I need help! (not mental help though...)

[timchak]

I was just wondering if anybody can help me to design a cgi/php/asp/anything program so that I can run my own FWP. Right now, I'm using Excelland, but they are soooo SLOOOOOW!!! My site is http://www.thefreehost.net. I already have a dedicated server that is "on hold". Basically, I have a dedicated server that can be used, but I haven't made any payments yet because my service will not be started yet.

I want to offer free unlimited webspace and a subdomain. I want users to also have direct ftp access to their sites. An upload limit is set at about 10 megs. Also, giving the users email at the domain would be nice =)

I also need a person (later on - when i have the basic architecture) to make a professional design for Freehost.

I don't have much funds cause dedicated servers cost a lot of money, but I'm sure that I can work something out with those who help me. I hope to get at least 4 people working on this - doesn't matter if they are a team or different indivuals working together, but I hope to get this much because it just works faster.

P.S. Please do not post any irrelevant posts here i.e. agreeing that Excelland is slow, comments about the services I offer, comments about "There is no such thing as unlimited webspace", and so on. Thanks very much!

Also, users will get their subdomain at frht.net rather than thefreehost.net

[Sick N Twisted]

i could help


one suggestion - don't offer unlimited space ;)

[timchak]

I already have somebody working on it, but I can keep you on file =) [I'm not saying this as a way of saying "no, and dream on" - I really will keep you in mind if I need another site renovation or I'm not satisfied with the one I have and there's nothing that can be done with the person, etc.]

Thanks very much for your help!

Tim Chak, Administrator
TheFreeHost.net

[timchak]

I just noticed your suggestion about not offering unlimited webspace. I think that the upload limit should help filter out any porn/warez sites that take a lot of bandwidth as well as space. I will also have a terms of service and things they have to agree with that will hopefully do the trick. As for normal sites, the biggest one that I have ever seen on my current site - currently offer free unlimited webspace - is less than 25 MB! Users will usually look for providers that provide a lot of space, but they will usually use less than 5 MB.

If anybody disagrees, please either icq me, email me, or post a reply - please disregard the "P.S." of my first message.

[Technics]

err .. Quick question - Where you going to get this unlimited harddrive from? i want one and need one :).

Just kidding i can't even fill a 10.2gb harddrisk on my comp nevermind anything else.

Just put a hard figure on you webspace. You can always allow extra space once they fill up there quota.

[Technics]

darn it u replyed seconds before i asked .. you a mind reader :).

[timchak]

Nah..I'm not a mind reader. I just take any precautions that I can to prevent any unnecessary posts and/or embarrassment

[Technics]

heres a suggestion offer 50mb and when they fill that quota you can give them an extra 50mb and so on.

[Sick N Twisted]

^ I think that's a good idea.

[Cracker]

Why can't he just add more hard drives as he needs them? That's how Crosswinds does this, and they've never run out of drive space. Nick, please don't attack me for mentioning Crosswinds again.

[Nick]

Originally posted by Cracker
Why can't he just add more hard drives as he needs them? That's how Crosswinds does this, and they've never run out of drive space. Nick, please don't attack me for mentioning Crosswinds again.

Hmm... This is starting to sound more like SPAM. Chicken, whaddya think?

[timchak]

haha...why are you always attacking him about "promoting" crosswinds?

[keith]

that's not spam. sheez.

[Nick]

Originally posted by keith
that's not spam. sheez.

Hmm, I always thought that spam meant flooding places with messages that promote a single service. Guess I didn't know what it was, can someone please explain SPAM to me :confused:

[LeX]

I suggest you start out with 20MB, then add space quota (say, 10MB a time) to those who requests it. This will probably save you some disk space, and offer it to those who actually needs them.

It would be really weird to offer 50MB to a guy who just wants to put up a page proclaiming "Da Storie of I and Me Dog Ruffy" with a few pictures. ;)

[timchak]

Alright. When somebody registers, does it actually take all the space that they signed up for? For example, if they signed up for 20 MB, then does the server automatically reserve the 20 MB for just that account and makes it unusable for other people/purposes?

If no, then why wouldn't RAID work? It would just be using the space that is needed by the users and when I need more space, I just have to add another hard drive until I can't - in that Case, I would be adding more servers, right?

[Cracker]

Hey, Nick, what's wrong with using Crosswinds to exploit how chicken everyone else is!?

