Great to see the site back!!!!!!
- Thread starter JEM
- Start date
pklonowski
Unrepentant Canoeist
...and then some...
Kudos to the web team! Should we ever meet, I owe you beers.
And a pox on the hackers, and their "sad, canoeless lives." (Klos)
Kudos to the web team! Should we ever meet, I owe you beers.
And a pox on the hackers, and their "sad, canoeless lives." (Klos)
Chuck Hoffhine
Wooden Canoe Nut
...and then some more...
Hope the 'team' hasn't pulled out all their hair!!
Thanks to all.
-Chuck
Hope the 'team' hasn't pulled out all their hair!!
Thanks to all.
-Chuck
Tim Hewitt
WCHA Member in Maine
We are not out of the woods yet...
Though it appears that the trojon horse that was installed on the server has been removed, we're still running on the old server and potentially can be hacked again if we have not closed all the doors.
We're going to be moving to the new server in the next few days, and will try to keep any outages to a minimum.
Sorry for all the interruptions.
-Tim
Though it appears that the trojon horse that was installed on the server has been removed, we're still running on the old server and potentially can be hacked again if we have not closed all the doors.
We're going to be moving to the new server in the next few days, and will try to keep any outages to a minimum.
Sorry for all the interruptions.
-Tim
Dan Lindberg
Ex Wood Hoarder
Yes,
Thanks Tim and all the folks working on maintaining the web site.
I feel like a part of me is lost without it.
Dan
Thanks Tim and all the folks working on maintaining the web site.
I feel like a part of me is lost without it.
Dan
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
*smiles*
What a wonderful surprise-- having the website materialize instead of getting that error message! Great work-- thanks! This place and those who inhabit it were sorely missed!
What a wonderful surprise-- having the website materialize instead of getting that error message! Great work-- thanks! This place and those who inhabit it were sorely missed!
Ric Altfather
WCHA #4035
Thanks!
Ditto to what all the others have said.
Consider this a canoe voyage from the past to the future...if we ever wanted the best guides, leaders and scouts, we would all choose Tim, Benson and Dan to fill these positions.
Your efforts are MOST appreciated!
Ric Altfather
Ditto to what all the others have said.
Consider this a canoe voyage from the past to the future...if we ever wanted the best guides, leaders and scouts, we would all choose Tim, Benson and Dan to fill these positions.
Your efforts are MOST appreciated!
Ric Altfather
Greg Nolan
enthusiast
Many, many thanks for the what must have been a frustrating, seemingly thankless task. Those of us who work out at least some of our O/C disorders by checking in frequently to the forums will be a bit calmer, and we will all be the better for your spirit and generosity in keeping website going.
bob goeckel
Wooden Canoe Maniac
gooooood work!
Darryl
Canoe Nut
Let me preface what I am about to say with that I echo the comments above regarding missing this wonderful outlet and resource while it was gone. But, being in the industry, I would be remiss in stating that outages like this really shouldn't be happening in this day and age.
I don't know the situation around the server, but I get the distinct feeling that it is not in a secure hosting facility, but rather sandwiched between the computer desk and the kid’s toy box (I made that up, but you get my point). If I am wrong, great! Then all you have to do is fire your host, because outages like that are unacceptable. But if I am right, good, secure and guaranteed hosting service is not that expensive anymore and really should be considered.
I do appreciate the sacrifice it takes to keep a server running, I see it on a daily basis, but considering the costs (I assume that costs are the issue here) to have it maintained professionally, it seems like an unnecessary sacrifice. I for one would gladly donate to a "hosting fund" to keep this top notch resource available at all times, as would many other members of this board I suspect. I would imagine that sufficient funds could be raised fairly quickly to cover a years worth of service.
I don’t want this message to make it appear that I don’t care about the hard work people put in the site, but maybe that I care too much. People’s time could be better spent contributing to the forums, rather than worrying about viruses and hard drive failures. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Darryl
I don't know the situation around the server, but I get the distinct feeling that it is not in a secure hosting facility, but rather sandwiched between the computer desk and the kid’s toy box (I made that up, but you get my point). If I am wrong, great! Then all you have to do is fire your host, because outages like that are unacceptable. But if I am right, good, secure and guaranteed hosting service is not that expensive anymore and really should be considered.
