motor

Jabba · 10-11-2005, 06:17 AM

We have been putting this announcement off for as long as possible but after last nights problems uploading 5th gear (we had to use Dans server in the end) finally the time has come.

Some of you may have already noticed site slow downs and server problems recently prior to the 5th gear problems last night so this will probably come as no surprise.

We currently operate on a 10 mbit server which was fine in the early days but with the ever growing amount of members who have high speed connections and all the new material being added daily it will be impossible to keep the site running smoothly without substantial hardware upgrades the very least being a 100 mbit connection.

Dan has been doing an AMAZING job getting every last drop out of our current server but is spending more and more time trying to juggle server resources to prevent the site from crashing or becoming so slow that it is virtually un-useable...few people realise how much TIME and WORK that guy puts into this site just to keep it online !! In addition to all the great features that he codes himself he also has an ongoing battle with a number of people that are attacking the site on a daily basis who are trying to bring the site down.

Sadly there is no easy upgrade option available to us and we will require a move to a completely new server. The cost and amount of work involved can only be described as a complete nightmare.

Sadly I cannot carry on privately funding JW at this level or expect Dan to carry on working day and night virtually for free.

We feel that advertising would ruin the site completely (we still seem to be the only ad free car forum on the net) and are not left with many other options...the best one so far being....voluntary donations.

This would help cover the running costs and smooth daily operation of the site as well as all the new and ongoing features and a lot more storage space so we can keep even more videos at a much higher quality online and available for an even quicker and trouble free download.

I hope when you decide whether you think this is the correct decision or even a fair one you will consider all the new features that have been added such as how quickly all the latest 5th gear videos were posted thanks to Dans custom upload system and the improved quality of the videos. This will also be the case for Top Gear next month and of course something called "heaven and hell".

I shall leave Dan to answer any technical questions you may have about the downtime and server move...but he will not be able to answer everything so as to protect the "magic" of JW.

Thanks

Jabba