[Mrh0ax]

alot of WAREZ people will join and bog down yoru server, better tone it down to 1 megs or 2 megs

[LeX]

Err... actually, I'm not too sure myself. See, if you offer a user a certain amount of disk space, say, 5MB on your server, and they don't use it all up right away, then what would happen when your server's full and the guy suddenly wanted to add stuff to his site? That's what I was thinking when I wrote my previous post.

I have to admit, I don't know much about this, so if I'm wrong anywhere, do correct me. Thanks.

[Nick]

Originally posted by Cracker
Hey, Nick, what's wrong with using Crosswinds to exploit how chicken everyone else is!?

There's a fine line between chicken and intelligent, Cracker, and there isn't really anything wrong with it, I just find it mildly annoying that you constantly brag about crosswinds and tell people to signup when signups havent been up for what seems to be months. I also find it amusing that you see CW as a "good host".

[Cracker]

Hey, at least Crosswinds doesn't solve their problems by limiting their services. By the way, their signups should be back on by this evening.

[dummy]

How big can single uploaded file at Crosswords be? Do they have any limits? Does anyone know how fast/slow they are? BTW, the pop-ups, are they removing them in near future, they are really annoying, although it seems to be a good host.

[Technics]

When someone signs up with your service and you have set them a quota limit they are only allocated it. They can not go over that 20mb or whatever amount you allocate. But if your script is written right you could make it so it breaks your harddrive down.

For example - you have a 20gb harddrive and want to give each client 20 mb you could make it so it cuts off signups at 2,000 users (thats right aint it?). That way each user gets the same amount of space and features. This may also keep away warez sites as they look for hosts with lots of space.

Crosswinds always seem to pop up in threads about unlimited hosts. Why do you think they have so many problems with harddrive space? and always have to upgrade every week? giving out unlimited space is going to cause problems.

If crosswinds put a limit on space they would not have problems with speed or harddrives being full. Crosswinds cause the problems for themselves.

Just my thoughts.

[Nick]

Originally posted by Technics
Crosswinds cause the problems for themselves.


I couldn't agree more. I mean, if they still want to offer users a good ammount of space, why not do like SpacePorts and allow free space upgrades? Only they could start off with around 100MBs instead of 20MBs. This would also kill a lot of the warez sites there.

[Chicken]

Tim's question at the top of *this* page-
Sometimes it depends on which server you are using. Cobalt RaQs for example are a bit more strict on limits that you set up. If you set up 100MB, then it will remove 100MB form what you can set up for additional sites.

As for other posts about providers being chicken, etc.-
Offering unlimited space or transfer is just pure stupidity. It doesn't take a whole lot of intelligence to realize that the word should not be used in connection with hosting services. Unfortunately, too often it is.

Please suggest services that are available NOW, and not going to be available. There really is not point in suggesting services that are not accepting new sign ups at the present time.

[Technics]

You shouldnt really run a fwp on a cobalt anyway. Not the type they want to run. Imagine crosswinds on a cobalt raq lol.

[timchak]

Ok...so if I offer 50 megs, do you think that would be enough? I have dual 20 Gig SCSI hard drives RAID 1 i think - plus an extra 40 Gigs in an EIDE hard disk - that's eighty gigabites altogether! Shouldn't that be enough for now?

What would be the best space limit (by the way, it's not a cobalt server) 25, 30, 45, or 50 MB? Should I just offer 25 MB and give them 50 if they really need it?

[Technics]

Personally id go with 25mb .... and increase it in segments of 25 when they need more space

[Cracker]

Originally posted by dummy
How big can single uploaded file at Crosswords be? Do they have any limits? Does anyone know how fast/slow they are?

I admit that they're crazy for this, but there are no file size limits there either.


BTW, the pop-ups, are they removing them in near future, they are really annoying, although it seems to be a good host.

I'm afraid they won't be removed, ever, except for those members paying at least $14.99 / year. It's a sad reality that the ads on their main page weren't enough for them to stay in business. Rising costs and a tighter control on advertising revenues (by those bastard advertising agencies) have forced them to either break their "no ads" promise or shut down and take a million sites with them. However, if your site uses frames (like mine does), you will see no pop-ups (hey, it's not my fault that CW's pop-up javascript doesn't work if you use frames).