Dr. Dos wrote:Dreamhost hosts SA so they are obviously really good.
I'm sorry Dos, but that's just not true. SA has bought their own servers and are located in a datacenter.
Guys, don't go with Dreamhost. I've read several threads on SA about people complaining about downage and unco-operative helpdesk people. I'm willing to go look at some alternatives (When I was looking for hosting for fsfunky.com I looked at several options, before going with a small local hosting service, which was another mistake on its own).
And to not make you think that I'm just pulling this all out of my ass: here's a semi-review of DreamHost. He's not that negative about it, but you can see that he doesn't recommend it.
One of the problems is that the HOTU server is rather slow; this is the consequence of lots of people downloading stuff from HOTU and is not the type of problem that you can just repair. I'm not really that clear on any of the other issues or their causes.
FSFunky, I realize that Dreamhost is not perfect, and that we should consider the move with caution. However, I don't trust Internet reviews; there are so many of them that it's hard to get an unbiased look at Dreamhost. Experiences vary dramatically; there will always be people who hate the hosting and people who love it. I'd really like to see for myself what the host is like.
I say just move the forums. UD never liked us having them here in the first place. Speed isn't an issue when the largest game isn't even 1mb. If you want to keep a backup go for it.
I'd like it separate. The fact that it's "once you're banned from the forum, you're banned from the whole site" has always seemed pretty stupid and unnecessary to me. Plus Dr. Dos has a point about the host not wanting them here in the first place, and also it would be a lot less costly and risky to just move the forums, instead of the entire site.
Revvy, I gave you authority to speak on behalf of Z2 with matters concerning ZUltimate for about a week when I was in California, but I don't recall ever giving you authority to declare a vote on the hosting of Z2 itself.
No offense - I think that you're a swell guy and an excellent programmer - but at the moment, I would think that making the final decision is my job.
Not that I don't want to hear the opinions of others, so continue the discussion. It's just that I reserve the right to have the final say on the matter.
You'll note that I never actually called a vote, I just told burstroc that I was going to let the thread play itself out for a general consensus. I haven't done anything else, and all decisions are still up to you. I'm all for moving the forums, though, as it seems like that crux of the problem.
Sorry about that, Revvy; I guess I read a bit too much into what burstroc said.
I'm for keeping the fora and the site together. As for the move, I am in favor of putting Z2 on Dreamhost, unless someone from the ZZT/MZX community has a personal horror story about them. One thing that I'd like to make clear is that we would not actually move the files; we would just copy Z2 piece-by-piece to our Dreamhost account, make sure that the whole thing works, and finally switch the thing on. With our HOTU space, we would not create a backup so much as we would convert the current site into a backup/mirror.
Ando wrote:I'd like it separate. The fact that it's "once you're banned from the forum, you're banned from the whole site" has always seemed pretty stupid and unnecessary to me.
It occurs to me that a piecewise transition of the site would also be a very useful means of streamlining it - sorting out what files and content are outdated or no longer necessary.
I'd much rather have an efficient site than a pretty one, which is why I'm keen on the classic and minimal styles for the front page.
What I find amazing is that you guys up and paid me before even having consulted the owner of the site or the majority of the people on it first. I don't mind, of course. Being paid to host nothing is awesome.
