Server / Gaming Trend State of the Union Address (BIG Update 12/15)

[CeeKay]

A little late to the party, but yeah - option 3 is a no-brainer. We'll make it happen. If nothing else I can sell autographs.

How would we raise the other $1,108.00? 

oh BURN! 

let me see what I can scratch up.....

[joeyjazz]

Agreed.  I'll start the drive today as it seems the consensus is option 3 (whether we build or buy is dependent on the amount raised)  I'll put the info into the first post.

Awesome.  Donation sent.

[Blackjack]

Would there maybe be a way to put a little badge or medal or something by your forum name here if you've donated some money?...
Absolutely.  That is very easy to do.  What sort of badge would you like?  I'd like something other than just a star (the default).   I can also do custom forum tags as well.

Here's a couple examples of small (I'm not thinking big "sig badges,") "badge" type things I've seen at forums. Sometimes it's just to denote someone is a dev or official representative, other times it's maybe to denote someone has passed a certain posting threshold (yeah I know, CeeKay would need his own special badge in that situation)

*This guy had a slim "label badge" that says "support" on it. If it doesn't devour bandwidth, maybe something like that that just says "GT Supporter," "GT Organ Donor," "I helped Ron avoid selling the shirt off his back for server parts," etc.
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?P=4296ae39c677dea8908ac28772b42ebe&topic=272137.msg1781730#msg1781730

*This South African forum had some larger - maybe too large - badges (maybe something like that with the GT logo instead of that yellow triangle thingie might work):
http://forum.thinkbike.co.za/showthread.php?39890-Forum-Badges-Problem

I do realize doing this would also add some administrative headaches as far as keeping track of who's donating and such.

My other thought is that if Ron knows where he would like to source the server parts from, maybe there's some way we can buy gift cards to whatever place that is (if they offer that)? If anyone's squeamish about checks, PayPal or whatever, then maybe that would be another way to contribute.

[Huw the Poo]

Shit!  If this was occurring in two or three months' time I would be able to throw in a significant sum of cash.  I assume October will be too late?  Sorry, Ron.  I still agree with the fundraising drive though.  Didn't plaques for financial contributors in a certain part of the website work for GG?

Actually, if you can code an "ignore Ceekay" function I'm sure I could scrape together a pile of cash to have it.

[Knightshade Dragon]

So far we've scraped together 250 dollars thanks to forum donations.  I talked with a company that seemed willing to give me a substantial amount for the 2850 I mentioned above, so we may be on our way to a very powerful server.  He is getting some quotes together to email me tomorrow.   As far as donations go, any little bit helps.  If our reviews have saved you from buying a terrible game you otherwise would have, consider that in your decision.  Any little bit helps - let's keep up the momentum and really build something awesome that'll last us the next 5 years.

[rittchard]

I think you should have rewards for donations.  Like $XX unlocks shirtless pictures of Knightshade Dragon.  And $XXX unlocks CK's home address (for stalkers).   

OK, that was it for my lame jokes, I'll go hit the paypal!

[Knightshade Dragon]

I think you should have rewards for donations.  Like $XX unlocks shirtless pictures of Knightshade Dragon.  And $XXX unlocks CK's home address (for stalkers).   

OK, that was it for my lame jokes, I'll go hit the paypal!

Let me finish this Insanity workout a few times.  

[Default]

Nothing's going to happen until we get a really cool fundraising on the front page. Any fundraising effort worth anything has a big fat .

CeeKayified.

[YellowKing]

I'll donate as soon as I get paid on the 30th. Lord knows I've received enough entertainment and free swag from this site to justify a contribution. (Though I'm knocking off $10 for having to review Red Bull BC One).

[LoneStarSpur]

I sent a little bit in. As much as I could without risking Wife Wrath. 

[Blackjack]

Folks might see if a local bank has a free coin-counting machine. I seem to pile up a good $20-$40 in change terribly quickly. I mean, if 100 members rang up $20 apiece in change (and then did check, money order, PayPal or whatever to donate), that's $2,000+ right there.

And no, don't mail Ron a box of 200,000 pennies. I don't think he'd appreciate it.  

[Knightshade Dragon]

And no, don't mail Ron a box of 200,000 pennies. I don't think he'd appreciate it.  

Doesn't mean I wouldn't take it though!   

[Knightshade Dragon]

Ok, I got the power supply, RAID cage, and lowest end PCI-E graphics card into the figures in case we end up assembling it ourselves.   If it comes to that, I'll ask if anyone has any of the components lying around spare before we begin to try to defray some of the cost as well. 

