PhotoMalaysia.com what happen?

[RossChang]

One fine day when I just wanted to log onto photoMalaysia.com to see who's screaming, who's whispering, catch some gossip, dump some bull****...

Launch my explorer, type in the url and pressed [Enter], waited for a while... and two sec later, I was staring into my IE browser and trying to comprehend what I see... a glance towards the address bar to check if the URL is correct... *Check* no problem... glare back at content... still dun understand what is going on?... what I saw, was the Files and Folder structure of PhotoMalaysia's Virtual Dir, and as I click around, I figure I have full rights to add, edit and delete files... *Still confused*

Now, something definately went wrong, so this other day, saw KhoKing on clubsnap, and decided to drop him a PM to see what's going on... aparrenty some no hearted soul hacked into the server and wiped out all the files and data, and left the door open... hmm... wander why would this happen?...

Admin and Mods, like to share what went wrong?

[Flintstone]

Are all the data lost? Any back ups?

[malek]

first, i thot our admin doin some upgrading... that why we cant get through this site...
a bit xcited to see what new..

after few days, still cant..
then i sms KK,'something wrong' with PM.

hope we can get back this PM.

:D

[gadrian]

yes.. would like to know too.. coz also lost my hosted website.. and I dont have a backup for that site at all.. sigh..

[Flintstone]

Has this (crash and lost of data) happened before in the past?

[gadrian]

Has this (crash and lost of data) happened before in the past?

Crash and lost of data.. hmm yes.. a couple of times..

[GoodGuy]

Hope there is a backup.

[zaman]

Is the present site temporary ???? ... There a lot of information in the previous site. Hope it is not lost forever. I believe moderators have back up of all the threads, information that are posted there.

[enzo]

Is the present site temporary ???? ... There a lot of information in the previous site. Hope it is not lost forever. I believe moderators have back up of all the threads, information that are posted there.

Yippie! Forum is back! ...

:roll: :roll: I think I should start a DB Backup Plan for my site.
Better Safe Than Sorry.

[Brian]

Hope there is a backup.
Real-time backups were being done on a seperate partition. The hacker killed everything by removing all partition info from the drive (only the boot partition was recognized) thus all data was lost.

"Why wasn't there a backup?". There was, on a seperate partition. But all the partition info was lost, effectively killing the data in those partitions.

"Why didn't you have a local backup?". It's not exactly practical backing up 3GB of files & data over a 512MB DSL line onto a notebook with a 6GB drive. Sorry.

"Why didn't you backup somewhere else?". Because I'm already in too much debt with the money I am shelling out monthly for the server/trunk/NOC plot lease to be able to afford the dedicated server for this place. I can't afford the cost of an additional HDD or to lease a RAID setup or an additional server just for backups.

"Why did it take so long?". It took 2 days before I could finally get someone human to do a reboot for me, then another day before someone had the balls to tell me about the partition issue. Then a day for the techs at the NOC to reload the OS and basic software & notify me, at which point I connected remotely to the machine as root and started to set up & configure the services. Then I put up the construction webpage. Then I took a day alone to myself as far from things as I could get on the MRT with a lot of HP5+, one body, and one lens. Yesterday I put up the temp forum and have started working on getting everything else working again.

For those with hosting plans who haven't contacted me at the email I specified on the main page, please do so: supportATphotomalaysia.com. Those that did already have their sites back.

[Brian]

Has this (crash and lost of data) happened before in the past?

Wasn't a crash. Was an attack. And yes, we've been attacked a few dozen times in the past 3 years and killed twice before.

Which makes me wonder, what makes PM such a target?

[zaman]

PM is the most popular site at this part of the world with thousand members registered. So when things become popular .... the unpopular site feels uneasy of our existence so they find ways to damage it..

Never mind Brian... pm members will help you to rebuild PhotoMalaysia. We will rise back...

[gadrian]

Brian.. thanks for the efforts once again.. It can be a pain when such things happen.. After all the wonderful efforts you had put in with the new PM..

Do tell us how we can help?

[zaman]

Yes Brian ... Tell us how ???? :( :(

[chip]

Brian.. thanks for the efforts once again.. It can be a pain when such things happen.. After all the wonderful efforts you had put in with the new PM..

Do tell us how we can help?

yup brian....as far as i know all of us is not computer experts but if need help in anything just tell us....

[enzo]

"Why didn't you have a local backup?". It's not exactly practical backing up 3GB of files & data over a 512MB DSL line onto a notebook with a 6GB drive. Sorry.

Perhaps Incremental Backup would help? You can do it daily basis or weekly basis. Since Incremental Backup will only backup new added data from the previous backup therefore less bandwidth is needed.

Eg.
Backup 1 25 June 2004
Data 1, Data 2, Data 3,

Data 4 added on 26 June 2004

Backup 2 27 June 2004
Data 1, Data 2, Data 3, + Data 4 (Appended to Backup 1)

IMHO, better invest on a 200GB hardisk locally on your PC than getting backup solution from your hosting ...

I hope this will help PM...

