The Big Bounce: New Server Fund Raiser

[Phade]

So lets throw in a redundant PSU, raid card and 2 extra 6TB drives. Chassis was included and so were rack rails. From the look of the cart I get some warranty options and the total comes to about 9.5/10K if you want to be fancy. Still has a lot of cash unaccounted for.

Specs don't shift that fast so it's not unreasonable to ask a possible spec with a actual price tag attached to it. If you're wanting to do this and take the redesign on, I think it's only fair to be completely transparent. On both the hardware and the software platform side of things, as even a new low end server would be a huge leap in system resources. In short, what are you planning that would warrant a relatively speaking high end rack?

Longevity; cheaper parts don't last as long.

As far as transparency, none of the money raised from this fund raiser will go towards paying anyone for a site redesign; all of it will go towards servers and keeping them running, nothing else. We've replaced parts here and there on our existing servers without asking for anything special from site users. I'd like to keep it that way by getting quality and redundancy.

[Koopiskeva]

I don't have any metrics (nor am I trying to be pessimistic, just basing off some old site traffic graphs I saw awhile ago), but I am doubtful that goal would be reached - or at least in that time frame.

Is this server replacement possibly a tie-in to a website revamp? I know, easier said than done, beating a dead horse, etc... I'm just thinking you may have a better response if this was indeed part of a greater plan.

[ZephyrStar]

I have some concerns.

I would have no problem dropping money on this, but I want to address rebuilding/updating the site.
I don't know what the back end actually looks like, I'm not privy to the technical hurdles that may exist.
But what I do know is that we've had a lot of people step up and volunteer their time and efforts (me being one of them) only to hit a brick wall when it comes to implementing any updates to the site.

This place is dying.
And I hate that. I can't emphasize how much I hate it.
I (and many others here) think it can be saved, are willing to do everything we can to help it be saved, but we keep hitting a brick wall.
I know keeping up and maintaining a site like this is a lot of work and it is very complicated.
I'm not here to point fingers, I'm here to ask what can be done to save this place.
I think new servers will be a great start, but where do we go from there?
I want to start a dialogue about it, get people talking about it.

I know this kind of thing doesn't happen overnight, especially when you have volunteers who are not paid.
But we have volunteers.
There are many small things that we can start doing.
We can update this place a little at a time and make it more friendly to new editors, and to foster a community.
I love this community and I want to see it flourish.
But it can't until we do more to make it happen.

[Niotex]

So lets throw in a redundant PSU, raid card and 2 extra 6TB drives. Chassis was included and so were rack rails. From the look of the cart I get some warranty options and the total comes to about 9.5/10K if you want to be fancy. Still has a lot of cash unaccounted for.

Specs don't shift that fast so it's not unreasonable to ask a possible spec with a actual price tag attached to it. If you're wanting to do this and take the redesign on, I think it's only fair to be completely transparent. On both the hardware and the software platform side of things, as even a new low end server would be a huge leap in system resources. In short, what are you planning that would warrant a relatively speaking high end rack?

Longevity; cheaper parts don't last as long.

As far as transparency, none of the money raised from this fund raiser will go towards paying anyone for a site redesign; all of it will go towards servers and keeping them running, nothing else. We've replaced parts here and there on our existing servers without asking for anything special from site users. I'd like to keep it that way by getting quality and redundancy.

While I agree that cheap parts don't last as long I purposely picked the high end solutions, not the cheaper options. Not to mention that it still doesn't answer the question regarding why you'd need so many system resources at your disposal. Why not run a single quad core Xeon system with 32 gigs or ram on a 2 normal enterprise SSD's? It's not like traffic is that high that we'd need the system to handle thousands of requests a second.

[dreamawake]

I don't have any metrics (nor am I trying to be pessimistic, just basing off some old site traffic graphs I saw awhile ago), but I am doubtful that goal would be reached - or at least in that time frame.

Is this server replacement possibly a tie-in to a website revamp? I know, easier said than done, beating a dead horse, etc... I'm just thinking you may have a better response if this was indeed part of a greater plan.

[Phade]

I don't have any metrics (nor am I trying to be pessimistic, just basing off some old site traffic graphs I saw awhile ago), but I am doubtful that goal would be reached - or at least in that time frame.

Yet you are a Debbie Downer rather than a cheerleader. Quick! Post pics of cheerleaders! At Anime Detour recently, I raised $1300 in 10 minutes for charity. We can easily raise $15k in 6 weeks for the site!

Is this server replacement possibly a tie-in to a website revamp? I know, easier said than done, beating a dead horse, etc... I'm just thinking you may have a better response if this was indeed part of a greater plan.

Site servers need to be replaced no matter if we do a site redesign or not. Site servers are old. Very old. It's as plain as that. It has to do with the number power-on hours and nothing else. Site redesign is a completely separate project.

[dokidoki]

Secondly, I will also personally match the largest single cash donation up to $1000; if you give $1000, I will give $1000.

I donated $1001 last time (Feb 2009) to ensure this happened.
But I don't think I can this time.

PS:

[ZephyrStar]

Also, how about used server hardware?
I've been looking at used SuperMicro boxes for rendering, dual 6 core Westmere x5650's with 48gb ram for like $800. Yeah, they're used servers, but replacement parts are abundant and cheap. Could fill those up with new drives and even keep spares ready to go for $15,000.

[Phade]

Also, how about used server hardware?
I've been looking at used SuperMicro boxes for rendering, dual 6 core Westmere x5650's with 48gb ram for like $800. Yeah, they're used servers, but replacement parts are abundant and cheap. Could fill those up with new drives and even keep spares ready to go for $15,000.

Well, the latest and greatest thing that has happened is capacitor explosion on a server motherboard, like a "fire" type situation. If we go for used or a "Walmart" quality server, I fear that we will have greater chances of outages and end up spending more money over time than if we just went with solid quality and not worry about it.

[Koopiskeva]

Yet you are a Debbie Downer rather than a cheerleader. Quick! Post pics of cheerleaders! At Anime Detour recently, I raised $1300 in 10 minutes for charity. We can easily raise $15k in 6 weeks for the site!

I'm just saying I have my doubts based on trends I've seen, like I said, no actual data about it.
But here's a pic (from an upcoming video) that has one cheerleader in it.....

Spoiler :

Site servers need to be replaced no matter if we do a site redesign or not. Site servers are old. Very old. It's as plain as that. It has to do with the number power-on hours and nothing else. Site redesign is a completely separate project.

Oh I understand that this would need to be done regardless - just saying you may just get a better response if it were indeed part of a greater plan. Keeping the lights on is integral, but kinda moot if it is just to keep the site going through a slow decay.