Lets have a fund raiser to subscribe to a good server for GC Forums!

[Spirit Filled]

What's everyone say? Let's start donating funds to the link on the toolbar that we see but ignore. DONATE
It only takes a little bit of money. And this way if we have enough money in the pot the site can retain a real server! Because the current free server sucks!
It's unreliable as we all know if we've ever tried to get on the forum at any given time of the day. The free server now carrying Grace Centered clearly can't handle the load of all their subscribers.
How many times have we gotten that message? Server down. Database unreachable. Under maintenance.

Has anyone been a member of a forum that has a totally reliable server hosting it? Any thoughts as to what company we can go to when we get the money to subscribe to one?

I've only recently started coming back here and more times than not Grace Centered Forums isn't here. It's down. If we like this site lets support it so it can be on the net. Because the current server should be taken out behind the woodshed and smacked hard with a wet noodle. It is totally disrespectful to the membership here to be this unreliable.

Imagine what other sites on this mutt are experiencing right now! Down time!

Let's ante up!    And make it worth our time to click the link and know we'll find this site where it is suppose to be. Up and running!

[angel wings]

I love your kitten pic. Adorbs!

I'm barely making ends meet now so this is out of my ballpark.
How do we know they have sponsors now? I don't see any notes by peoples names in posts yet. Also, how does a site this huge go on a free server? Maybe that is the problem in that there's not enough bandwidth to carry the load.   

Anyway, this board is always up when I come here even though that's not often I grant you.

[Rella]

I love your kitten pic. Adorbs!

I'm barely making ends meet now so this is out of my ballpark.
How do we know they have sponsors now? I don't see any notes by peoples names in posts yet. Also, how does a site this huge go on a free server? Maybe that is the problem in that there's not enough bandwidth to carry the load.   

Anyway, this board is always up when I come here even though that's not often I grant you.

It is off a lot for me.

Today it would not come on until early afternoon.

I belong on another forum... non-religious... and they do have the same basic
setup as here, but more so.

They switched companies about a year ago but the same basic set-up is like here.

Here is the problem though....

While they ask for donations... virtually pleading and begging toward the end of most months if they are not met then someone..(the owner of the site) has to foot the bill. But it is run through pay pal, and it seems that last year toward the
end of the year they were trying to get approx $450 a month.... this year they seem to have tarted with needing $300 a month.

I am not opposed to donating... on occasion...  small donations of like $10, I cannot do so all the time.

It is a good idea, but I think that if it becomes seemingly urgent for those to contribute then people will stop coming, wrongly percieving that this is no different then the televangelists who are always begging for money... although I am sure no one would get to the Creflo Dollar point....LOL

[Alan]

What's everyone say? Let's start donating funds to the link on the toolbar that we see but ignore. DONATE
It only takes a little bit of money. And this way if we have enough money in the pot the site can retain a real server! Because the current free server sucks!
It's unreliable as we all know if we've ever tried to get on the forum at any given time of the day. The free server now carrying Grace Centered clearly can't handle the load of all their subscribers.
How many times have we gotten that message? Server down. Database unreachable. Under maintenance.

Has anyone been a member of a forum that has a totally reliable server hosting it? Any thoughts as to what company we can go to when we get the money to subscribe to one?

I've only recently started coming back here and more times than not Grace Centered Forums isn't here. It's down. If we like this site lets support it so it can be on the net. Because the current server should be taken out behind the woodshed and smacked hard with a wet noodle. It is totally disrespectful to the membership here to be this unreliable.

Imagine what other sites on this mutt are experiencing right now! Down time!

Let's ante up!    And make it worth our time to click the link and know we'll find this site where it is suppose to be. Up and running!

What gives you the impression that this site is using free servers? I know no such thing but I'd be most interested if there were.

Another SMF site I frequent asks for donations to meet quarterly goals, showing the progress until the goal is met. The money goes toward domain/hosting/server fees.

[Spirit Filled]

It's hard to imagine as much as this site is down when I browse my Fave's that it's being paid for. If the server, not simplemachines, but the server is charging this site you should get a huge refund. You were down for days at one stretch not that long ago. And that's typical of the freebies.

