File Storage Poll

[Kim]

Edit: and one last thing that nobody may have thought of...

If the decision is taken that BPS should host files rather than just link, will you be prepared to moderate? There is alot of content that is not necessarily in keeping with other site's terms of use. It is something else to bear in mind.

Good point

[lisfyre]

I'd love to help and I will where I can but things in RL aren't great right now. Only hubby is working and we've had to care for his mom who had to quit her job due to health issues. She's been progressively getting worse -- in and out of hospital and most recently had brain surgery. I'm cool with whatever you guys decide and as I said, I'll help where I can but I can't promise much :*(

[Gigi]

I will not vote because I think there will not be an ideal scenario to answer this question. This desicion should be ponder carefully and taking into consideration more elements than merely space or money. Like Marie has said, I'm not a tech expert either, but I totally agree with Natalie because, as I began to read, my first concerns were the content "copyright" issue and the forum vulnerability. Last year we already had a hackers attack in which we have lost almost three months of content, even when each Designer and member who contribute have their own choice of file storage. So, to put all eggs into the same basket never has been the best advice to follow. Also many members could commit to donate with their best of intentions, but interests and life itself can change, so there is no guarantee that the forum will have a specific ammount of money available each time it will be needed to pay. Every one who is willing to have their own hard drive backups are the only guarantee that the forum could have and the only ones reliable enough to depend on in order to keep the content safety. And in my honest and humble opinion, the extra space and bandwith that the forum has right now should be kept as an spare alternative to manage impending and catastrophic emergencies. Of course, this is only my two cents and a lot of people with more resources and knowlege in the matter are wise enough to ponder all angles before making the desicion.

[lehahia]

I am not an expert either .. far from it .. but I think Natalie and gigi are right .. they both have pointed a highly important element .. and I'm sure .. paramount in the eyes all ...! ..The security Forum ... and I also agree that each backup on an external hard drive can be a solution .
But as said so just Gigi...some people are more able technically than us ... to take the the right decision..

[Jonesi]

Thanks for all the imput guys. We're still discussing it in the staff forum too...at the moment the general consensus seems to be that hosting everything at BPS wouldn't be such a good idea...but maybe for staff, designers and donators it could be an option and then we can see how much that would increase bandwidth/diskspace. We'll keep you guys posted. Just on a different note, the site should be safe from hackers as we now pay for daily backups which are done off site, so all should be fully restoreable should anything go wrong security wise again.

[Gigi]

Oh Nat, I'm actually very glad to know about the daily backups!! It is so unfair to loose the hard work of Designers and contributors just because a few wackos that have the delusion of power...

[TLC]

Out of curiosity, but what is the possibility of asking those who want to store their things on BPS to front a small portion of the cost, thereby alleviating the need for extra downloads? What if for certain levels of donations certain amounts of space are made available for each donator? I also like the idea of designers and staff being hosted here, but wouldn't stop using a third party site to host my files just in case of another hack...at least that way my downloads would still be available online until BPS got put back together. I notice that several people who post work here have alternate download links.

I know that this is a serious decision to make as it really takes BPS to the next level. I trust you guys implicitly to make the best decision and am behind you all the way, whatever is decided!!

[TerryToons22@ya]

Sounds like it might be a good idea but it has to be a secure one also. Won't be too much help as far as donations goes, retired and being on a fixed income (rough times).

[pierre]

i think its a great idea to have upload attach as it would avoid falling on a bronken or non working download link if its a mediafire link e.ct

[joyfulgirlhol]

I would just like to go on record and say that I'm not interested in migrating my files again (they were stored at BPS once), just to have to move them back to off-site storage because we can't afford to store them here. If we went with the Designers/Staff/Donators files idea, I might use BPS' file storage to host my future contributions. I voted in the poll, but I'd rather not change my current file storage unless it's for something I know is paid for (either by buying the storage from our host or an account at a file storage site). I apologize if this seems less than diplomatic on my part, maybe I'm getting ornery in my old age, or maybe it's because I'm sick with allergies and ill with my new computer, but that's how I feel about another file migration at the moment...

ETA:

I wanted to come back and add that I completely understand many of the member's panic about the file storage sites closing and I can understand the enthusiasm and willingness of newer and/or
younger members to try new things. I love the forum and will of course support whatever decision the majority makes on file storage, I just meant to express that I will personally not want to move
my existing downloads from their current location. And that's ok, right?