Feastibilty study on setting up AMV hosting...

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Postby ErMaC » Thu Aug 22, 2002 9:48 am

First off, this post will come off as very cynical, because when it comes to hosting plans like this I am a complete cynic, as are most people who've dealt with any hosting companies.

A few responses to things you've posted:
now scraping my 256k DSL connection for 512K ADSL


You are aware that ADSL means Asynchronous, i.e. NOT the same upload speed as download speed? When hosting AMVs your connection on the upstream is what will matter. I know people who have 1.5Mbit ADSL, but that's downstream - their upstream is capped at 128kbps. That's the first part I find suspect.

Secondly, I don't think I would send my money to someone running a server off their DSL. After hearing about people being jipped by large hosting companies and having no legal recourse, how do you think we would feel about sending our money to some guy running a server in his house who has only 12 forums posts?

Thirdly, you obviously have very little grasp of the whole video compression thing. Soul of an Angel's encode is almost 90MB, and that's for a less-than-6-minute video. Why? It's widescreen 480x360@29.97fps. You mention windows movie maker. I can assure you that, barring a few exceptions, the people who will be needing hosting and bandwidth the most do not use that program - they use real editing programs (no offense MexicanJackson :wink: ) like Premiere, Ulead, or Vegas. Windows Movie Maker's compression is crap, plain and simple. No beating around the bush there. Anyone who's gonna be distroing their videos with an eye on quality is either gonna be distroing in MPEG1, Quicktime MPEG4/Sorenson, or some form of DivX/XviD/MPEG4 simple profile. In order to maintain any sort of quality at a resolution greater than 352x240, the only videos which would fit in your filespace are 1) videos that are very low motion that have been filtered with temporal smoothers to cut down on filesize or 2) videos shorter than 2.5 minutes. And even then it takes a lot of work to get a video under 35MB - a lot of trial and error and knowledge about digital video which, again not to offend anyone, the vast majority of people at this site do not have and instead follow guides which, while they outline good procedures to help people get good encode, are no substitute for real experience and knowledge concerning digital video processing and video compression.

Finally, you said you are planning on making a profit. That more than anything else offends me. How dare you try to make a profit off my work, which is made on a purely non-for-profit basis? Sure, your average hosting company is going to make a profit off their customers, but they are not centered around content which is specifically made on a non-for-profit basis. I have serious moral issues with you coming in here and trying to make money of the not-for-profit works that people here spend time to produce to distribute to the public.

If I'm gonna get hosting, I'm either gonna do it myself (like I am now, running an FTPd off my crummy little laptop and my shared DSL connection) or I'm gonna get real hosting from a reputable company who isn't specifically trying to make money off AMV creators.
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Postby NicholasDWolfwood » Thu Aug 22, 2002 1:00 pm

I'm with Ermac here. Why the fuck should WE spend 15 bucks on hosting from some guy who has a 128kbps upstream ADSL line and this guy has 12 posts? Hell, I'm getting free hosting from a Swedish guy, unlimited space (He's got at least 100GB of space, I gotta get the specs on the HD from him..) and 1Mbit of bandwidth. More Than Toast doesn't use more than 1Mbit of bandwidth from this guy, so I know I wont. But anyways, back to the point. $15 USD for 60MB of space and an upstream line capped at most likely 128kbps a month? That's a fuckin rip-off, man.
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Postby mexicanjunior » Thu Aug 22, 2002 3:03 pm

ErMaC wrote: I can assure you that, barring a few exceptions, the people who will be needing hosting and bandwidth the most do not use that program - they use real editing programs (no offense MexicanJackson :wink: ) like Premiere, Ulead, or Vegas. Windows Movie Maker's compression is crap, plain and simple.


Grrrrr!!! *shakes fist* :evil:
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Postby §_Akuma_§ » Thu Aug 22, 2002 3:05 pm

lol doesnt really matter now does it MJ? hehe u now use premiere and your Service video turned out very well for a first try with it ^_^
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Postby ErMaC » Thu Aug 22, 2002 3:05 pm

Hey I heard you say it yourself, WMM plays hell with video quality. And as I said, there are exceptions to the rule. I was including you in that statement, consider it a compliment. :)
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Postby mexicanjunior » Thu Aug 22, 2002 3:13 pm

ErMaC wrote:Hey I heard you say it yourself, WMM plays hell with video quality.


