"The Great Crash of 2013" a.k.a. The Future of ACL site hosting

Is ACL worth paying for?

  • $2 a year

    Votes: 3 5.6%

  • $5 a year

    Votes: 17 31.5%

  • $10 a year

    Votes: 14 25.9%

  • $25 a year

    Votes: 20 37.0%
  • Total voters
    54
A

AlexB

New elf
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Messages
45
Location
South of Brisbane
I'm no web guru, but learning today of the issues with servers recently have me gobsmacked.
A friend of mine runs a wholesale hosting service and he couldn't believe this site had been rolled back to the beginning of the month.
We've just been through the biggest month of the year, where everyone has posted of the problems they've had, and the responses to everyone's displays - and all of it is gone.
From what I heard earlier today, the last server backup was done in April this year.
The site wasn't backed up since the beginning of December.
And even our site host http://harrisonkohn.net/ only has his index page up with every single link on the page going to a 403 error. (something you might wanna fix if you have it backed up Harrison)
Now please don't misunderstand me - I haven't seen much of what Harrison has done for ACL because I haven't been around here that much, and I am not here to create a virtual lynch mob - He has obviously done a great job otherwise i'd never have been able to learn what I have so far.
But from what i've been able to discover, Harrison only resells the server space that ACL occupies from another supplier - http://www.serversaustralia.com.au/
Like I said, i'm no web guru - but I don't understand why ACL would host through a reseller when the actual host would provide the same service (or more) for the same money?
I know not all the issues are with the servers - the issues with the Chat are not server based, but code based, but i've noticed that in the past 2-3 months there just seems to be many issues.
I have my own little website - it's not much, and i haven't done a lot with it, but my host backs up both my site, and the email accounts associated with it (which I do use regularly) EVERY DAY. That ACL wasn't is just a cardinal sin.
I don't use servers australia, but I know the guys there take care of their customers, and would bend over backwards to keep their clients happy (as I'm sure Harrison would as well) - so why the middle man?
 
While I don't mean to put Harrison down, but cheap server usually means cheap and poor service. I was offered the hosting deal, and no way would I consider it as the quality, backup, reliability and more is simply not there as we have repeatedly seen with ACL.

I pay a bit over $250 a year for my hosting, 7 domains and 10 IMAP email accounts, and ACL pays nothing... I would not swap in an instant!
 
Oh and there has been agreements by users that there are a number of us willing to help PAY real $ to actually get the site hosted on a decent server, but it has been ignored and we have gone with Harrisons free offer, which has never made sense to me in terms of reliability, but I am just a user not mod or admin.
 
Thanks for the comments Dave.


I was unaware the site was hosted for free, or that anyone had been willing to contribute to pay to host it somewhere more reliable.


I've added a poll to the thread to see whether there is any interest to show whomever are the decision makers what feelings there are out there...
 
hi all
it should remain free for the hobbyist. commercial entities should pay a small fee. eg:an led light mob in china who probably make heaps $$$$$ from us every year. just an idea
thx
sean
 
A couple of years ago I and many others made token payments to assist in hosting ACL. I think its about time this became a pay site. I also feel that maybe some of the vendors on this site should start assisting with monitory contributions, and yes I am aware of there technical support they provide to the community. If we want a reliable consistent service then we are going to have to pay for it. Time to face reality.

Steve Baker
 
I have offered to pay $100 once or twice a year towards hosting, and I am sure others would chip in as well. There is a payment option on the board and at ehe moment it goes to AussiePhil who does nothing and pays nothing, but if it was directed to someone else who was responsible for the payments, I would have no issue paying the $ into that account
 
We need to be moving forward, in the right direction. This maybe a hobby site and some may say keep it free for the enthusiasts, but come on, how much do you spend on your display, just set aside 5% for ACL.

Its worth it, isn't it?

Steve Baker
 
I don't think we need mandatory pay to use at all.

I think a donation funnelled to the correct people would receive an amazing amount of good will from this community.

If anything Ryan (or whoever) probably would have to say stop donating shortly after setting it up.

Regards,
Rowan
 
ok does anyone know of a host that could take the traffic of acl??? and if so what would be the cost per month??
 
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