funding a dedicated server

Geocaching Australia governance issues
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mtrax
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Post by mtrax » 15 August 08 12:41 pm

I think it doesn't hurt to ask any and all ISP's for either
1. donated colo (housing of server)
2. subsidy of above so we can afford it (eg $1,000-$2,000 )

but your assuming my word-smithing is good, but I will post my "letter" latter today and perhaps people can add/edit to refine it.


The main bit I was stuck with is ..what can we do or offer the ISP in return other than some sort of advert or branding on our website

eg website brought to you by ISP xyz

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 15 August 08 12:52 pm

At this stage we don't do advertising so any ad or branding would be minimal. Just something to keep in mind.

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mtrax
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Post by mtrax » 15 August 08 1:13 pm

draft letter?
Dear Sir/Madam,
I'm writing on be-half of Geocaching Australia who are looking for a permanent home for their website.
We are current sharing capacity on a members server, but we have reached the point where we are exceeding the capacity of that server, so we are looking to upgrade to a dedicated server in co-location.

We would like you to consider the donation or subsidy of co-location our server in your facility. If the subsidy is the preferred option we are proposing a budget of between $1,000 - $2,000 per year for this service. Note: We would have to purchase a server when we find a suitable location.
In return we would offer some advertisement or acknowledgment on the website ( http://geocaching.com.au/ )

About Geocaching:
Geocaching is the free high-tech treasure hunt where you use your GPS receiver to find caches hidden by other players. It's a great way to be outdoors, enjoy the environment and revel in the thrill of the hunt!

Geocaching Australia provides statistics and tools to analyse Australian and New Zealand Geocaches and Geocachers using details from several cache listing sites as well as providing a place for listing geocaches directly in any country around the world.
We currently have well over 2,000 members nationally and some internationally (including NZ)

Thanks

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Team Piggy
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Post by Team Piggy » 16 August 08 6:04 pm

Letter looks ok.

But, being in a position of sponsoring about 8 different teams or groups already, a bit more info in there cant hurt.
In return we would offer some advertisement or acknowledgment on the website ( http://geocaching.com.au/ )
I would word this more: In return we would be more than happy to provide advertisement space (banner, etc) or acknowledgment on the website ( http://geocaching.com.au/ )

I would also be open and truthful about the number of users, bandwidth history (Maximums etc,) and type of people that attend this form of sport.
(EG from helicopter owners to children. (And hi internet usage people.. geeks so to speak) as that is what ISP's love.
We are current sharing capacity on a members server, but we have reached the point where we are exceeding the capacity of that server, so we are looking to upgrade to a dedicated server in co-location.

We would like you to consider the donation or subsidy of co-location our server in your facility. If the subsidy is the preferred option we are proposing a budget of between $1,000 - $2,000 per year for this service. Note: We would have to purchase a server when we find a suitable location.
This reads odd to me. Kind of, we are borrowing someones server, but have killed the bandwidth... :x

In regards to the purchasing of a server, a reword cant hurt as it reads as a fork in the road to me. I get it that it means if you accpet our proposal and supply rack space in said data centre we will purchase a server.
But it also reads: that we may continue to look for a place to host a server in another frame to me.
Perhaps: " If a suitable agreement is reached with "company XYZ" we would be prepared to purchase a server for installation into the data centre."
Make it more personal and one sided, rather than we are approaching a number of people which it kind of insinuates to me currently.

Just my 2 cents worth from the sponsor ship letters I constantly get. Information supplied determines whether it is inboxed or sent to file 69. (The shredder :twisted: )...

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SG-3
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Post by SG-3 » 19 August 08 7:02 pm

Please excuse me if this message is garbled and confused, as that describes the state of my mind! I was recently going to post a comment on this thread when I saw this post ( http://forum.geocaching.com.au/viewtopi ... highlight= came up regarding "Bumper Stickers (GCA tries for self sufficiency)".
<p>
Firstly, don't get me wrong, I think they look great, and will certainly order some!
<p>
But the truth is, when THIS thread first came up (and the Poll associated with it), I went into panic mode! Is my life so sad that, when forced to think about it, the GCA website, its forums, dashboards, and associated amazing graphs etc, is the site I frequent the most on the net?!? I don't want to see it disappear! I don't consider myself rich in any way financially, but I believe that we should not be asking "what do I get in return?" if we donate/subscribe/whatever; we can already see what we will get: A great site produced by a great bunch who have put their heart and soul into this thing we call GCA, and who are now fearing for its survival!
<p>
I am not in any position to collect money or anything like that, but (and I am not trying to sound altruistic) I AM in a position to pay for what I use daily and enjoy and appreciate immensely ; my money order desperately awaits an address to send it to! I don't want a geocoin, I don't want a "premium, paid up, grand high supremo poo-poo platter eating blowie" icon next to my avitar, I don't even want a sticker, nice though it is! I just want this site to still be here in the morning!
<p>
If it takes a $50 money order, and a request to "send one sticker, thanks, and "keep" the change", to put my money where my mouth is, will that work?
<p>
Surely there are a heap of others out there who just want to give monetary support for something they believe in, and all they want is an address to send it to?
<p>
I love your work!
<p>
Cheers,
<p>
SG-3
<p>
<p>
(edited by SG-3 to put paragraph breaks in random places)
Last edited by SG-3 on 19 August 08 8:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 19 August 08 8:04 pm