[Red Baker]

I will donate what ever is needed from me to make this site run smoothly I can write it off on my taxes.  The owner of this site can contact me via email. 

[Alan]

It's hard to imagine as much as this site is down when I browse my Fave's that it's being paid for. If the server, not simplemachines, but the server is charging this site you should get a huge refund. You were down for days at one stretch not that long ago. And that's typical of the freebies.

Again, which freebies?  Links please.

One of the reasons for downtime here at GC is the constant attacks, DDoS are the more likely culprit, but believe as you may.

[Rella]

"Hosted by Excoboard.com. Setup your own board.
Free, powerful, fast and feature rich hosting."

The quote is from them from one group I used to be part of. However, it is not the same as
this  or the one I mentioned in my previous post above...

But I had a board, "free," for a while. Anyone can.

[Alan]

"Hosted by Excoboard.com. Setup your own board.
Free, powerful, fast and feature rich hosting."

The quote is from them from one group I used to be part of. However, it is not the same as
this  or the one I mentioned in my previous post above...

But I had a board, "free," for a while. Anyone can.

They're actually pretty decent as far as free boards are concerned, perfect choice for small groups and discussion boards, but always at the mercy of ExCo's ability to deliver bandwidth to your board.

[angel wings]

"Hosted by Excoboard.com. Setup your own board.
Free, powerful, fast and feature rich hosting."

The quote is from them from one group I used to be part of. However, it is not the same as
this  or the one I mentioned in my previous post above...

But I had a board, "free," for a while. Anyone can.

Sure can. There use to be a free community known as EZBoard. They were bought out by Yuku that is still free from what I know of it.
I take my chances coming here to see if the site is up. If it's a matter of being attacked there are things that can be done to stop that I'd think. I've been on forums that never go down. Proboards for one.

[Alan]

"Hosted by Excoboard.com. Setup your own board.
Free, powerful, fast and feature rich hosting."

The quote is from them from one group I used to be part of. However, it is not the same as
this  or the one I mentioned in my previous post above...

But I had a board, "free," for a while. Anyone can.

Sure can. There use to be a free community known as EZBoard. They were bought out by Yuku that is still free from what I know of it.
I take my chances coming here to see if the site is up. If it's a matter of being attacked there are things that can be done to stop that I'd think. I've been on forums that never go down. Proboards for one.

I have some car forums that never seem to attract enough attention or controversy to warrant attacks, attacks are perpetuated by those that would like to see harm come to a given site, there is nothing that can be done to prevent a DDoS attack on any site.

[Spirit Filled]

Have you checked out securityplanet and their advice on those type attacks? http://www.esecurityplanet.com/network-security/5-tips-for-fighting-ddos-attacks.html

[admin]

This would be great. The server we're on now actually isn't free. It's not even a starter package. It's $60 a month. But the traffic load is so great between the forum and the magazine part of this site (http://www.Gracecentered.com) that it goes through trouble quite a bit.

We'd need close to $500 a month to get a server that could handle the traffic we get.

[Buster D Body Crab]

The last few times this site was down the server was unreachable. Maybe they take big bandwidth sites off line to give smaller sites time on?
I'm guessing. But this issue with unreliability and the 5 post block for new members isn't going to help this site stay popular imo.
And $500.00 is a mortgage payment for some. There's got to be a better way. Even monthly withdrawals as a site supporter would help. But with all these glitches going on would people trust paying to insure it doesn't happen again? When there's no real proof yet that it won't, if we move to a new server.

I'd hope the current server credits down time at the very least.

[Spirit Filled]

  $500.00 a month for a better server?

Would it be this same one only with a different package? If so given their record carrying this forum at its present cost forget it.     

[admin]

It's kind of a matter of simple space and speed. Right now we're on a v6 engine when we need a v12. If the site weren't getting such a load of traffic at one time, it could handle it.

It's actually less than $500 now that I looked into it. But it could go up. It's all based if more people start coming to the site and getting on at once.

[Lady At The Well]

I am so glad I can post here.
Have you looked into CloudFlare? They may be able to accommodate your traffic.

[admin]

We've tried several services for security (including CloudFlare). The bottom line is that this is a highly visible forum and has lots of controversial topics. We fight ddos attacks almost daily. The free forums mentioned would drop us in a heartbeat once they saw the traffic and frequency of attacks.