I do appreciate the sacrifice it takes to keep a server running, I see it on a daily basis, but considering the costs (I assume that costs are the issue here) to have it maintained professionally, it seems like an unnecessary sacrifice. I for one would gladly donate to a "hosting fund" to keep this top notch resource available at all times, as would many other members of this board I suspect. I would imagine that sufficient funds could be raised fairly quickly to cover a years worth of service.
I don’t want this message to make it appear that I don’t care about the hard work people put in the site, but maybe that I care too much. People’s time could be better spent contributing to the forums, rather than worrying about viruses and hard drive failures. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Darryl
Tim Hewitt
WCHA Member in Maine
Hi Darryl,
Thank you for your concern and suggestions.
Here's the problem - your assumptions are incorrect...
The WCHA server is run entirely by volunteers, at no cost to the WCHA. This means that it runs on availability capacity on one of several servers I run for my business, and as long as this continues it will never be "State of the Art," hardened or run in a secure data center.
Until such time as the WCHA desires to take this on themselves and pay someone to run the server for them - this is the way it will continue to be; run by volunteers for the benefit of the WCHA membership.
Thanks and regards,
-Tim
Thank you for your concern and suggestions.
Here's the problem - your assumptions are incorrect...
The WCHA server is run entirely by volunteers, at no cost to the WCHA. This means that it runs on availability capacity on one of several servers I run for my business, and as long as this continues it will never be "State of the Art," hardened or run in a secure data center.
Until such time as the WCHA desires to take this on themselves and pay someone to run the server for them - this is the way it will continue to be; run by volunteers for the benefit of the WCHA membership.
Thanks and regards,
-Tim
Hi Darryl,
The WCHA server is in a data center but the web site is run by volunteers as Tim mentioned. One of the reasons that Tim selected this data center was because it had very good access to some of the highest speed internet connections available. The irony is that this also makes the server much more interesting to hackers than if it was "sandwiched between the computer desk and the kid’s toy box" on a ordinary network connection in someone's home.
The WCHA's board of directors is also concerned about the down time of this web site but the cost of having it "maintained professionally" is significant. It is not unusual to have to pay $800 to $1300/month for regular maintenance of a web site and over $120/hour for any additional work that needs to be done. I appreciate that you have offered to donate to a "hosting fund" but the actual costs could be more than most people would be willing to pay. The total organization has approximately 2000 members but only about 200 of them regularly access the web site. Do you think that all of the regular users of this web site would be willing to pay over $5 every month for this? Would it be fair to raise the dues for the entire organization by over $5/year to pay for a professionally managed web site that is only used by about 10% of the membership?
Tim has been exceptionally generous in providing this free service to the WCHA so some occasional down time may be a small price for us to pay. Does anyone have any better ideas or other suggestions?
Benson Gray
Volunteer WCHA webmaster backup
Volunteer member of the WCHA's Board of Directors
Professional webmaster, data center manager, information technology director, and geek
The WCHA server is in a data center but the web site is run by volunteers as Tim mentioned. One of the reasons that Tim selected this data center was because it had very good access to some of the highest speed internet connections available. The irony is that this also makes the server much more interesting to hackers than if it was "sandwiched between the computer desk and the kid’s toy box" on a ordinary network connection in someone's home.
The WCHA's board of directors is also concerned about the down time of this web site but the cost of having it "maintained professionally" is significant. It is not unusual to have to pay $800 to $1300/month for regular maintenance of a web site and over $120/hour for any additional work that needs to be done. I appreciate that you have offered to donate to a "hosting fund" but the actual costs could be more than most people would be willing to pay. The total organization has approximately 2000 members but only about 200 of them regularly access the web site. Do you think that all of the regular users of this web site would be willing to pay over $5 every month for this? Would it be fair to raise the dues for the entire organization by over $5/year to pay for a professionally managed web site that is only used by about 10% of the membership?
Tim has been exceptionally generous in providing this free service to the WCHA so some occasional down time may be a small price for us to pay. Does anyone have any better ideas or other suggestions?
Benson Gray
Volunteer WCHA webmaster backup
Volunteer member of the WCHA's Board of Directors
Professional webmaster, data center manager, information technology director, and geek
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