Thanks for the feedback SG-3. I understand your points and appreciate your comments.

Going with donations as out only approach may limit our ability to continue after the "goodwill" dries up.

If we can get a line of swag going, then there is a possibility that the donation route may be lessened or even removed completely (that last may be just a dream).

Sometimes people feel that a token item in exchange for some cash benefits each side and I tend to agree (most of the time).

We have movement in the background towards preparing to move to a new servers. As has been mentioned above though, we're not sure how much we have to spend which may change which service we end up on.

If we get swag going, that may help us to better identify our returns over the future years whereas a donation system is subject to the whim of the people enjoying the site at the time.

I'd hate to move to a $5,000 server this year and then scale back to a $1,000 server the next, etc. We need to plan the financials for the first year and beyond based on a sustainable solution.

Keep your eyes peeled though. If we can't get enough through swag, then I'll ask you to put your hand in pocket whether you get a bumper sticker or not :-)

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mtrax
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Post by mtrax » 20 August 08 3:19 pm

no update yet... perhaps I will try and ring them as email sometimes is not the best way to request things.

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Post by roundcircle » 20 August 08 9:41 pm

I think that the idea of selling stuff is a great idea. Bumper stickers sound like a good start.
</p>
Would it be possible to have a bumper sticker with a tracking number? :?: So if I had one on my car, and you spotted my car, you could log it as a find. :idea:
</p>
It has some technical difficulties, as each sticker has to be unique. But there must be ways of printing stickers at home.

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Post by caughtatwork » 20 August 08 10:35 pm

Stickers printed at home typically aren't UV resistant or water proof.

If you wanted to make your geomobile a swaggie you could write on your bumper sticker with a texta and that would be your swaggie password.

I've paid for the stickers. I'm waiting for them to arrive. If they look good then I'm also going to get some 76mm x 76mm (about 3 inches square) ones with just the GCA logo and the words Geocaching Australia geocaching.com.au in black around the edge.

These would be for the back or side window rather than your bumper. So it will be about one more week or so and then I'll get the geoswag store opened for business.

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mtrax
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Post by mtrax » 21 August 08 2:12 pm

I got a reply and it looks hopeful (send email to C@W)..
basically its around $100-$150/ month, but they can offer a better deal for a shared server.

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Post by caughtatwork » 21 August 08 4:50 pm

mtrax wrote:I got a reply and it looks hopeful (send email to C@W)..
basically its around $100-$150/ month, but they can offer a better deal for a shared server.
Ta. I've referred this to the rest of the development team for discussion. Will be back shortly.

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mtrax
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Post by mtrax » 23 August 08 6:34 am

any answers... or whats the hold-up?

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 23 August 08 12:10 pm

We're still discussing.

The subject at the moment is whether we want to own a machine and colocate it or not. There are logistical issues in owning a machine in a state where we have no developers when it comes to reboots and hardware failures.

We also need to consider the additional costs of purchasing a machine.

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Richary
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Post by Richary » 23 August 08 12:16 pm

caughtatwork wrote:There are logistical issues in owning a machine in a state where we have no developers when it comes to reboots and hardware failures.
<p>I don't see a big issue with that. I would be happy to look after a Sydney based machine as an example even though I don't have the coding skills to be a developer, I do have the hardware skills to maintain/repair a computer. <p>And I am sure that would be the case for most state capitals that someone would be there with the necessary knowledge.<p>Our work has it's external server for billing etc in the Macquarie Telecom colo in the city.

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mtrax
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Post by mtrax » 23 August 08 1:07 pm

can we try shared server option then if size doesn't fit we can investigate dedicated server.
oh and btw I'm a web dev guy too. :)

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