ATTN: cavern

[thefultonhow]

I say close down shop all together

+1.

The G20.net owners would like to keep control over their brand. That means that they don't want any old member producing and selling merchandise with their logo. That means j0n (who AFAIK is just doing this out of the goodness of his heart and doesn't even own the site, although he has contributed some of his own money to keep it running) is the one in charge of the merchandise. He's a busy guy with a day job.

Should the store have a disclaimer that says, "This stuff will probably get shipped months late, so only buy if you're down with that"? Maybe. But either way, that's the reality of the thing. If you want to have G20.net branded merchandise, you just have to deal with the fact that shipping won't be timely. It will happen eventually, but it may take months. Otherwise, don't buy it.

If this was a case of Hachee1 or Brendan or *stardust* walking off with people's money, maybe we'd have something to actually complain about. As it is, we should be glad there's a G20.net in the first place, because it's come close to being shut down multiple times and I know j0n doesn't enjoy people bitching at him for something he does as a service to the community.

[Blackwater32]

I'll grab some stuff from him and bring it to the WCMEAT if anyone wants anything,

[tdktank59]

+1.

The G20.net owners would like to keep control over their brand. That means that they don't want any old member producing and selling merchandise with their logo. That means j0n (who AFAIK is just doing this out of the goodness of his heart and doesn't even own the site, although he has contributed some of his own money to keep it running) is the one in charge of the merchandise. He's a busy guy with a day job.

Should the store have a disclaimer that says, "This stuff will probably get shipped months late, so only buy if you're down with that"? Maybe. But either way, that's the reality of the thing. If you want to have G20.net branded merchandise, you just have to deal with the fact that shipping won't be timely. It will happen eventually, but it may take months. Otherwise, don't buy it.

If this was a case of Hachee1 or Brendan or *stardust* walking off with people's money, maybe we'd have something to actually complain about. As it is, we should be glad there's a G20.net in the first place, because it's come close to being shut down multiple times and I know j0n doesn't enjoy people bitching at him for something he does as a service to the community.

I could easily run a site like this. I have servers, bandwidth, disk space etc... The only thing that would cost money is the domain name, and vbulletin license. (since Id donate the bandwidth and server)

Domain Name: $13.00/year (somewhere besides godaddy)
Vbulletin: $200 for 4.0version (indefinite license would have to pay for upgrades)

Even with hosting lets call it 10GB Space since most of the images are hosted offsite. (90+%) some are local... call it 100GB Bandwidth a month.
*im guessing at these specs but thats a pretty sizable chunk in my experience. Even if it where over that $0.85/month per GB of Bandwidth (larger chunks are at reduced rates) space is $5 for an extra 500MB (larger chunks at reduced rates as well..)
That still even with my hosting company is roughly $50 a month. (don't have an exact package...)

Its a forum, all of the data the site holds is TEXT, easy to store... Images are a bit tougher and the code is small...

O and by the way I am a Web Developer and Systems Administrator (nowhere near jons level on the sysadmin part (most likely)... but enough to run a few servers and take care of them)

So to the owner(s) of g20.net pass it over... Id be glad to host/run this site...

edit: and time wise... Where to begin: I work a 8-5 job, then work a few contract gigs, as well as run my own little hosting company. Im just as busy yet I still find time to get my shit done, ship my products etc...
we have moderators on these forums to help j0n maintain the site and keep things organized and clean etc...

[tdktank59]

I'll grab some stuff from him and bring it to the WCMEAT if anyone wants anything,

Id like my 2 plate frames

[thefultonhow]

I could easily run a site like this. I have servers, bandwidth, disk space etc... The only thing that would cost money is the domain name, and vbulletin license. (since Id donate the bandwidth and server)

Domain Name: $13.00/year (somewhere besides godaddy)
Vbulletin: $200 for 4.0version (indefinite license would have to pay for upgrades)

Even with hosting lets call it 10GB Space since most of the images are hosted offsite. (90+%) some are local... call it 100GB Bandwidth a month.
*im guessing at these specs but thats a pretty sizable chunk in my experience. Even if it where over that $0.85/month per GB of Bandwidth (larger chunks are at reduced rates) space is $5 for an extra 500MB (larger chunks at reduced rates as well..)
That still even with my hosting company is roughly $50 a month. (don't have an exact package...)

