Beechbrook.Com - Reopens

[cottage]

Beechbrook.Com has now completed its move to the new server. The PTE download pages have been updated and all links should be functional. Due to server limitations, I am unable to transfer an additional 249.36 megs of presentations. The PTE Upload Utility will remain closed until more space becomes available. My wallet is empty at the moment, so additional space is not an options for me.

Some options are:

1. Limiting the time a presentation will remain online. It's currently set for 90 days if I host it.

2. Begin a paid subscription service for either uploading, downloading or both.

3. Simply reduce the amount of presentations I host.

4. Donations

5. Other - your ideas!

Sorry but I've put too much money into this site thus far and just simply can't continue.

I look forward to your suggestions, comments and concerns.

Kind regards,

Bill

[Ken Cox]

Well Bill you can take my test tour dqwn - it served it's purpose, it wont break loose much space but it is a start.

ken

[alrobin]

Bill,

What contributes to your greatest cost - storage space or bandwidth or both? I have lots of space on my site, but not any additional bandwidth, as my shows on Beechbrook are actually served from my own website, and I have noticed that my usage amounts are just under the maximum allowed.

So, if bandwidth is not a big problem, I would be willing to provide space on my site for the older shows for free, once the initial flurry of downloading is over, in order to free up space on your site. I would transfer the show over and provide you with the link, so you could make the appropriate reference to it on Beechbrook.

Storage costs in Canada are horrendous, so I transferred my web site over to "Brinkster", a US-based server, and so far they have proven to be very reliable, both for web hosting and email services. Their price is less than 1/5 th of the price for similar services in Canada. Their address is www.brinkster.com in case anyone wants to check them out.

[cottage]

Thank you to those that responded with ideas for helping to manage costs on Beechbrook.Com. From the 440 emails that were sent, as well as the entry on the PTE Forum, I had a total of 11 who sent me their ideas. Here’s the short list of what was suggested.

1. Limit the time period presentations will remain online

2. Charge for Uploading (cost dependent upon file size)

3. Charge for Downloading

4. Create a monthly or yearly subscription system

5. Solicited for Donations

Based on the above suggestions I am now restricting presentations I host to a 30-day duration. Linked presentations are not subject to this restriction.

At this time I will not implement a payment system. Most visitors want and expect a free system. I hope I can continue to honor that request.

Continue to seek donations. This is always a hard sell. Out of the hundreds of email messages sent and one forum message posted, I received one donation. Thank you Bill G. You help to keep this system free for others to enjoy!

Kind regards,

Bill