[happydog]

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on a price comparison of "cloud" hosting vs the co-lo setup.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on a price comparison of "cloud" hosting vs the co-lo setup.

I'd be interested in somebody with an actual cloud that won't shut down my site the second we reach beyond an unnamed threshold.  (I'm still feeling burned from VSS)   Seriously though, if you've got a cloud company we could trust, I might consider it.   Amazon does something like that I think but I've never checked the pricing...

[Blackjack]

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on a price comparison of "cloud" hosting vs the co-lo setup.

I'd be interested in somebody with an actual cloud that won't shut down my site the second we reach beyond an unnamed threshold.  (I'm still feeling burned from VSS)   Seriously though, if you've got a cloud company we could trust, I might consider it.   Amazon does something like that I think but I've never checked the pricing...

Boom! (Is this it?)

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)
http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/#pricing

*I confess I no more understand cloud computing than I understand warp drives. 

[Knightshade Dragon]

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on a price comparison of "cloud" hosting vs the co-lo setup.

I'd be interested in somebody with an actual cloud that won't shut down my site the second we reach beyond an unnamed threshold.  (I'm still feeling burned from VSS)   Seriously though, if you've got a cloud company we could trust, I might consider it.   Amazon does something like that I think but I've never checked the pricing...

Boom! (Is this it?)

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)
http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/#pricing

*I confess I no more understand cloud computing than I understand warp drives. 

We'd be in the high-memory app pool.  That's 50 cents a hour * 24 hours * 31 days = $372 a month for the server.  I'm gonna go with nooooooo.

[DOSHIGH]

I've got an EVGA 8800GTS 320MB card collecting dust if you need it or I'll ship it to whomever wants if for a donation to the cause.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I've got an EVGA 8800GTS 320MB card collecting dust if you need it or I'll ship it to whomever wants if for a donation to the cause.

That'd be awesome!  Hold on to it until the donation side of things runs its course and I'll bet we'll make use of it.  It'd be our "DOSHIGH Graphics Card". 

[Huw the Poo]

I have a load of USB cables!  Any good?

[Teggy]

I have a PS/2 keyboard! No?

[Isgrimnur]

Where'd I put that cassette tape drive?

[EngineNo9]

Hey, the total is now over $400!  (for those who aren't checking back with the first post)  Woohoo, let's keep it up!

[happydog]

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on a price comparison of "cloud" hosting vs the co-lo setup.

I'd be interested in somebody with an actual cloud that won't shut down my site the second we reach beyond an unnamed threshold.  (I'm still feeling burned from VSS)   Seriously though, if you've got a cloud company we could trust, I might consider it.   Amazon does something like that I think but I've never checked the pricing...

Boom! (Is this it?)

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)
http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/#pricing

*I confess I no more understand cloud computing than I understand warp drives. 

We'd be in the high-memory app pool.  That's 50 cents a hour * 24 hours * 31 days = $372 a month for the server.  I'm gonna go with nooooooo.

You need 17GB of RAM? Maybe you are misreading something or I am missing something, but that doesn't sound right.

I would think the Standard Large instance would more than cover the CPU/RAM needs:
7.5 GB memory
4 EC2 Compute Units (2 virtual cores with 2 EC2 Compute Units each)
850 GB instance storage (2×420 GB plus 10 GB root partition)
64-bit platform
I/O Performance: High

$0.34 per hour.

But unless I am mistaken, the bandwidth costs could also change. Can we get a breakdown of current bandwidth costs, average/max bandwidth needs (in and out)? And while we are at it, what about the storage needs?

[Knightshade Dragon]

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on a price comparison of "cloud" hosting vs the co-lo setup.

I'd be interested in somebody with an actual cloud that won't shut down my site the second we reach beyond an unnamed threshold.  (I'm still feeling burned from VSS)   Seriously though, if you've got a cloud company we could trust, I might consider it.   Amazon does something like that I think but I've never checked the pricing...

Boom! (Is this it?)

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)
http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/#pricing

*I confess I no more understand cloud computing than I understand warp drives. 

We'd be in the high-memory app pool.  That's 50 cents a hour * 24 hours * 31 days = $372 a month for the server.  I'm gonna go with nooooooo.

You need 17GB of RAM? Maybe you are misreading something or I am missing something, but that doesn't sound right.

I would think the Standard Large instance would more than cover the CPU/RAM needs:
7.5 GB memory
4 EC2 Compute Units (2 virtual cores with 2 EC2 Compute Units each)
850 GB instance storage (2×420 GB plus 10 GB root partition)
64-bit platform
I/O Performance: High

$0.34 per hour.