Its a forum, all of the data the site holds is TEXT, easy to store... Images are a bit tougher and the code is small...

O and by the way I am a Web Developer and Systems Administrator (nowhere near jons level on the sysadmin part (most likely)... but enough to run a few servers and take care of them)

So to the owner(s) of g20.net pass it over... Id be glad to host/run this site...

Not as easy as you think. vB runs on a MySQL backend, and it's a good thing, because this site gets way more traffic than just "TEXT" on the backend would be able to handle. I'm not sure if the site runs on a VPS or a dedicated server, but either way, it's a lot bigger of an operation than it seems like you think it is.

Keep in mind that the database has over 100,000 threads, probably around 45,000 users, and almost 1.4 million posts. Maybe j0n can give you more exact specs, but I'm guessing 10 gigs of space and 100 gigs of bandwidth per month are kind of low. Also keep in mind the uptime concerns -- everyone screams bloody hell if Gnet goes down for 5 minutes.

With that said, I wonder if j0n might be appreciative of additional sysadmin help. It would take weight off his shoulders, although it would also mean he would have less of an idea of what was going on. I recently switched from being the only IT guy at work to having two assistants, and it's harder to keep track of what's been done now.

[CurtDragon]

+1.

The G20.net owners would like to keep control over their brand. That means that they don't want any old member producing and selling merchandise with their logo. That means j0n (who AFAIK is just doing this out of the goodness of his heart and doesn't even own the site, although he has contributed some of his own money to keep it running) is the one in charge of the merchandise. He's a busy guy with a day job.

Should the store have a disclaimer that says, "This stuff will probably get shipped months late, so only buy if you're down with that"? Maybe. But either way, that's the reality of the thing. If you want to have G20.net branded merchandise, you just have to deal with the fact that shipping won't be timely. It will happen eventually, but it may take months. Otherwise, don't buy it.

If this was a case of Hachee1 or Brendan or *stardust* walking off with people's money, maybe we'd have something to actually complain about. As it is, we should be glad there's a G20.net in the first place, because it's come close to being shut down multiple times and I know j0n doesn't enjoy people bitching at him for something he does as a service to the community.

Eh I think that is a bit drastic, my post didnt mean to give it to someone else. I meant that if he cant do whatever it is then to have someone else handle it. The same gear just they are the handler.

Yeah Jon is a good guy but lets be real, you pay for something you should get it in a timely fashion. Me I dont care cause I dont have a G yet but for the others that have been waiting, yeah people are busy but 2 months is a long time.

[tdktank59]

Not as easy as you think. vB runs on a MySQL backend, and it's a good thing, because this site gets way more traffic than just "TEXT" on the backend would be able to handle. I'm not sure if the site runs on a VPS or a dedicated server, but either way, it's a lot bigger of an operation than it seems like you think it is.

Keep in mind that the database has over 100,000 threads, probably around 45,000 users, and almost 1.4 million posts. Maybe j0n can give you more exact specs, but I'm guessing 10 gigs of space and 100 gigs of bandwidth per month are kind of low. Also keep in mind the uptime concerns -- everyone screams bloody hell if Gnet goes down for 5 minutes.

With that said, I wonder if j0n might be appreciative of additional sysadmin help. It would take weight off his shoulders, although it would also mean he would have less of an idea of what was going on. I recently switched from being the only IT guy at work to having two assistants, and it's harder to keep track of what's been done now.

Im familiar with MySQL. I work with it almost every day.
So fine, I might have underestimated the specs there.

But im fairly confident my dedicated server can do what it does now and host g20.net just fine. and also do more stuff... Uptime is what I pride myself on. since I got this dedicated server up and running it has had ~5 minutes downtime out of the 4 months its been up. And this was scheduled for adding extra hardware to make it beefier.