The host is putting us on a new server today that's bigger, better, faster and more so we'll see how it goes. The first month will be free to see if it can handle the load. I'm relying on the person in this thread who said he'd pay "whatever" (and others). I've been paying for years myself. Please use the donate button on this forum to donate what you can. Also, please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Google+ to help raise funds to keep this going.

[Lady At The Well]

In these times when Christians seem to be having a hard time of it, have you considered the Go Fund Me site? What a great way to get donations and spread the word that tells people you're here and most importantly, why.

[Lady At The Well]

How much are we talking about here when moving to a new faster server? This way potential donors have an idea of what to work into their budget maybe.

[Alan]

How much are we talking about here when moving to a new faster server? This way potential donors have an idea of what to work into their budget maybe.

Admin had said $500 initially, but has now said less than that. I'm sure that whatever seed people sow will be much appreciated.

[Lady At The Well]

Yes, I read that since it was already posted here.

I was seeking particulars for budgetary reasons for some of us. And so that whomever it was that promised to help out would be able to have a number to work with.

[angel wings]

I agree that knowing a number puts everything out in the open. I"m a student at this time so I don't know that I could commit to a monthly withdrawal. But a one time thing would do.

[RB]

We'd need close to $500 a month to get a server that could handle the traffic we get.

I'll pay fifty dollars per month~or $600.00 up front (which I prefer).  Let me know when and where to donate.  It would not take much if a few can chip in~it would be well worth it.

Red Baker

[admin]

The host has looked over our traffic and server load numbers and can dedicate a bigger, stronger server to us for $250 per month.

I've set up a sponsorship page to make it easy. Remember, there are other costs as well to keeping this site going. I often have to hire a programmer to help with programming, coding and software modification. The most recent bill was $3000 followed by 300 a few months later. There are several things that need to be done now.

[AVZ]

The host has looked over our traffic and server load numbers and can dedicate a bigger, stronger server to us for $250 per month.

I've set up a sponsorship page to make it easy. Remember, there are other costs as well to keeping this site going. I often have to hire a programmer to help with programming, coding and software modification. The most recent bill was $3000 followed by 300 a few months later. There are several things that need to be done now.

That's a handsome amount to do maintenance on an open-source PHP/SQL site.
I scrolled through the source code and it isn't that complicated.

Now I assume you are running MySQL, can you confirm?
There are many known errors with other SQL versions.

Finally, you are running SimpleMachines 2.0.5 and the latest version is 2.0.10
Many performance issues have been resolved from version 5 to 10.
It could be worth the effort to upgrade.

[AVZ]

In addition to the above.

The statistics of this site show that 2014 and 2013 demanded a much larger capacity from the server than extrapolated figures for Q1+Q2 of 2015
2013 for example had 30% more new posts and almost 50% more page views.
It is odd that after you moved to a more powerful server it is still not performing.

I think you may want to decrease the size of your database by disposing old messages and inactive accounts.
That should have substantial positive effect on the database performance.

[admin]

The issue is not the types of software or the database we are running. It's the server load. It is absolutely massive. When you factor in 150k to 200k users and a constant load on the server and ddos attacks, it's massive. I've seen the numbers and by far it's the connection load.

Yes, I want to have SimpleMachines upgraded, but we are using a lot of mods and have made modifications of our own, so the upgrade shows that it will not work. It will cost money to have a specific SMF programmer to upgrade it. But even at that, it's the load and we'd be right back in the same boat. I've compared load numbers to other websites and believe it or not, it's kind of surprising that this site is able to stay online as much as it does. Remember, there's more than just this forum on the site.

Deleting content isn't something I'm wanting to do. That kind of defeats the purpose. The reason traffic is actually less now is because the forum is actually less active and a lot of that is due to people being frustrated with it being down some. Also, if you're looking at some of those sites that estimate traffic, I've looked at them and they aren't even close compared to Google Analytics. The main part of the site (not the forum) has seen massive increases in traffic.

Anyway, I appreciate your suggestions, but it is what it is and we need a dedicated server to improve performance enough to make a difference.