Possible upcoming downtime...

[skater]

Hey, folks! Our website is doing well, with one tiny issue: we're almost out of disk space.

This is primarily (but not entirely) due to the pictures we've all uploaded. Now, I'm not complaining! I'm glad everyone is using and enjoying the site! Please continue to upload those pictures.

However, to accommodate the growth, we're going to move to a new server soon. The new setup will allow us much, much more space for pictures - to the point that we probably won't have to worry about this ever again. But the move may entail some down time. I'll keep you posted as I learn more. This should be happening within the next few days, and the transition should be seamless to us. If you discover the site is down, don't worry - it'll be back soon.

We're staying with the same hosting company that has provided us with excellent service over the last decade or so, so I do not anticipate any performance or reliability issues with the new setup.

The best part is that this change won't actually cost me any extra money over what I currently pay to host all of my sites, so I can continue to provide a site without ads.

Thanks!

[craigmar]

Hi Skater, I know you haven't asked but can we at all help with the cost?

Craig (craigmar)

[weekender]

Happy to help with the cost as well!

[skater]

Nah, don't worry about it. This is basically a neutral move in terms of cost, and I hate to take donations for running the site because all three sites I run are combined into one account (In other words, I'd be paying the same for hosting whether or not B190.com existed; the only additional expense is the domain, and that's under $10/year) ... so really, just enjoy it.

And it's not like B190.com's pictures alone are driving the disk space issue - yes, there's about 500 megs in pictures, but the account has 1500 megabytes allocated, so clearly there's a bunch more stuff that ISN'T b190.com related, such as the many pictures I post on my personal site for friends and family (my wife and I love taking pictures).

But thanks for the offer, I really do appreciate it!

[skater]

Hi folks! The website has been copied to the new server but currently when you load b190.com, you're still looking at the old server.

I'll be updating the DNS records in the next day or two to point to the new server. With a little luck, you'll never even know it happened. However, there is a possibility that the site won't work on the new server.

After the changeover, if you do find the site down, please rest assured I'm working on it.

One other thing: We desperately need to update our software. The software we run (php-Nuke) is hopelessly outdated, no longer being maintained, and is vulnerable to several security exploits. It's a mess.

After we get the server switchover settled, I'm going to work on updating to newer, better software.

[Alaskan]

Thanks-a-lot...!

[skater]

If you're seeing this, you're now on the new server!

Basically now we just have to wait for the DNS to update, which can take up to 48 hours from when I made the change (about 10 minutes ago). Everything SHOULD work, but please poke around and let me know if you find anything amiss.

If you had to log in you may have noticed I got rid of the annoying number box. I didn't realize there was a simple configuration option I could use to remove it, but I found it while I was setting the site up on the new server. No point in having that any longer since we create accounts by hand.

[skater]

Ah, one thing I forgot. If you are linking to your avatar on another site ("Link to off-site avatar" option in the Profile menu), it won't work on the new server due to security restrictions. Your best bet is simply to upload the avatar to this server.

[skater]

If you had to log in you may have noticed I got rid of the annoying number box. I didn't realize there was a simple configuration option I could use to remove it, but I found it while I was setting the site up on the new server. No point in having that any longer since we create accounts by hand.

I had to turn this back on - spammers were hitting my email pretty hard. Sorry.

I'm slowly working on getting new software up and running for the forums. Anyone want to volunteer to help beta test?

Thanks.
--RJ