# Server Hosting - Time to Renew



## Mike Bobbitt (20 Apr 2016)

Folks,

As you may recall, a couple of years ago we went through an analysis where we figured out a "way forward" for the site. Ultimately, the decision was made to do a short-term renewal (1 year) for a medium-grade server to allow us to re-assess in a year's time, which we did. We are now at 1 year minus 1 week from that renewal, which means next Thursday (28 April 2016) our server reservation expires. That does not mean we will be off the air; Army.ca will continue regardless, however it does mean our pre-paid server reservation expires, and we start paying a much higher hourly rate.

I have been planning for this by working some consulting gigs to cover the cost of renewal, however things haven't gone exactly as planned. (Mostly due to additional database and site traffic expenses and slow customer payment.) On average we pay about $210 CAD / month for hosting fees, largely because a year ago we rented the server with 100% of the cost paid up front. The remaining cost breakdown is attached, and as you can see, the cost is split between:


EC2: Site storage and backup
RDS: Database usage
Data Transfer: Site traffic

If possible, I would like to renew the current 1 year contract on the server to keep the monthly costs where they are. If we don't renew, the costs go up to about $305 / month, which gets expensive quickly. As a stretch goal, I have spec'd out an upgrade to m3.2xlarge, which is a decent server upgrade to accommodate for future growth. It is not critical that we hit that goal, however doing so would help "future proof" the site as we continue to grow.

I do hate to hit the membership up for assistance, but any help that can be provided would be greatly appreciated. In a nutshell:


If you are not already a subscriber, please consider subscribing - there are lots of benefits!
Why not consider some Army.ca swag, you can support the site and look cool too  8)
If for some reason you don't like special status or cool swag, you can always donate

Thanks to everyone for their support, and I apologize for the call for help - it was not my intent!  :'(

How are we doing?
Server Renewal Progress


Cheers
Mike


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## The Bread Guy (20 Apr 2016)

A few shekels inbound - keep up the great work, MB!


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## Nfld Sapper (20 Apr 2016)

Looking at the slide what is SNS?


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## GAP (20 Apr 2016)

Sent some


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## Old and Tired (20 Apr 2016)

Will kick in bucks again.


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## Fishbone Jones (20 Apr 2016)

Inbound EMT.


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## mariomike (20 Apr 2016)

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> If you are not already a subscriber, please consider subscribing - there are lots of benefits!



Still just 8 cents a day.


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## cavalryman (20 Apr 2016)

A handful of sestertii is coming your way.  :nod:


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## Lumber (20 Apr 2016)




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## Mike Bobbitt (20 Apr 2016)

Thanks to everyone for their support! I appreciate the that in addition to the usual suspects, there are also some new folks helping out. 



			
				NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> Looking at the slide what is SNS?



SNS is Simple Notification Service - alarms about server performance, etc. We don't incur any costs there.


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## ballz (20 Apr 2016)

So to be clear, we need to raise $380 more within a week or else the costs go up by like $95 bucks a month?


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## Walt (20 Apr 2016)

Just made my contribution. Ladies & gent's, every dollar counts! Please, let's help keep this website alive.

Walt


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## ModlrMike (21 Apr 2016)

Just looking at my account and it seems the system generated two subscription payments. Just keep the second one as my contribution.


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## the 48th regulator (21 Apr 2016)

Subscription renewed!!!!



 :dileas:


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## CBH99 (21 Apr 2016)

Just subscribed.     

E-transfer inbound.


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## Mike Bobbitt (21 Apr 2016)

Thanks everyone! We had old subscribers re-up and new ones sign up, and donations of all kinds from folks who have been very generous. We are now in good standing for next week's renewal, thanks to the support provided - THANKS!

As a small token of my appreciation, here's an Army.ca theme for Google Chrome users:

http://army.ca/media/theme-ArmyCA.crx

And I have a site project in the wings that I hope to complete this week, now that the pressure is off for the renewal. 


Cheers and thanks again
Mike


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## Nfld Sapper (21 Apr 2016)

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> Thanks everyone! We had old subscribers re-up and new ones sign up, and donations of all kinds from folks who have been very generous. We are now in good standing for next week's renewal, thanks to the support provided - THANKS!
> 
> As a small token of my appreciation, here's an Army.ca theme for Google Chrome users:
> 
> ...



Like the theme Mike, will be sending some dough your way soon....


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## Scott (21 Apr 2016)

I keep bugging Mike to shake the trees a little more often. I'll have to set a reminder to make sure that I do it and just bypass him ;D

I know for a fact that this site has helped quite a number of folks, so why not return the favor to Mike for all his hard work.


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## The Bread Guy (21 Apr 2016)

Scott said:
			
		

> I keep bugging Mike to shake the trees a little more often. I'll have to set a reminder to make sure that I do it and just bypass him ;D
> 
> I know for a fact that this site has helped quite a number of folks, so why not return the favor to Mike for all his hard work.


That, and think of the withdrawal symptoms you'll go through without your army.ca hit  >


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## NavyShooter (21 Apr 2016)

Paid up another year's subscription.

Thanks!


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