A reply, I Hope you read it..
July 7, 2010 by Da-Chief
Filed under Corpsman.com News
Da-Chief, Owner Corpsman.com
Shipmates and friends,
I hate to bother you with this but I wanted you to understand where I stand etc on Corpsman.com.
It has been insinuated by a user on our site, that I have been ripping folks off asking for donations
for Corpsman.com. He seems to know better then anyone etc, (You can follow the thread here:
http://www.corpsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91737
I at first locked the thread as I felt I was being baited, but have unlocked it. One thing I have striven for on Corpsman.com is to be open with you all and want to hear from you all.
I did ban the user, but I am rescinding that as well. (A number of you say I should keep him banned, but Like I said before I want open communications with everyone.)
That being said I want to “GUMBY-SIZE” how our site is run, and how much it costs and why it costs why it costs.
WAYBACK MACHINE….
In 2004 I took over Corpsman.com, it was a static hosted site. It had very if any change on a day to day basis.
I am in no way slamming the former owner btw, most pages were that way back in 2004, and it was an admirable site for what it was meant to be etc.
When I took Corpsman.com over, I changed it from a static site, to a site that was updated weekly if not daily.
We added our Forums in 2005.
From 2004-2007 we were on a shared server. This is the type of server that the user is talking about in his post in the thread where he’s complaining.
In 2007 we outgrew that type of server, if you were on our site and a user then you remember it would constantly crash.
Why?
To much Traffic, Shared servers aren’t meant to handle that type of load.
After talking to some “NETWORK ENGINEER’s” I know in the business, they told me with the amount of traffic we drive and the size of the Databases from our site which was now hosted on a CMS platform and our forums, we needed our own server.
Anything else and we would keep crashing.
So in 2007 we swtitched to a Virtual server.
Mind you a virtual server is a server that has a set aside amount of RAM etc for us and only us.
We coudn’t outgrow that could we?
2008 we did!
I had to upgrade our Virtual server with more RAM.
Right now as it stands today, I am paying “100.00” a month for our site for server space. This does not include the software I have bought and paid for etc, the Forums, keeping those who helps us write the newsletter up to date on software, Updating Machines etc.
Corpsman.com is not a “FANSITE” It’s much more then that.
Yeah I could up a BS “UHH-RAH” page and leave it at that, but it’s not me, and I don’t think that is what you want.
Right now today as I am writing this here are our stats for Corpsman.com:
As of Today on the Front Page: 1033 users have visited Just the front of our site at 1533 CST.
TODAY!
FORUMS:
2966 USERS
46,482 Posts
24,527 Threads
Over all for the Site Since January here is our Traffic:
Visits: 1,347,621
Pages: 11,774,257
Files: 24,968,335
Hits: 33,654,648
This is info right off my server.
So you see, it’s not just about what is sitting on a drive it’s how it’s used and how it is delivered.
But more then that, what costs the most?
Our Time.
When Retired in 2007, I tried to make this my retirement. Corpsman.com was to be my job. Well with AD-Revenue crashing as it
has for the last 3 years or so, we have watched it go from where we thought we could make it, to realizing I could not make this
a self sufficient job.
Some would say, “CHIEF” why do you keep doing it then?
“Becuase I don’t give up, never have never will.”
We try to offer what we can when we can now withen our schedule. The Only monies we do generate now for the site (You won’t see an ad on any page!) is from donations, and what we dont’ get from donations comes right out of “MY” pocket.
Am I complaining?
No, the only person who was complaining was this user, I hope this answers “EVERYTHING” for him if not and he still wants to complain,
I hope he goes elsewhere…
But for now, he’s not banned, The thread is open, and I hope to hear from more of you more often.
Have a great Summer everyone..
IF you do chose to donate you can do so by clicking on any of the donate buttons on our site.
YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO DO SO.. Everything is free, but with that every once in a while you might get a solicitation from me for donations.
I Think that is fair, I hope you do too!
Stay Safe!
Da-Chief
Corpsman.com
I love statistics, however what Da-Chief did not make mention of was the equipment necessary to produce the weekly broadcasts or the computer software necessary to produce other Corpsman.com products such as correspondence, spreadsheets or the Scuttlebutt Newsletter, (MS Office Professional).
He's tried various inexpensive broadcasting and other media however; the quality was not there with, voice, video or compatibility issues. At Corpsman.com, Da-Chief strives for excellence and quality in everything. I don't know much about broadcasting equipment, but I do know it requires a mixer board, a computer large enough in capacity to handle the multitasking (RAM & High Speed Processor(s)) CAM and a pretty savvy monitor. Not to mention digital headphones, boom microphones, cables, office furniture such as desks, chairs and communications products to monitor the website/ messages between the staff and members.
Do some research on your own as to the approximated cost(s) for all of the above. Keep in mind, it's not for just one computer that's involved here but I believe 3 computers (all in different states) and one can easily begin to see it's not just the website; the costs are associated with much more than that.
Furthermore, there is technical support and their associated costs when something goes awry. Where it required a professional look under the hood or technical advice was necessary. We've been there on more than one occasion.
Lastly, computers and equipment do not last forever, they are not a one-time purchase, and it’s ongoing. Equipment breaks down and other times (a lot of times) we've outgrown the equipment. Whereby, the data/traffic requirements became far greater than the current equipment. Now couple all of the above, with a young families financial budget and it's just plain not easy to run this site when donations are down! On many occasions Da-Chief has had to dig deeper into his own pockets. I remember both of Da-Chief’s vehicles breaking down all in one month, during a bitter Chicago winter and Corpsman.com was requiring some additional items!
What the community here does not need are hecklers, jealous or otherwise, whose only mission in life is to heave negative comments about others trying to do some good, for others and the rate.
In closing I would like to add Da-Chief is certainly not becoming rich with this website, he's more in the red than green (financial speak). He doesn't live in a castle, nor does he drive current year vehicles. He's not gliding across the snow to market on a brand-new snowmobile, nor is he dining nightly on fillet and lobster tails.
This is a test to see if it goes through