New server

[webrunner]

I am in the process of getting a new dedicated server for Fibsboard.
Now the board shares a server with at least 40 other websites and i want more power, speed and especially more diskspace for the forum and all other websites that run within the fibsboard domain now.

I will move the bots to the new server too (all mgnu-bots and TourneyBot) This will speed them up quite a bit and will also speed up the connection since i will put the server in a secured server room of one of the biggest hosting providers of the Netherlands. It has lots of backup power and about 2 Gbit of multiple glassfiber connections to the internet. Cool huh?  
It is also the place that i work.

Luckely i get a big discount on the hosting , but still i will have to pay for it all. I really don't mind doing all that but my funds are limited.

[dohtml]<center>So, if you like this board please
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Why donate?
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[JonJon]

I'll be glad to help by making a donation when I can Webrunner....

Maybe it would help if you give us more info...

How much does it cost to maintain this new server monthly?

How much is it going to cost just to procure this new server?

What are the other associated costs with the board?

The more info you give us, the more likely it is that folks will contribute when they see what it actually takes to keep this board running, and to have a home for the bots. I would suggest including every cost you can possibly think of...

I also think your request for donations shold be more prominently placed on fibsboard. Hell, sticky it in EVERY forum at the top of the page so EVERYONE sees it. The more people that see your request, the more are likely to donate.

And just a suggestion....what about advertising on fibsboard? Even if you keep it to strictly backgammon related stuff, it may help to cover costs...

I have seen some boards where there is a special forum only for people who have donated money or bought a membership. I'm not so sure how great an idea this would be for fibsboard, but it would certainly prove interesting. Notice how many TD's have taken to bashing people in the private forum for TB....as a means to creating cashflow this is a great idea, as a means to keeping the peace its not so great. And slimy? You bet it is. But business is always slimy. Always.

I absolutely applaud your efforts and hope everyone makes a donation. I think you should be more aggressive about collecting donation monies, and therefore will be better equipped and financed to carry out your ideas. It would certainly make fibsboard and fibs a better experience.

As soon as I have a few extra dollars I will be sending some money your way..

JJ

[diane]

Well, speeding things up does nothing for me and my poxy dial up    

But that dont mean i wont chip in  

This is a great place - and very well maintained - i whole heartedly back jonjons first statement - tell us what it all comes to - so we can make informed judgements when making donations.  I am gonna play the single mom card  - but even then, will do what i can !!

Alef will be posting that we are offering t shirts to those who donate in suitable quantities - look out for that.

Advertising - within reason seems fair to me - backgammon books/ boards, and associated equipment have to be good sources of a little extra.  And - as i was trying in vain to find a supplier of baffle boxes recently - clearly there are advantages to the readers with that too!

[alef]

As an incentive, we'd like to send a FIBS t-shirt to anyone who donates 40 euros or more towards the running of FIBS Board! For as long as supplies of shirts remain just contact either myself or diane if you've given webrunner 40+ euros and we'll post one to you.

Thank you, webrunner, for creating and maintaining this great FIBS addition! And thank you, diane, for helping me with sending out the shirts    

[webrunner]

Apart from an increase in spead, traffic and stability i would like to donate more webspace to projects like chouettebot, the fibs companion, the fibs archive etc.

The hostingcost of the server will at least be €35,00 a month, and the server i am aiming for now is about €300,00 (it is a used one).
I would like to add another backup harddisk wich is about €100,00.
I can prolly use it for some other private stuff to so that will keep the costs a bit lower.
Apart from that i pay for the domainname now €10,00 a year.
The more money i get, the better (and faster, more powerfull) server i can get.
The server i descibed will at least keep us going for another year and hopefully more.

I have made a donation link on the portal page and wrote a page about it in the forum help file. This topic is the last promotion i was thinking of. The links will be there forever and i am still thinking of putting them on some other places (it will prolly end up in the top menu).

About advertising: one of the reasons that made me create this website was the terrible amount of advertising on the Yahoo improve Fibs group.  :angry:
I think a site about a free, ad-free BG server should be free and ad-free too.

Links to backgammon sites that bare any good can be posted on the forum, and so can novelties or even offers of products, as long as they are interesting and backgammon related. I don't need any money for that.