This is true, I have no defense against the horrid video quality that WMM puts out but it's still a fun prog to mess with. =P
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Postby BogoSort » Thu Aug 22, 2002 4:09 pm

Well then, if he's going to think that he can earn a profit from hosting. If this scheme of his goes through, maybe I'll just start countering his service with my own. I've got a machine with more bandwidth than he wants to pay for, and am willing to host people's videos. I am willing to host people's videos if the video in question amuses me and they don't have other hosting available to them. Unfortunately I'm limited to a couple of gigs of disk space until I decide to upgrade that box to have more. How's that for an offer?
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Postby ErMaC » Thu Aug 22, 2002 4:16 pm

I think I'll wait for the blue light special. :)
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Postby Melfina » Thu Aug 22, 2002 5:28 pm

*cries* i hope i wasnt getting yelled at for offereing my service:(|||

I thought 4 cents a meg w/ unlim bandwidth and connect to a oc-3 was a good deal...:( *CRIES*

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Postby AMVUserII » Thu Aug 22, 2002 9:04 pm

ErMaC wrote: I know people who have 1.5Mbit ADSL, but that's downstream - their upstream is capped at 128kbps. That's the first part I find suspect.


So you know people that doesn't neccesarily mean his is capped at 128kbps, not that you said his.

ErMaC wrote:Secondly, I don't think I would send my money to someone running a server off their DSL. After hearing about people being jipped by large hosting companies and having no legal recourse, how do you think we would feel about sending our money to some guy running a server in his house who has only 12 forums posts?


I'm in agreeance with you there neither would I, unless I had legal documentation.

ErMaC wrote:Thirdly, you obviously have very little grasp of the whole video compression thing. Soul of an Angel's encode is almost 90MB, and that's for a less-than-6-minute video. Why? It's widescreen 480x360@29.97fps. You mention windows movie maker. I can assure you that, barring a few exceptions, the people who will be needing hosting and bandwidth the most do not use that program - they use real editing programs (no offense MexicanJackson :wink: ) like Premiere, Ulead, or Vegas. Windows Movie Maker's compression is crap, plain and simple. No beating around the bush there. Anyone who's gonna be distroing their videos with an eye on quality is either gonna be distroing in MPEG1, Quicktime MPEG4/Sorenson, or some form of DivX/XviD/MPEG4 simple profile. In order to maintain any sort of quality at a resolution greater than 352x240, the only videos which would fit in your filespace are 1) videos that are very low motion that have been filtered with temporal smoothers to cut down on filesize or 2) videos shorter than 2.5 minutes. And even then it takes a lot of work to get a video under 35MB - a lot of trial and error and knowledge about digital video which, again not to offend anyone, the vast majority of people at this site do not have and instead follow guides which, while they outline good procedures to help people get good encode, are no substitute for real experience and knowledge concerning digital video processing and video compression.


Yup I agree that be a bit hard with WMM.

ErMaC wrote:Finally, you said you are planning on making a profit. That more than anything else offends me. How dare you try to make a profit off my work, which is made on a purely non-for-profit basis? Sure, your average hosting company is going to make a profit off their customers, but they are not centered around content which is specifically made on a non-for-profit basis. I have serious moral issues with you coming in here and trying to make money of the not-for-profit works that people here spend time to produce to distribute to the public.


Ok i got a mixed view here. On a moral level I full-heartedly agree. But being the business I am I would do the same if I could offer hosting. Even knowing that potentially i'm rippin' off people.

These days lookin' at the Enron and other economical scandals and how those executives are kinda gettin' away with it. I'd do the same.

ErMaC wrote:If I'm gonna get hosting, I'm either gonna do it myself (like I am now, running an FTPd off my crummy little laptop and my shared DSL connection) or I'm gonna get real hosting from a reputable company who isn't specifically trying to make money off AMV creators.


Its not like it makes a difference, hosting companies give a rats ass who they offer their services to as long as it doesn't get them in any shit, and they still get the money. From a business perspective this guy is just taking a business approach, anyone who has ever studied business knows that for a succesful business you need a target market. And hes just found one.......us AMV Creators.
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Postby Dark Kamui » Fri Aug 23, 2002 8:17 am

During my times of changing hosts I once was hosted with a guy that had highspeed ADSL. Trust me, ADSL is totally unreliable when used as a server to serve large files, especially if it's the http protocol.

