad you asked. I then paid extra for a backup service only to find out that there is a problem and the backups were not taking place. At this time, I've had enough and on another note, I really can't understand a thick French accent whenever stuff is being explained to me by technical support. Basically, I'm done with the Canadian server company. In the end, they have cause me a lot of extra IT expenses for all of the stuff that is over my head. Throw in the fact that they now have better servers since we first came on board and I am paying more than those getting new servers with better performance and I am just not happy.

That is what happened and where we are, stuck with an unreliable server.

Fast forward to today. I have now reviewed a proposal from a US based server company in Michigan that has 24/7/365 service with people that I can understand and an extremely good reputation and uptime history. They even have their own power grid sub-station, UPS and generators that can last weeks which they needed a few years ago when there was an ice storm that removed power for almost 2 weeks up there. In addition, their servers have 4 hard drives, 2 for the server, 1 for backup and an SSD for other use to make them even faster. We will now have twice the RAM too. It is now time to protect this site and upgrade to a more reliable host.

Here is the catch. You get what you pay for and this will basically almost double the cost of the server lease therefore I am begging those 50+ members that let their Sawhorse membership to please find a way to part with $35 per year and those that have not become Supporters or Sawhorses to see the value in this forum and please support us. We only have 1 corporate supporter and rely almost exclusively on the contributions from Supporters and Sawhorses.

Like you, I have a full time job and this forum is not it. Please do your part. I really hate begging but I've about had it.
 
OK folks.......you heard it from the chief, revenue needs to go up. Start your sawhorse membership, renew, again, and again. Dig deep, I for one would hate to see this forum fold due to lack of funding. Lurkers, occasional posters.......how much do you think you would have to pay a code consultant for advice? $35 is a steal.
 
Plus you can give the site a booster shot every so often :::

"""If someone just wants to donate, the email address for REMAS Inspections, Inc. that is the owner of the forum is Jeff@PAinspector.com via Paypal. I hope we continue to see new people!"""

Come on clean out the couches and send the loose change !!!!!
 
Jeff,

I can sense that this is wearing you down some. I wanted you to know that if the forum does go tits up I won't be expecting a refund. I hope that cheers you up, even if it's just a little bit.

Tiger
 
The only option it's giving me is to pay with paypal... (no next button to continue using another method)..
 
+ & + & +

The last time I checked, ...Mr. Jeff DOES still take checks & Money Orders.

Send `em in !



+ & + & +
 
TheCommish said:
i would not be opposed if the site went to view only without a subscription and to post have to be a member
Click to expand...
Isn't that what it is now?
 
$35 per year is not enough. It should be $150. What it should be and what you can get are two different things. $65 a year is doable. If something is priced too low people don't think is has much value. I have seen that first hand in the marketplace. Product would sit on the shelf at $3 and fly out the door at $6. Hells bells, I used to buy things in the dozens at Wall Mart and double the price.

There is a catch to it though. When a paying member gets not much more use out of the forum than a nonpaying member, that sawhorse feels like he has made a donation rather than buying something of value. Sooooo the owner of this forum needs to get stingy. If somebody wants to post and ask a question they should be willing to pay. This is more than a social gathering place, real problems are solved here. Actual education takes place.

Inspectors and plan checkers need this forum. Send an email to as many building inspectors as you can find. The schools that teach building inspection would be pleased to hear from you.

I joined on or about June 30 2011. The forum was 20 months old and had 1327 members. I began posting pictures and over the next month and a half 409 people joined. I have three threads with pictures that have been viewed 160,894 times. Members can make a difference by sharing more of what goes down on their turf. Need I say more?
 
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911 people have posted more than 10 times. Maybe after a certain number of postings then charge the support price if they want to continue posting. Another is allow 5 or 10 thread starts before they have to become a supporter. Those who are benefiting from the knowledge here will determine if it is worth the cost or not. The homeowner seeking answers to a problem the forum board will still be able to help and hopefully steer the person asking to a code compliant or at least safe installation or resolution of their question.
 
Folks,

This is a slippery slope and difficult to figure out. Let's look at a few things:

1) This was born a free site with minimal investment on my part except my time which has increased dramatically.

2) We grew because we were free. I am skeptical that is it is not a free site, growth will be stunted or reverse. Just a concern.

3) The expenses due to the growth have been increasing.

4) Google AdSense from the banners has been on a steady decrease.

5) We recently lost a member that was ****ed after his Sawhorse membership expired and we not able to see attachments so he got ****ed, took his ball and went home. I don't want that to turn into an epidemic.

6) We still have over 50 "former" Sawhorses that apparently don't see the benefit of continued membership.

7) I added benefits to Supporters and Sawhorses as much as I could.

8) At this point, I cannot add an more benefits to Supporters and Sawhorses, I can only take away from the regular members which I don't believe will go over well.

9) I have personally been unsuccessful after multiple attempts to get corporate advertising. Simpson Strong Tie was looking good but then never inked the deal. This has been difficult.

10) I have too spend money to make money if we get corporate sponsors because I have to alter the site and hire the IT company to set it up.

The good news is that we have amassed a large amount of information that a lot of people need and we will need to continue to add information as codes and scenarios change so we have to keep the info up to date. This is why I don't mind duplicate posts asking the same question days, weeks, months or even years apart. I just don't know what to do at this point and am afraid to make a radical move. I can always reverse it after a month or two I suppose. Hmmmmmmmm
 
Yep left a site after they made you pay

Not sure how to get the word out

I know there are building official and fire official groups in almost every state .
 
* + * + *

IMO, ...it is the ability to be "free to all" that is the largest obstacle.

I would think the the various design professionals and Code Officials

would "pony up" just to have another exceptionally good resource.

Currently, ...$60.00 for 2 yrs. is a steal, ...literally.

I also agree with **ICE** in that I believe $60.00 for 2 yrs. is too low.

Not sure where the optimal dollar point is though !



"6) We still have over 50 "former" Sawhorses that apparently don't see the benefit of continued membership."
Click to expand...
Regarding this statement, ...some may have retired, ...changed careers,...had an unexpected economic downturn, ...problem with health issues,

kids, spouse, parents, etc.

* + * + *
 
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Maybe start raising it 5 or 10 each year?? so there is no sticker shock at a large increase all at once.
 
$1.00 American per cuss word.

I'm tellin ya. Cuss word jar. Jar would be in a 2015 f-250 in a month and a half.

Brent.
 
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