If I had a need I could easily add a second server to the mix to provide the 100% uptime so if one goes down the other takes the full load. (if power, network etc.. where all constant and my servers where the only things that would "fail")

[ENO]

also...your looking @ a bout 100gb+ probally of data, & you would need a T1 or 3 probally to do the hosting,,,,i belive jon actusally doesnt house the servers, they are in a secret location somwhere

[tdktank59]

also...your looking @ a bout 100gb+ probally of data, & you would need a T1 or 3 probally to do the hosting,,,,i belive jon actusally doesnt house the servers, they are in a secret location somwhere

Yeah the servers located at a hosting company called The Planet.

My servers are hosted there as well.
Each are on a 100Mbps drop (loads faster than a T1 or 3...)

A T1 line can handle a high speed Internet connection speed of 1.544 Mbps.
A T3 line can handle a high speed Internet connection speed of 44.736 Mbps.

[merlin]

This thread is way off track, gnet is run fine. Jon is appreciated. I'm not seeing any debate there.

That being said, 70 days to ship an order is way too long by any measure. I agree with the above if the "online store" can't turn orders around in 7 days (from payment to shipment) then it should be shut down.

[tdktank59]

This thread is way off track, gnet is run fine. Jon is appreciated. I'm not seeing any debate there.

Never said anything about Jon not running the site well. Would be nice if there was someone that could be at the same level as him to be able to administrate the site when things get farther than the moderators can handle. But other than that there has been very few problems with the site.

That being said, 70 days to ship an order is way too long by any measure. I agree with the above if the "online store" can't turn orders around in 7 days (from payment to shipment) then it should be shut down.

I don't mind some wait time like a few weeks. Heck just every 2 weeks take all the orders to the post office and send them off... I could live with a 2-3 week delay... Just be communicative or something...

[ENO]

yeah a 100mb pip may be fast, but its not reliable,

i have 4 T's paried giving a total of 6 up & down & its rock soild....we had fios's mega business thing (40gb up & down) but it was reall shotty...

also security isnt there on a 100mb, without implementing some type of firewall

[2000 G-Twenty-T]

this is like that situation with alex, except its the head honcho =(

i say we vote on the store being shut down, or turned over to someone else. there is no excuse for that long of a wait, no matter how busy.

send the parts, or dont sell them

[tdktank59]

yeah a 100mb pip may be fast, but its not reliable,

i have 4 T's paried giving a total of 6 up & down & its rock soild....we had fios's mega business thing (40gb up & down) but it was reall shotty...

also security isnt there on a 100mb, without implementing some type of firewall

Well a 100Mbit pipe is fast... You have multiple backbone providers... Any good datacenter will have at least 3 if not more backbones that they connect to. Im not talking consumer business grade... They oversell that market.

That 100Mbit is mine, and no one can touch it.

My dads companies servers are on a 100Mbit commit 1Gbit bustable. and I was pulling 20 MBps on that line the other night. (20 MBps = 160 Mbps)

Id say that's pretty fast... What most businesses get are huge shared drops from a central hub. Thus why a T1 is a lot faster. since a T1 is your own line.

With any connection if you are hosting servers on it you want a firewall. The whole point of the firewall is to add an extra line of security. Just a T1 is the same as a fiber drop, copper drop etc...

[2000 G-Twenty-T]

[thefultonhow]

Well a 100Mbit pipe is fast... You have multiple backbone providers... Any good datacenter will have at least 3 if not more backbones that they connect to. Im not talking consumer business grade... They oversell that market.

That 100Mbit is mine, and no one can touch it.

My dads companies servers are on a 100Mbit commit 1Gbit bustable. and I was pulling 20 MBps on that line the other night. (20 MBps = 160 Mbps)

Id say that's pretty fast... What most businesses get are huge shared drops from a central hub. Thus why a T1 is a lot faster. since a T1 is your own line.

With any connection if you are hosting servers on it you want a firewall. The whole point of the firewall is to add an extra line of security. Just a T1 is the same as a fiber drop, copper drop etc...

Yeah, 100Mbps connections are nice. The standard "business-class" stuff can't hold a candle to them.

[Dane]

No voting, this isn't a democracy.

