Scott - Warbirds resources photos data base - for all of us

setter · **Posted:** Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:31 pm

Hi Scott

I have had a project underway for a while now to put up some thousands of Warbirds photos up on a webshots account. Webshots is OK but has it's limitations.

The next phase is to host my own server with 40,000 plus hi res photos up on the web.

I am however proposing an alternative - I am prepared to put up $1000.00 to go towards a purpose built WIX server to house such a collection and for all members to post their Hi res shots there for download and research pupposes. I am also prepared to assist as advisor on archieval processes and software etc

We all know we have issues posting Pics etc so this could be a viable way of increasing the usability of the forum.

Any thoughts

Regards
John P

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:35 pm

very generous gesture!! while i can't pony up that kind of money i would most certainly do what i can in the form of a monetary contribution. i'm sure any amount will help. let me know. regards, tom

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

setter wrote:

I am however proposing an alternative - I am prepared to put up $1000.00 to go towards a purpose built WIX server to house such a collection and for all members to post their Hi res shots there for download and research pupposes. I am also prepared to assist as advisor on archieval processes and software etc

A stunning offer John, very generous! Any idea what a server of this type would cost? This would definately enhance the value of the site.

setter · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:50 am

BDK

Server costs can be had in one of two ways.

We could buy the hardware - $5-10k depending on what we want and capacity etc Plus software and Comms charges or we could just outsources it to a Facilities Manager who looks after all that - it would require cash flow to do that and we would have to examine the cost benefits of both approaches or a hybrid where we buy the server and give it to an FM. I do this for a living (Director of WOG ICT ) so i am sure we could work out amongst ourselves what we want through our glorious leader Scott who is after all the person with the say.

The income would come through non member downloads and products like caps, prints, mouse mats etc and you could sell spare capacity to other forums etc

Regards
John P

O.P. · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 4:56 am

I'll kick for it. I do this kinda geek stuff for a living too. If Scotts ISP/hosting service is up to handling traffic, and can be trusted to stay up, stay with what you got. You absolutely do not want to own equipment if you can help it. Hold the the ISP to an SLA. What's going up is bandwidth cost's when its hosted locally at the ISP, pic's, flick's, large DL's.

I guess what I'd do is figure out what the cost would be for two years of fat hosting with fat bandwidth. Get the cash. Give it to Scott. And let it ride on that for 24 months. If it's cool, it keeps going that way, if it's not cool, we go back, and make a big Bob Marley CD of the pics on the site for users.

The main thing, besides security, is the amount of bandwidth used in a one month period. If Scott is monitoring this site, and his current host has these tools, he should know the big number already. It should be pretty straightforward to figure the amout needed at a 98/99 percentile bandwidth usage rate per month.

It should be pretty constant now. I'm willing to kick my share and then some for that kind of hosting, assuming Scott's cool with it. He's the guy who's gonna end up doing most of the work anyway.

setter · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:06 am

Hi OP

Agree with your posts - best option for me

Regards
John P

Scott Rose · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:26 am

Thats a very interesting offer John. Some things to consider are bandwith costs and monthly service. I agree that owning the server outright is not the way to go. A managed server would be best. The best solution would be create a new domain structure that would be linked to the main sites (like the registry is its own domain now). The biggest concern is bandwith. I go through approximately half of my 40gig allocation every month. And thats with approximately 500 megabyte worth of files available. A hi rez site would need a huge bandwith allocation.

As for software, I have no idea what application we could use to do this. Anybody have a clue?

One of the main factors of course is cost. you offer is more than generous John but I'm afraid that over the course of a year the money would be eaten up quickly. As for selling caps and T-shirts and such, so far the site has made almost no money doing this and the store is maintained primarily for members to get gear if they want it. Typically however the $6.95 store fee is paid from the WRG account since not enough sales occur to cover overhead. The main source of funding for the site is the google ads, which cover operating expenses with about $20-$35 a month surplus (which is how I'll be fronting the money for the patches).

Its a grand idea John but we definately have to work out the kinks before leaping into this.

setter · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 7:04 pm

Hi Scott

Thanks - No leaping is going to happen as you say and in the meantime I am coping with dear old Webshots - but it isn't a great way to go and is just a way point to get to - perhaps you could work with me on putting the sums together - I have friends in the software game and I could get the proper licences donated but I need to get a handle on your costs over there so we can put a proper plan together and a business case that makes sense.

Regards
John P

DaveM2 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:49 pm

Another concern for a lot of people would be that of copyright violations, hig res. files are just what the 'pirates' are looking for

Dave

setter · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:53 pm

Hi Dave

Agreed but a lot of people don't mind and I think we can configure the download linked to privilages and agreed resolution - Issues I know but not insurmountable - A lot of sites operate this way already in different fields

Regards
John

setter · **Posted:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:57 pm

Hi Scott

The Government here in Queensland owns a Comercial FM arm and I will get some quotes on bandwidth etc from them - we could host it there and do the links with the rest of WIX if I get good pricing as an option?

Regards
John P

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