we’re back. I think
(Maoman, let’s kick start that databsae backup were talked about yesterday asap 
)
folks, this latest snafu is my fault.
If you are curious about what happened, it is chronicled and commented here at The Ho: taiwanho.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=8486#8486
Cheers to Malc, Jake and Chris for acting as our emergency info center while we were down. Thanks, guys!
Forumosa was offline for about 4 days. Was it my computer? Or did everone experience it?
Forumosa is my latest addiction, and I felt awful pangs of withdrawal over what became a loooooong weekend… 
What happened?
Way to go, gus!
Jeesh, I did miss you guys.
BTW, you mentioned at taiwanho.com - where several forumosans have been hanging out for the past week, btw - that you pay the hosting fees here. While I’ve seen the bit below soliciting donations, I guess I never realized that this site might not be self-sufficient (ad revenue, other revenues). At taiwanho.com you also posted your email to Dreamhost, and you asked for a $$ amount for the 5-day credit due you (due forumosa.com).
While it may be pretty forward of me to ask, here goes anyway. How much are your Dreamhost fees per month. How much are you out of pocket each month to pay forumosa.com’s rent?
[quote=“flike”]Way to go, gus!
Jeesh, I did miss you guys.
BTW, you mentioned at taiwanho.com - where several forumosans have been hanging out for the past week, btw - that you pay the hosting fees here. While I’ve seen the bit below soliciting donations, I guess I never realized that this site might not be self-sufficient (ad revenue, other revenues). At taiwanho.com you also posted your email to Dreamhost, and you asked for a $$ amount for the 5-day credit due you (due forumosa.com).
While it may be pretty forward of me to ask, here goes anyway. How much are your Dreamhost fees per month. How much are you out of pocket each month to pay forumosa.com’s rent?[/quote]
Thanks for the sentiments, flike, but I am hardly worthy of any thanks. I’m the culprit, if anything
Actually, Maoman and I split evenly on the costs of the website. We have an agreement, and (ready for mea culpa? – or at least some sniveling and groveling) I’ve kinda not met my end of the agreement.
A few months ago, we agreed that we would keep Forumosa.com on DreamHost for one – 1 – more month. That was supposed to be enough time for me to move the website to the new Taipei-based server.
The cost for one month of dedicated hosting on DreamHost is US$ 200 – I think this is mentioned in the donations page
Well, instead of focussing on the transfer of the website, I kept myself busy working on other things (trust me, I’ve got every excuse in the book – so I’ll save you the soap opera). So that one month passes and I still haven’t done much to move the website to Taipei. I book the extra month and figure that Maoman should not be responsible for those costs.
2 months later: and the move to the Taipei-based machine hasn’t happened yet. Neither have I paid my dedicated hosting bills.
DreamHost pulls the plug. I can’t blame them for that. And I don’t blame Maoman for asking the tough question, “so, when ARE we going to move the site to Taipei?” which he did ask when we met yesterday
(More later)
Good to have you back!
Spent all day yesterday trying to get in, but it just didn’t work. I first thought it was my computer, but yours was the only forum I couldn’t get into. Shanghaiexpat worked OK, so I suspected something was up, a hacker or something. Luckily the problem was more simple than that.
It is most definitely good to be back… 
Woohoo, finally back online! 
Amen.
You folks have an infrastructure plan in place for the next 6- 12 months? I think there might need a discussion on capacity planning.
$200 a month on dedicated hosting … 
Tell me about it
Here’s the plan we are using
dreamhost.com/dedicated/servers.html
We are paying on a monthly basis ($195)
Now, except for a major hiccup about once a year, dreamhost has been a really good host service. Fully-featured and very responsive customer service (altho they don’t advertise their customer service phone number), they have outperformed 3 hosting companies that I have a lot of experience with over the past 4 years. These are companies that I recommend to friends because they are responsive and relatively stable.
But we are open to suggestion.
If the new Taipei-based server that we have built does NOT satisfy us, then our back up plan is to go back to dedicated hosting. Presently, this means going back to Dreamhost.
I remember I suggested 1&1 some time ago. Did you have a look at their (dedicated) managed servers? Still looks like a good deal to me (especially considering that they charge almost twice as much in Europe - for the same thing :bluemad:). Furthermore, if you know someone who’s already a 1&1 customer he can earn 60US$ or more by referring you. Finally, there’s a 90 day money back guarantee.
Allright, this is the last time I’m posting this, I’m starting to sound like a spammer.
[quote=“gus”]
Here’s the plan we are using
dreamhost.com/dedicated/servers.html
We are paying on a monthly basis ($195)
But we are open to suggestion.If the new Taipei-based server that we have built does NOT satisfy us, then our back up plan is to go back to dedicated hosting. Presently, this means going back to Dreamhost.[/quote]
Hey Gus,
Did we meet up at G’day a few weeks ago at Sunday brunch?
I used to work in the “hosting” business. There are no shortage of hosting providers to choose from that are more reasonable and equally reliable.
If you have, your web traffic reports would be a good start. I couldn’t tell from Dreamhosts’ FAQ if that was part of the monitoring service they provided (unlikely) in your plan. Anyways, maybe you might be able to sweet talk them into providing the last month or two for you. System logs would also be good if you can.
I can’t get on Forumosa without using a public proxy server. Bizarre. Obviously Hinet’s fault, but obviously I’m not going to waste my time ringing them up…
[quote=“hexuan”]I can’t get on Forumosa without using a public proxy server. Bizarre. Obviously Hinet’s fault, but obviously I’m not going to waste my time ringing them up…[/quote]Someone on TaiwanHo was having the same problem. Is that you ?