Posted on 01/22/2017 7:39:52 AM PST by Walkingfeather
Ok so I dont own freerepublic only Jim does. But we support it. Can there be an official report why on one of the most important days of crossing the finish line FR was down? Can that be explained please? Maybe we need to hold a special fundraiser to have a alternative data site and professional server managers that can handle contingency issues? This is by no means a criticism of Jim. But it was like being locked out of our own celebration at the club we belong.
Initially, I was not able log on to FR. So I went to Drudge, and clicked the link. Saw the message and clicked that link to Face Book.
Then, I just lurked and read the postings. Stuff happens. I was so glad to see Trump make it through that ceremony without problems breaking in on that area, that nothing could mar the day.
It would have been even more perfect with FR, but nothing is gonna spoil this weekend for me! We have a real chance at saving the Republic, and turning things around. God Bless America, and God Bless Jim and all FReepers.
MOAR Freepathons.
Also, I thought I heard elsewhere on the web, that a number of conservative sites were subjected to DDOS attacks. I just figured FR was one of the targets.
I didn’t label it “Official Report” but I did post that we had a flaky server that crashed (for unknown reasons) and we had problems getting it going again. And that this is the second occurrence of the same problem on the same machine so John is going to replace it. I’m very sorry you are disappointed in my lack of management skills, but I can assure you that no one is more disappointed than me regarding said lacking. My butt is black and blue from my own kicking of it for not replacing that server last time it crashed.
As far as an alternative site with “professional managers” is concerned, knock yourself out. No one is stopping you. But Free Republic is a homegrown project, built and managed by me and my son and unless one of us gets run over by a bus or otherwise decide to call it quits, that’s the way it’s going to stay. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to manage it.
Thanks very much for your loyal support.
(and you may continue posting constructive advice and systems designs if you wish. We may actually incorporate some of it at some time if it is really good).
And of course...nothing is too much work if it's someone else's job, right?
again there was no criticism of you. This was a call to further support. If we are to continue to be effective, (yes jim because of you!) If we need to step up to support something to maintain continuity that is what I am calling for. NOT replacing you. I know and understand not wanting to trust anyone else with the servers. If you have seen the active battle that The_donald on Reddit from its admins, you are totally justified. I am just looking for ways we can avoid continuity breaks especially in hostile environments. Alternative site should have been better worded as a mirrored site. NOT something other than FR. A place where the group can land during unexpected down time. We all care deeply for what you have created... (well not the Clintons, Obamas, and basically the left :) ) so I am wanting to get the discussion going if we can help in any way. Nothing more. WF
A twitter post letting everyone know status is too much work? Look, do not construe suggestions with an attack on Jim. Ive been a part of this group since close to the beginning and it is my first technical suggestion. Dont be a punk.
You ask a valid question.
Yep, we were and we were having a pretty damn' good time too! Glad FR's back up. It feels like home, and it's damn' zippy again too! Whatever failed I think had been failing for awhile. It was taking for the Forum page to display for me for the past month or so. Not today! Not since the site came back up.
I think most people are completely unaware of this fact Laz. I only found FR on AOL (OMG, I was actually on that POS) about a week before AOL yanked the plug on Jim. I understand Jim's hesitance about "not having complete control" however I'd offer up this:
He doesn't have complete control today. Hardware and Software failures require direct intervention from him and/or John. I don't know how convenient/inconvenient it is for John to make the trip to the Data Center that FR's housed in. Guessing John has a life outside of FR and anytime FR goes down means disruption in his life.
That brings me to my second point: FR is hosted in a data center, so to some degree JimRob doesn't have control today. The hosting provider that runs that data center can decide at any time they don't want a "controversial right-wing website" as a customer anymore as soon as someone starts complaining about it. We've never seen other websites shut down/kicked out of a hosting provider before have we?
Third, DNS, Security (as provided by the hosting provider) and other things are already outside of Jim's control. I'd venture a guess that a well orchestrated DDOS attack could make whatever data center FR is hosted in vulnerable. Whether that DDOS attack is against FR or another target within that data center or the hosting provider itself FR's gonna get impacted.
I can keep going, however there's already a significant number of things outside Jim's control so the question really is: Is FR in the right data center/hosting provider? Are the right controls in place to guarantee uptime and availability for FR by the hosting provider/data center?
I could go on (as you know I do this for a living ...) and likely find more that's already outside Jim's control or putting him at the mercy/good grace of someone else.
Certainly no slight intended towards Jim or John at all as on balance FR's track record has been pretty damn' good. Jim and John do great work.
Times change, technologies change, hacking/attack vectors change all the time and keeping up with them is a real b*tch. I do it for a living and I struggle with it. Do I really expect Jim and John to do that?
Truth is I'd really rather they focused on bigger and better things in regards to the forum and not worry about the day to day operational b.s. that running a successful forum like FR requires. I love FR and find the site to be very functional for what I use it for, however the basic interface hasn't changed in the almost 20 years I've been here and a facelift would really be nice.
Then there's a mobile site which would be AWESOME for FR. I'd love to use my smartphone or iPad to browse FR and check in for a few minutes while I'm working and need a mental break.
If cost for the above is an issue, perhaps Jim and John would want to think about limited, targeted advertising on FR to add revenue. Smart, relevant, well placed advertising that doesn't interfere with the user experience and generates some revenue clicks for Jim and John may be a good idea to at least investigate. I know there's a ton of objection to that here on FR, if one envisions the limited, targeted, well placed advertising on Drudge for example, that's exactly what I'm talking about. That kind of advertising doesn't interfere with the user experience and yet look at the revenue Drudge gets from it. (That's ALL his revenue btw.)
So for those who'll read this and jump on me for saying Jim and John don't do a great job - that's not what I'm saying. They in fact DO a great job. The question is: at what personal cost? Is it time to give the day to day operational tasks to someone else who has the resources to bring to bear when needed (and allows Jim and John to focus on better, more important things?) I'd venture an educated guess they've pondered this question before, perhaps it's time to do so again while convening a close, trusted group they trust to kick that question around.
Hey, I know I'm getting older and the things that I still kinda like doing like mowing my lawn and taking care of my house, I've been giving to other people to do for me so I can do more of the OTHER THINGS that I'd like to do more of. It's in this context I raise these questions and most definitely NOT to find any fault with FR's management.
Just my own opinion and you know what they say about opinions. :-)
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