But unless I am mistaken, the bandwidth costs could also change. Can we get a breakdown of current bandwidth costs, average/max bandwidth needs (in and out)? And while we are at it, what about the storage needs?

Not sure where you dug that out of but I wasn't able to find it.  We are using roughly 2.5GB constantly with that rising closer to 4GB during peak.  7.5 would be fine.  As far as bandwidth, we've hit closer to our 1.4TB of data during E3 times every year.  We hit 99% of it when Bethesda gave us the exclusives on Oblivion.  In is actually pretty variable, but assume maybe 20 GB (uploading videos, screenshots, etc.) with that rising closer to 100GB with what I intend to do with the site.    Even at 34 cents an hour that comes out to $252.96 though.  A great price, but still far more than our current or proposed costs.  Cloud is awesome, but still out of our reach right now.

[Blackjack]

Where'd I put that cassette tape drive?

I have a 1988 British-made Amstrad greenscreen world processor with amazing nearly CGA graphics adventure games on proprietary 3" cartridges and the world's loudest dot matrix printer! And a 1979 Pioneer turntable with incredible "touch sensor" technology! And the Duck Hunt Crap portion of my 1985 NES! What? No? Sigh.  

[Purge]

You, like I, will need to wait until my payday for my contribution.

[Knightshade Dragon]

You, like I, will need to wait until my payday for my contribution.

I suspect that'll be the case for many.   That's why I'm running this for a month before we move forward.

[happydog]

Not sure where you dug that out of but I wasn't able to find it.  We are using roughly 2.5GB constantly with that rising closer to 4GB during peak.  7.5 would be fine.  As far as bandwidth, we've hit closer to our 1.4TB of data during E3 times every year.  We hit 99% of it when Bethesda gave us the exclusives on Oblivion.  In is actually pretty variable, but assume maybe 20 GB (uploading videos, screenshots, etc.) with that rising closer to 100GB with what I intend to do with the site.    Even at 34 cents an hour that comes out to $252.96 though.  A great price, but still far more than our current or proposed costs.  Cloud is awesome, but still out of our reach right now.

I did a quick mock pricing and based on a lot of guessing you would probably hit about $300/month at a peak. Too bad. Cloud offers so much versatility.
I will see what I can do for a donation. (I might have to give up on a new phone )

[Knightshade Dragon]

A quick update - we are now just over 500 bucks on the server fund!  Thanks so much guys.    Crusis has generously offered up some raffle options that we'll be assembling this week.  (Hint:  It'll involve zombies I'm told)  I'm going to be putting a few games up for sale, and I'm liking the 'yard sale' idea that a few of you threw out.  Let's coordinate that and make it happen!

[Arkon]

Donation sent...hope it helps KD.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I've posted the update for the evening - thanks to everyone who has donated so far - it's been a great help!  We are making great progress folks...

[Knightshade Dragon]

I updated the amount and also posted up a big update on the gear we'll likely be getting.  We are VERY close and I'm sure we can hit that amount with a month's worth of fundraising and some community yardsailing amongst ourselves. 

[DonD]

Awesome.

[CeeKay]

some community yardsailing amongst ourselves. 

yardsailing?  do they have a yard club for that?  perhaps some yard racing for the Mulch Cup!

[Knightshade Dragon]

some community yardsailing amongst ourselves. 

yardsailing?  do they have a yard club for that?  perhaps some yard racing for the Mulch Cup!

Bathtub, broomstick, bedsheet, and a cape.  Get with the program CeeKay....geeze...

[Knightshade Dragon]

I've updated the amount - we are within striking distance of closing this out.  I'm going to pull the games I've got in the trading forum and see if I can scrape some cash from eBay for em.  I'm excited about this opportunity and I think you'll all be very happy with the results. 

[CeeKay]

going to send some fund via PayPal, just waiting for them to process the funds I added.

[edit]they're estimating the 11th now.  stupid PayPal, should've just sent a check.  first and last time I use them to send money.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I've updated our first post - we are very close on this!  I'm thinking we should be able to close this out in a few more weeks and pull the trigger on the hardware.  Mike is revving up the software side of things (as well as moving to a new home/job) so things are really looking up!  Thanks to everyone for their donations - it is appreciated more than you know.

[CeeKay]

going to send some fund via PayPal, just waiting for them to process the funds I added.

[edit]they're estimating the 11th now.  stupid PayPal, should've just sent a check.  first and last time I use them to send money.

sent!