GreekChat needs to raise $750 to complete a webserver upgrade
 

Last night GC's webserver was significantly overloaded for a period of time, causing GC to be unresponsive. The same thing happened a few days ago as well. My guess is that either GC is getting hit with bursts of site visitors that the server cannot handle or some piece of server hardware is close to failing. Either way it's a problem that should be addressed.

The current rented webserver is nearing upon 3 years of 24/7 heavy usage and it's probably time for it to be retired.

All previous server upgrades over the years I covered myself, but this time around I cannot handle the cost and must ask for your help.

I've already purchased around $3k worth of parts for this next server upgrade as I knew it would be needed sometime soon. But I am literally tapped out financially and there's still approximately $750 in costs to make this next server upgrade happen.

The parts I still need for this are two hard drives ($500), two drive adapters ($40) and $200 in software licensing fees that I need to catch up on.

With the parts I already purchased and these other few parts that are still needed, GC will have a very significantly upgraded server. It will be way faster and more capable of handling bursts of traffic or site growth as compared to the current server.

26 new GC subscriptions would cover the costs that I described above. I'd pay for the rest of these parts myself, but I simply can't do it.

I'm still in the early stages of setting up the various bonus account features for GC subscribers. Most of the good stuff is not setup yet, but I will get it done very soon. That's why I haven't put any major promotion behind the subscriptions just yet, since I still have some more setup work to finish. It's fairly urgent that the new server is online before the old server eventually crashes. Hopefully there are at least 26 GCers who are willing to become subscribers so this server ugprade can happen.

Whether or not you become a GC supporting member by subscribing, it will still be helpful to keep this thread active for a while so plenty of GCers see it. Please post a few comments, replies, etc.

If anyone would rather just send a donation instead of (or in addition to) subscribing, direct contributions can be sent via PayPal to contributions@greekchat.com

Also, if anyone would be inclined to purchase a piece of the computer hardware above & have it shipped to my address, we can do that as well (send me a PM about it).

Thanks in advance to anyone who helps out with funding this server upgrade project.

Make it 25.

My work is seasonal and so I'm waiting for a regular uptick before making discretionary purchases. That being said I'm positively itching to purchase a membership and hope I can come up with some easy enhancement ideas for GC just because I love this place.

I don't post terribly often, but when I think about how many countless hours I must have taxed GC's servers over the past 12 years, it makes my mind boggle. A subscription is the least I can do for the years of information and entertainment!!

I'm trying to straighten out my Paypal account - I'll be subscribing as soon as I do.

Where is the subscription information?

Thanks so much, pshsx1!
I'm subscribed!

Happy to help out and subscribe.

I didn't even know about the subscription....I don't see ads and the like bc of somethings.....
but anyway, I have been a member for so long, I don't mind supporting this forum. I check it every day, even though I'm pretty much a luker...

I'll be donating when I get home. Thanks for all you do, John!

Thanks to everyone who subscribed or plans to and also for the PayPal contributions toward this effort. So far $240 has come in. The software licensing fee payments are now all caught up, so at least that is now out of the way. Another $500 or so and I'll be able to send in the orders to purchase the hard drives and adapters.

Just subscribed! Thanks, John!

Just sent in my one year subscription. :)

Thanks for a great site. I can't begin to imagine how many hours of enjoyment I've gotten out of these forums!

It's hard for me to imagine that AlwaysSAI was "born" almost a decade ago. As soon as I get my supplement, I'll be a subscriber.

Thank you for all you do, John, to continue to manage and support this community!

Just paid and it seems like a bargain. This really is a one-of-a-kind resource!

Done!

Not only has this site provided me many, many hours of great reading and entertainment, it offers a much-needed positive perspective on Greek life that other online resources don't provide. Thank you for all that you do, John!

Done!

Best money I have spent in a long time... :)
Love the avatars!!!

I'll be subscribing next week on payday! Thanks for all that you do, John.

Done. Thanks, John!

That's roughly equivalent to one of the many magazine subscriptions that go unread in my house, and I read GC every day. Done and done!

I may not log in or post as much as others. But I do visit almost every day at work. I will get a subscription come payday next week.

Done!

Subscription complete! I don't think I could put a price on how GC helped me survive my daughter's sorority recruitment at Ole Miss last year. ;)

I'll subscribe as soon as I can.

I'm subscribed! This site has been such an invaluable resource to me that this seemed like the least I could do.

Down to 15! Got a subscription for 5 years. More than worth it for this daily lurker. :)

I'm kind of here right now too -- my husband had some issues with Paypal in the past but I'll figure out what to do & subscribe soon.

Done.

I don't use a creditcard so it will take 4-6 days for my payment to go through. Thanks for everything you do for GC John

By my count, I think you reached your goal, John. I don't think 26 will be the end, either. Good idea.

'bout damn time you let us kick in a few bucks to help John. :)

Why are so few of the Moderators helping with this?

Some of us are waiting to hear if we got a job.

OK, you get a pass carnation. Others?

Are you judging participation based on a member's display of an avatar? Or do you have access to the list of folks who've joined?

:rolleyes: (because there is no smiley for RUDE, which is what that question is, and you can't convince me otherwise).

That is not how you inspire people to donate.

I'll see about getting one or more alternatives to PayPal setup soon as I'm sure there are some who prefer using other payment processors.

Yes, I got back into this thread to post an update on that. We have this immediate fundraising need covered. We're a few hundred past the 750 at this point.

Going to order the drive adapters today and also the hard drives if they are in stock. Provantage.com has the best price on the drives & I purchased from them before, so I'll give a call to see how soon they will be available again. Newegg had them in stock when I posted this thread, but they were out of stock last I checked.

I'm very hopeful that subscriptions keep coming in, though. I'll do whatever I can to continue earning the support on GC's behalf. Truth be told, I'm in the red with GC by a significant amount. Still trying to pay off CCs that I used to finance GC operations and it would be really nice to finally have a clean slate with all this.

Thanks, Kevin. I know you and quite a few others have been offering to help with the costs for years. Around 4 or 5 years ago I held a fundraiser which raised about $500, which helped a bit, but I should have setup this subscription system long ago. Seems I waited too long, almost to the last minute, to ask for help. So far the new subscription system appears to be working out well. If I can manage to earn continued support from new subscribers (by continuing development of GC, providing a nice set of bonus account features and by providing great tech support for subscribers) I think it has the potential to be really great.

My two cents...Moderators earn there keep with their service and shouldn't be chastised for not contributing.

And a democratic process for selecting moderators - including rotating them in and out every 18-months, two years or so.

Sorry, John, I feel you on what you're trying to do, and I am sure you'll get the support you need, but I can't donate until there's a process in place to retire moderators and recruit new ones.

ETA: And I am not a mooch, I have paid for advertising here before and probably would again. I am speaking as a user, not a business owner.