ClubSNAP Appeal for Server Funds through Gallery Subscriptions

[Darren]

For the past few weeks, we have been grappling with performance issues on ClubSNAP's Forums especially during the peak hours of 9pm - 1am, and we have tried all manners of tweaks and performance workarounds but the sad fact remains that our current database server is woefully inadequate for the current demands that our forums are placing on it. The server has been in use since the day ClubSNAP was launched, and for those that want to know its technical specs, its a Dual Pentium-III 850Mhz server with 2GB of memory.

The forum software technical support advises us that the minimum server configuration that they would recommend for our forums (based on current usage and to cater for future growth) is a Dual Xeon (or equivalent) server, and its actually amazing that we have been able to support the forums on such an underpowered database server for this long (albeit with some performance issues which are unfortunately increasing in frequency in the recent weeks). At this point, we should all thank Edmund for his tireless efforts in babysitting the server during the last few weeks, and in applying his knowledge and expertise in keeping the database server humming along as best possible given its technical limitations.

As much as we would like to install a new server as soon as possible, ClubSNAP has been run all this while as a non-profit concern (our costs are adequately covered by the occasional advertising and the webspace subscriptions, but we still have to occasionally top-up from our own pockets), and we are - to be perfectly honest and blunt - unable to purchase the server immediately due to financial constraints.

We are thus appealing to our members to sign-up for one of our Gallery plans (http://gallery.clubsnap.com) to raise the funds needed to purchase a new database server. Our estimate is that the database server (based on the configuration suggested by the forum software tech support) will cost in the region of S$5,000.00 (Dual Xeon 3.2Ghz with 4GB of memory). If just 100 of our members sign up for the Bronze plan, we will have covered the cost of the server.

Details of Gallery Plans

Gallery Bronze Plan
100MB of storage space
Ability to create albums/folders in Gallery to categorise images
File Size Upload Limit increased to 200KB
Daily upload limit increased to 50 files
150 Private Messages Limit in Forums
$50 per year, payable upon sign-up

Gallery Silver Plan
200MB of storage space
Ability to create albums/folders in Gallery to categorise images
File Size Upload Limit increased to 300KB
Daily upload limit increased to 75 files
200 Private Messages Limit in Forums
$75 per year, payable upon sign-up

Gallery Gold Plan
300MB of storage space
Ability to create albums/folders in Gallery to categorise images
File Size Upload Limit increased to 500KB
Daily upload limit increased to 100 files
300 Private Messages Limit in Forums
$100 per year, payable upon sign-up


Summary of Gallery Plans


Please sign up if you are keen to support ClubSNAP and at the same time, want to have a convenient, fast and reliable location to display your photos. Proceeds from this Gallery subscription drive will also be used to support the maintenance and upkeep of ClubSNAP so this is a perfect chance for members who are benefitting from ClubSNAP to support us.

We accept the following methods of payment for Gallery signups:-

a) Bank transfer to DBS Bank CURRENT Account
Bank Code : 7171
Branch Code : 033
Account Number : 033-900667-0

b) Cheque made payable to Photo Toolkit Pte Ltd and sent to
Photo Toolkit Pte Ltd
c/o 35 Selegie Road
#02-14 Parklane
Singapore 188307

Additional information when using bank transfer method
- If transferring using online (Internet) banking from DBS/POSB account, please indicate your ClubSNAP ID in the Comments or Remarks field.
- If transferring using online (Internet) banking from other banks, please PM me with the date/time of the transfer.
- If using ATM to do the bank transfer, please PM me with the date/time, ATM location of the transfer.

In order to remain transparent and open, we will list down the members who signup for the Gallery plans in this thread AND Gallery subscribers will have a unique member designation - eg. Gallery Subscriber.

And to prove our commitment to our members, once we have 75% of the funds needed, we will go ahead to order and install the new server (and hopefully, the balance of the funds will continue to come in).

We thank all our members for their continued support, and we seek your understanding and patience in the interim period while we gather enough funds for the replacement server.

Sincerely,
The Administrators and Moderators of ClubSNAP.

[Cheesecake]

i'll support ClubSnap!

cheers to the admin staff for their hardowrk and dedication!

[affando]

How about donations well maybe $10 or $20 if pple want to help

[LordAeRo]

Originally Posted by affando How about donations well maybe $10 or $20 if pple want to help

Great idea,

There might be some people (like me) who wish to help but are unable to reach like the minimum $50.

[nonac22]

How about getting the advertisers like Kingston and HP to help too? Since they advertise at Clubsnap also.
If everyone start subscribing to the Gallery Plans will increase the server load rite? It will be became worst.

[airforce1]

clubsnap has 6100+ members. If each person donate $1 the cost of purchasing the server.
Just my thought.

[Lenscapes]

Originally Posted by nonac22 How about getting the advertisers like Kingston and HP to help too? Since they advertise at Clubsnap also. If everyone start subscribing to the Gallery Plans will increase the server load rite? It will be became worst.

he already mentioned that >>
As much as we would like to install a new server as soon as possible, ClubSNAP has been run all this while as a non-profit concern (our costs are adequately covered by the occasional advertising and the webspace subscriptions, but we still have to occasionally top-up from our own pockets), and we are - to be perfectly honest and blunt - unable to purchase the server immediately due to financial constraints.

i don't mind donating too.

[n0d3]

How about just donating since I don't need/don't want the gallery features?

[Francis247]

Hi,
I also don't mind donating too. I don't think I will be really needing the gallery features as of now. Thanks for the hard work in maintaining this website. Let us all give Clubsnap our support.

[ed9119]

I think no need to wait for reply..... go ahead and donate...... the banking/trsf details are listed above already!