So for now it's just donations only. Keep them coming   and ensure fibsboard and all surrounding projects a nice future.

[diane]

The other thing i wanted to say was - i am not so sure about the 'go straight to senior member' card for donating - i am actually getting some kind of peverse pleasure from slogging my way from one level to the next.  Must be the same part of me that keep me playing on fibs, despite the dice

I see that it does give an indication who donated - which should then also inspires others, but is there some other way to do it.  If I go straight to the top - what will i have to aspire to???  

[webrunner]

Don't worry Diane.
The posting rating is still visible with Senior Members.
It is a different kind of group.

Look for a Senior Member and you will see that his rating can still be "Awful".

[diane]

Ohhhhh Thats ok then  

[gogogiz]

hello all and hello webrunner

this all sounds good to me and i want to donate, but i do not have a credit card.

maybe if i give cash to diane or alef they can put it forward for me.. if you can diane or alef that would be  cool..

thanks all and i hope to make a donation soon...

gogogiz    

[diane]

NP gogogiz - we can sort that out later - just tell me how much etc    

[alef]

ditto

at some point the UK will be probably have euros and it'll be straightforward to transfer money to our friends across the channel, but it's likely to take a while to happen...

[webrunner]

Great Gogo !!
Thanks for the effort!

It is possible to open a free Pay-Pal account and transfer money from your normal bacnk account to that Paypal account. After that you can pay anywhere on the internet with the money you transfered (and do a donation to the Fibsboard)
You don't need a creditcard for that.

More info on PayPal website

[burper]

Don't worry Diane.
The posting rating is still visible with Senior Members.
It is a different kind of group.

Look for a Senior Member and you will see that his rating can still be "Awful".

What about the moderator button?

[PortWine]

I'm going to start putting a "Remember to donate to fibsboard" comment in my tourney descriptions.  I think lots, but not all of people on Fibs have the means to contribute a little something.  When I think about it, I would probably be willing to pay a monthly service fee per month to play on fibs, so the point is donating a couple of times a year shouldn't be a stretch for most people.

Webrunner,

Why don't you do a bar graph for the donation on the web page showing how much more you need to get the equipment and hosting you need.  Ihave seen this done in the form of a thermometer.

Keep up the good work webrunner and no one will think less of you if you dip into the stash ocaisionally to buy a six-pack!  You've earned it! :2drunk:  

[webrunner]

What about the moderator button?

What about it?

[webrunner]

I'm going to start putting a "Remember to donate to fibsboard" comment in my tourney descriptions.  I think lots, but not all of people on Fibs have the means to contribute a little something.  When I think about it, I would probably be willing to pay a monthly service fee per month to play on fibs, so the point is donating a couple of times a year shouldn't be a stretch for most people.

Webrunner,

Why don't you do a bar graph for the donation on the web page showing how much more you need to get the equipment and hosting you need.  Ihave seen this done in the form of a thermometer.

Keep up the good work webrunner and no one will think less of you if you dip into the stash ocaisionally to buy a six-pack!  You've earned it! :2drunk:

Thanx PW, i appreciate yor kindness.

Actually i accept recurring creditcard payments if you are serious about monthly payments

And about your idea of a thermometer.. so far it wouldn't even show on the graph.

Loads more needed.. especially since i had some bad luck and will probably need to buy a different server then the one i had in mind.
The one i had in mind features a raid controller that isn't really supported by the OS i want to use..

But i will keep looking for a good deal.
Luckely i am working where the good deals are

[webrunner]

Ok.. i found a nice server.
It's a Network Engine Viper server, dual Pentium III 900 Mhz, 2x18 Gigs scsi drives and 512 megs of memory.

Here is a picure of it.
More information will follow.

[alef]

Pretty slick looking! I imagine the bots demand far more than this Board. What plies are the gnubg bots playing to, by the way?

[webrunner]

look here !!

[webrunner]

I have the new server at home now and testing it.
I had to pay a little bit more as i anticipated since this one is far more powerfull and the parts afe better quality.
I payed € 420,00 for it, wich is an absolute bargain.

This means it will have more power for the bots and this website. So.. please donate and let's get this server in the air!