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An update about the two server situation.
It’s March 18th and there unfortunately has not been a resolution. While we are still actively discussing how to proceed behind the scenes, this post should provide some context about what’s been happening.
Bigger Picture
This update is in reference to new content/uploads. What’s currently on the site is fine and you can still use the site like before, although we are out of space which we will get to in the next section.
The Two Servers
You may have heard us refer to the two servers as “legacy server” and “new server”.
- The legacy server is the one currently being used on the site which is filled up.
- The new server is the one that has more space but a monthly bandwidth limit that would get used up in less than 3 weeks.
Since we didn’t want to put ourselves into a corner with the bandwidth limits on the new server, we had a discussion about allocating more space to the legacy server. The legacy server itself is only using a fraction of its specs/capabilities, barring space.
- Users can still watch videos: This situation doesn’t require taking down videos*.
- The ~1640 videos on the site can still be watched as before.
*AlphaSigma decided to have a few of their published HMVs on the site substituted out to allow for some space in March releases.
So this means what we’re really running into is an issue of not having available space for consistent releases. There were some measures to allow for a few releases in March, although to allow for future releases the current server needs to be expanded as we’ve exhausted the ideas to put up some more videos with the current server.
The progress with the legacy server is being monitored daily. Yesterday the backend dev was looking at the version of WordPress we’re currently using on the site. When the backend dev feels ready to work on the legacy server, the site will point to the new server and it should be good for about two weeks.
In the meantime we are still collecting videos and planning what the release queue will look like when there is more space on the server we want. We’re looking at roughly 100 videos to arrange for the first 4 to 5 weeks of the site returning to consistent uploads.
This is still an ongoing situation that is being taken day by day. As we’ve also promised in our mission statement, we’re keeping the site ad-free and covering the financial part of it.
Alternatives we have considered
To have a site with the protections and bandwidth capabilities we’re looking for, we found two worse alternatives to what is currently being used:
- A server that is slightly more expensive, has half the available space, lower specs/overall capabilities. We’d then have to make a request to add more space, which would come at a further cost.
- A server that has more space and the same specs. It would cost 5 times more than the current legacy server. This would have been the “copy paste” solution.
As you can see here, there were only bad options in the alternatives. To prevent us from being in a corner, we had to stick with the current server and stop the consistent uploads.
While the content we currently have can still stay up, this blocks us (and creators) from content being added to HMV Mania. It’s taken a lot of patience to realize that despite how there are over 100 videos we’ve wanted to put up, with some from new creators, we have to stay put for now. This has also been blocking our plans on utilizing the forums more, as signups right now are also closed. We will also need to find a better way of handling creation of new accounts that aren’t creator accounts, although that is besides the point.
We still will collect and plan content in the current situation for when this resolves. In the meantime there is a content freeze.