[cavern]

I could easily run a site like this. I have servers, bandwidth, disk space etc... The only thing that would cost money is the domain name, and vbulletin license. (since Id donate the bandwidth and server)

Domain Name: $13.00/year (somewhere besides godaddy)
Vbulletin: $200 for 4.0version (indefinite license would have to pay for upgrades)

Even with hosting lets call it 10GB Space since most of the images are hosted offsite. (90+%) some are local... call it 100GB Bandwidth a month.
*im guessing at these specs but thats a pretty sizable chunk in my experience. Even if it where over that $0.85/month per GB of Bandwidth (larger chunks are at reduced rates) space is $5 for an extra 500MB (larger chunks at reduced rates as well..)
That still even with my hosting company is roughly $50 a month. (don't have an exact package...)

Its a forum, all of the data the site holds is TEXT, easy to store... Images are a bit tougher and the code is small...

O and by the way I am a Web Developer and Systems Administrator (nowhere near jons level on the sysadmin part (most likely)... but enough to run a few servers and take care of them)

So to the owner(s) of g20.net pass it over... Id be glad to host/run this site...

edit: and time wise... Where to begin: I work a 8-5 job, then work a few contract gigs, as well as run my own little hosting company. Im just as busy yet I still find time to get my shit done, ship my products etc...
we have moderators on these forums to help j0n maintain the site and keep things organized and clean etc...

Yeah the servers located at a hosting company called The Planet.

My servers are hosted there as well.
Each are on a 100Mbps drop (loads faster than a T1 or 3...)

Honestly, this has gone on long enough. I appreciate the offer, but I will be getting things in order.

I will be mailing your items tomorrow, along with photo verification and a tracking number posted here. I apologize for not being able to get to these as I should, I do recognize the situation and its not something I have taken lightly. I am not going to make any excuses or share the reasoning behind my absence and delay, because frankly no one really cares and I'm not going to waste your or my own time explaining.

First off, you must remember that this forum has been running since '02. We host a gallery that has been up since around that time, the forum itself, data files, image files, backups, etc.

You take in account the domain registration and vBulletin charges, but you forget the additional charges which are gallery charges, per add-on (custom modification) charges and so forth.

Your idea of data is extremely low, I'd estimate (without digging into raw data) my last glance was roughly 2.7TB of physical raw data including but not limited to: SQL data, images, data files, etc. Of that, we use 75gb-100gb of bandwidth a day. Yes, just to clarify that is ONE day of up-time for our account, and that is low to average bandwidth usage, not accounting peak times, holidays, etc. Average that for 31 days and you are looking 2.3TB of data transfer alone per month.

Currently G20.net is replicated between two dedicated servers, one dedicated primary and one dedicated DR server, both of which we (G20.net) own and rest on redundant Gigabit uplink connections with failovers on each end with 0 single points of failure routed through Level3 services.

I of course know of The Planet because our machines are housed in their CO-LO in Dallas, Texas.

I've never been in this to make money, to shed a profit, neither has the rest of the staff. Who do you think pays the monthly bill if we don't have enough paid sponsors in a given year to keep the site alive? I started just as a user coming over from AutomotiveForums and I've worked my way up to where I am now. I take this community and its knowledge very seriously, I've spent over 8 years of my life on this site, and many of its staff have put just as much if not more into it as well. I've put many, many hours into cleaning, revamping, and molding this community into something I think we all can be proud of, but your right, a change is needed. Because it doesn't matter how many good things come from this site, its community, its services, its that one bad event, post, thread, user, or experience that everyone bases their judgment around.

All that being said, be prepared for changes in the upcoming months.

[djcslice]

To The OP: In response to you and the last post by cavern...

I am going to quote a great band...

"And if you don't like it then hey, fuck you!"

[Lemywings]

I have been a g20.net user since 2004. I am by no means an "OG" but I appreciate very much what this community represents. With the recent changes for sponsor, ie: faster load times, ispy, chat, it keeps me paying and I use this site everyday.

I saw what happened to sr20forum... and now they have the dash. Change can be good, but in the case of sr20forum, I would say it wasn't. Honestly, i could not see a spin off of g20.net working out because of the amazing vibe that this site offers. This is the single best forum on the web BECAUSE of the members and specially because of the staff and moderators.

Jon, I have seen this site grow. I've seen it have it's problems and I've seen it become an amazing community. I want to personally thank you for all your hard work and dedication for a community of dying cars.

What if you signed into your computer one day and open the internet and g20.net was down? What if it never came back?

Just think about that one.