Even if it's 1000kbps+ upstream ADSL it will have horrid problems. Why? Because when you connect too many users to an ADSL line it will literally flood and crash all the time because ADSL is NOT meant to handle so many connections at the same time. You want a reliable connection to setup a webserver for downloads? Use a T1. I once was hosted with a guy that had fast cable too as his main connection. It was reliable, but slow.

So why are T1s and cable more reliable than a DSL or ADSL line for webserving? Simply put DSL is a highspeed line designed to operate at higher frequencies than the regular 56k or phone at your house. (That's why you can "talk" while you're online via the same line. ) It uses an advanced signal compression technology that accounts for both losses and gains depending on the distance between you and your ISP. Why does distance matter? Signal loss of course.

So what happens if you open up far too many connections to different IPs running an A/DSL line that is meant to work under such conditions? Naturally your servers connection WILL CRASH. This will definately happen if you precisely want to host LARGE files that will keep more and more IPs connected for significant amounts of time, far more than that requiered if you were only hosting files such as HTML or images.

Simply put it's IMPOSSIBLE to setup a truly reliable server on a single A/DSL line, no matter HOW FAST it maybe. (Unless it's FTP protocol with a especified set of allowed users at any given time)


Speaking of hosting right now I'm on an OC12 in Holand run by my master, TBLACK. (TBLACK-Sama)

*Yes, I worship him as my god!* :twisted:
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Postby Kai Stromler » Fri Aug 23, 2002 8:29 am

Antonio Zalles wrote: But being the business I am I would do the same if I could offer hosting. Even knowing that potentially i'm rippin' off people.

These days lookin' at the Enron and other economical scandals and how those executives are kinda gettin' away with it. I'd do the same.


Seven devils, man, ever hear "Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD"?! Just because there are other people out there getting away with murder doesn't mean you oughta go out and try the same thing. Loki in Hel.

I can't understand this POV at all. Comes from hanging out with metalheads; nearly everyone I know would MUCH rather be poor than have to be a rat bastard.

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Postby Sidicas » Fri Aug 23, 2002 1:43 pm

ErMaC wrote:....

Agree 100% on everything you've said so far.
Oh yea! Keep that Journal going :D Very nice
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Postby AMVUserII » Fri Aug 23, 2002 2:00 pm

Kai Stromler wrote:Seven devils, man, ever hear "Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD"?! Just because there are other people out there getting away with murder doesn't mean you oughta go out and try the same thing. Loki in Hel.


Yup I agree, but I seize oppurtunity aswell, and if I did have the oppurtunity, I would.

Kai Stromler wrote:I can't understand this POV at all. Comes from hanging out with metalheads; nearly everyone I know would MUCH rather be poor than have to be a rat bastard.

--Kai


Well I don't share that same view I prefer wealth over poverty. 8)
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Here comes defense...

Postby Gottaname » Thu Sep 26, 2002 1:07 am

How does this gripe you guys...

SDSL 512KB Upstream/Downstream with a Public Static IP at only US$81 Dollars a month.

Now, if some of you I'm sure study business, operating at a net loss is unacceptable, same thing happened with the Soviet Union state's business, they thought they could be funded at all the time and their efficiency dropped like a stone. Now, even if I were to keep it at a steady cost, what would happen if the server has a breakdown and you need $200 to fix it, where the hell are you going to get the cash? Even Non-profit organisations set aside some money for such emergencies, I'm not trying to earn a profit, I already got my damned 300MB webhosting FOR FREE, then why the hell should I be sticking my head out for others, because unlike some other people, they're either too concieted, selfish buggers who only care about themselves and not other peole worst off.

Sure, you say, how can I make sure this guy isn't lying.
Well, how does this whack you, I'm registering this as a business with Singapore Registry of Business and Companies, with it I will be considered legal in the eyes of the law, I can sue you and you can sue me. If you read up Singapore's law, we hang people just for carrying 250g of drugs so you ask me are we strict.

And lastly, simple courtesy would tel you... IF YOU NOTHING GOOD TO SAY THAN SHUT THE FUCKING HELL UP!!!!!!
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