[nightwolf75]

Originally Posted by ed9119 I think no need to wait for reply..... go ahead and donate...... the banking/trsf details are listed above already!

lets wait and see if our mods come out with an alternative arrangment for donations. after all, the procedures above are for gallery subscribers. if donors join in, it might mess up the way the mods keep track of who paid up and who donated.

personally, i too like to donate cos i'm sharing a server space with frens already.

[Francis247]

Originally Posted by nightwolf75 lets wait and see if our mods come out with an alternative arrangment for donations. after all, the procedures above are for gallery subscribers. if donors join in, it might mess up the way the mods keep track of who paid up and who donated. personally, i too like to donate cos i'm sharing a server space with frens already.

Yap, agreed with nightwolf75. Let us wait an see what is the moderators decisions and plans for donation.

[germ_boi]

best if all can donate at SEED or something. i do not mind donating a small paltry sum to have faster connection speeds during 9pm plus. the time i usually surf clubsnap.

think 5 to 15dollars or even 20 is not too much a price to pay for such a great forum?

[reachme2003]

it is appropriate to wait before giving outright cash donations. there are administrative and (legality) hurdles to clear if one is soliciting donations from members of the public. cs's admin intent is not to solicit outright donations but through gallery subscription.

[ortega]

generate fund via another CS polo shirt run

I suppose that there are many new members who want a polo shirt
I'll think of more ideas

[Darren]

Originally Posted by nonac22 How about getting the advertisers like Kingston and HP to help too? Since they advertise at Clubsnap also. If everyone start subscribing to the Gallery Plans will increase the server load rite? It will be became worst.

Kingston is already sponsoring the Gallery server which was launched almost a year ago.

To answer your second question, and just for members information, ClubSNAP's infrastructure consists of several servers :-

a) Web Server for the Forums front-end and Portal
b) Gallery Server for members galleries
c) Database Server supporting mainly Forums but also integrates with Gallery
d) Members webspace server
e) A number of email, DNS and administrative servers.

All the above infrastructure were put in place when we launched ClubSNAP in January 2002, and the Web Server and Gallery Servers are new (less than one year old) - both are Dual Xeon servers. The Web Server was replaced when we experienced a number of system failures; while the Gallery Server was made possible through Kingston's sponsorship.

Thus, while the Forums are impacted by the Database Server performance, the rest of the servers continue to function (with the Gallery server having a slight impact as it does share the Database Server).

In short, more subscribers to the Gallery server will not cause performance issues for the Forums, as they are on different servers. And we have more than 800GB of storage space on the Gallery Server so we do not have to worry about running out of space for the foreseeable future.

[Darren]

Donations

Since several members have brought up the topic of donating instead of subscribing, we just want to clarify that, as much as possible, we prefer members to subscribe rather than give an outright donation as we want to give back some benefits to contributing members.

But, money is money, and we won't want to turn away members who want to contribute via donations. In fact, without even prompting, some members have already made small donations via bank transfers and informed me via PM.

So, to keep things simple, if members want to donate small sums as they feel that they do not want to signup for a Gallery plan, please feel free to do so. The procedures are the same (see first post). But as I have mentioned, we would prefer members to signup for the Plans as much as possible.

What we will do is to list down all the members who have donated or signed up (likely in another separate thread) to thank and acknowledge contributors, and we will have a running tally of funds collected so far. And we will still keep our promise of ordering and installing the new server once we reach the 75% threshold.

We wish to take this opportunity to thank our members for their continued support of this site.

[nonac22]

Originally Posted by Darren Kingston is already sponsoring the Gallery server which was launched almost a year ago. To answer your second question, and just for members information, ClubSNAP's infrastructure consists of several servers :- a) Web Server for the Forums front-end and Portal b) Gallery Server for members galleries c) Database Server supporting mainly Forums but also integrates with Gallery d) Members webspace server e) A number of email, DNS and administrative servers. All the above infrastructure were put in place when we launched ClubSNAP in January 2002, and the Web Server and Gallery Servers are new (less than one year old) - both are Dual Xeon servers. The Web Server was replaced when we experienced a number of system failures; while the Gallery Server was made possible through Kingston's sponsorship. Thus, while the Forums are impacted by the Database Server performance, the rest of the servers continue to function (with the Gallery server having a slight impact as it does share the Database Server). In short, more subscribers to the Gallery server will not cause performance issues for the Forums, as they are on different servers. And we have more than 800GB of storage space on the Gallery Server so we do not have to worry about running out of space for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for letting us know. Since you have 2 XEON Servers, maybe you consider swapping them as the load mainly fall on your database server. just my IMHO.

[ericpooi]

Originally Posted by nonac22 Thanks for letting us know. Since you have 2 XEON Servers, maybe you consider swapping them as the load mainly fall on your database server. just my IMHO.

I think Darren talks about 1 Server with 2 XEON Processors, not 2 XEON Servers...

Darren: By the way, can we link our pictures stored on this server to another forum? I know we can't if we are non-subscriber (it will show a Clubsnap logo), but what about if we subscribed to Bronze Plans? Also, can we have the option to set passwords on certain folders (for privacy reasons) for specific targeted audience? Let's say such options is only available for Silver or Gold plans, etc, etc. If yes, certainly you will attract more people signing up... I will certainly be one of those...

Thank you very much all these time to take time and effort to support this website.

[eng_keow]

I feel that getting a new server is of paramount importance at the moment as this will ease the load at the peak hours.

I am suggesting that we offer interest-free loans to Clubsnap to get the new server up ASAP whilst we wait for the funds to come in. I don't think with the no. of members we have, there should be any problem.

What do you guys think?