[david.tan]

Brain, appreciate ur hard work there ! i know this prob doesnt easy to solve, anyway, thks for telling us, i will always support PM ! *THUMPS UP*

[malek]

"Why didn't you backup somewhere else?". Because I'm already in too much debt with the money I am shelling out monthly for the server/trunk/NOC plot lease to be able to afford the dedicated server for this place. I can't afford the cost of an additional HDD or to lease a RAID setup or an additional server just for backups.

hmm.. at least have RAID.. additional backup db server will cost a lotsss
this is what 'we' have here.. but still working hard for budget for additional server..

can we help?? how can we help??
what do you all think??

donate a bit la.. 8)

[ted]

I beleive a contribution of some sort is in order fer Brian to get some more additional hardware fer PM.Com, everyone? Lets chip in shall we? Enuff time fer talking oredih.... 8)

[zaman]

How much should be the minimum ????? ... How to do it ....

We have enough lesson that our postings was all dissappeared... Lets everybody here do it.

[Brian]

How much should be the minimum ????? ... How to do it ....

We have enough lesson that our postings was all dissappeared... Lets everybody here do it.

I don't want anyone to think that this is just a ploy for cash or something...that I did it on purpose...y'know how some people are. They forget the fact that I've been supporting this thing since the beginning :cry:

Perhaps Incremental Backup would help? You can do it daily basis or weekly basis. Since Incremental Backup will only backup new added data from the previous backup therefore less bandwidth is needed.

It's not just a matter of dl time, but dedicating half of my notebooks HDD for backups...there goes MS Office Pro, Macromedia Studio MX, and Photoshop.... Also, being a notebook (and a 4 year-old one at that), it's not upgradeable. I could spend the cash and get a 200GB HDD, but I'd have nowhere to put it. The notebook only has 1 USB hub (2 ports), and one goes to a printer, the other to a scanner.

BTW, anyone who was a moderator and is still interested or wants to be a moderator please PM me with the forums you want to moderate.

BTW, BTW, the site may slow down occasionally as I install Apache and PHP modules and need and recompile. On that note, I made sure to get the EXIF library into PHP this time with no issues (so far). :)

[abahwafi]

my conspiracy theory:
maybe someone felt that the previous PM website has a very high potential to influence their business in a bad way? For example, we keep comparing the prices of photography equipment thru PM web. We complaining about the quality of services that we receive for this shop compared to that shop etc.

so, somebody sakit hati and hired a hacker to demolish our beloved PM website..... :cry:

[zaman]

my conspiracy theory:
maybe someone felt that the previous PM website has a very high potential to influence their business in a bad way? For example, we keep comparing the prices of photography equipment thru PM web. We complaining about the quality of services that we receive for this shop compared to that shop etc.

so, somebody sakit hati and hired a hacker to demolish our beloved PM website..... :cry:

Make sense .... :( :(

[chip]

my conspiracy theory:
maybe someone felt that the previous PM website has a very high potential to influence their business in a bad way? For example, we keep comparing the prices of photography equipment thru PM web. We complaining about the quality of services that we receive for this shop compared to that shop etc.

so, somebody sakit hati and hired a hacker to demolish our beloved PM website..... :cry:

dunno lah abt this abt there is some point....well i guess the tech is not as good as we think huh?for the time beng lets just forget the past and hold our hands together to make PM the best again and again and again till that $%^& bored :)

[khoking]

They (hackers) can kill off the site, but THEY CAN'T KILL US~PMERS! We as PMers will be back and once again reunited!

To those who hosted under PM.com, I really hope you can understand our position here as not intentionally giving you trouble and deleted your site contents. We try our best to serve you (and we are not full time online programmer nor do we earn $$$ from the NON-PROFIT MAKING SITE), your hosting here is to help supporting the PM.com, so please share the passion and sorrow with us for this disastrous incident :cry:

However, if you want only pure business relationship and think that PM.com hosting sucks, then email me at khoking@photomalaysia.com for a full one year refund to cancel your hosting membership. :cry:

Again, many thanks to Brian (a non-Malaysian) for his hardwork and contribution to the community.

[abahwafi]

"Again, many thanks to Brian (a non-Malaysian) for his hardwork and contribution to the community....."

**Sorry menyimpang sket
Hah ? Brian is not Malaysian...??hmmm.....can he understand BM ? sorry just curious...!! :wink:

[Brian]

"Again, many thanks to Brian (a non-Malaysian) for his hardwork and contribution to the community....."

**Sorry menyimpang sket
Hah ? Brian is not Malaysian...??hmmm.....can he understand BM ? sorry just curious...!! :wink:

Nope...so bad mouth me all you want :wink: . Just stay away from English, Spanish, and romanized Mandarin :P

[abahwafi]

Nope...so bad mouth me all you want :wink: . Just stay away from English, Spanish, and romanized Mandarin :P

Hehehee....good Brian, you can read my mind...hahahahaaa :lol:

[BurgaFlippinMan]

Well, now that everyones had to reregister, its gonna take even more time before anybody reaches 'The One' status :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[enzo]

It's not just a matter of dl time, but dedicating half of my notebooks HDD for backups...there goes MS Office Pro, Macromedia Studio MX, and Photoshop.... Also, being a notebook (and a 4 year-old one at that), it's not upgradeable. I could spend the cash and get a 200GB HDD, but I'd have nowhere to put it. The notebook only has 1 USB hub (2 ports), and one goes to a printer, the other to a scanner.

Well, I understand your point, but backing up data has to start somewhere. :roll:

Hopefully this lost of data is not yearly event like chinese new year or raya like tat. Once a year kena.

I think the commitee should put serious thought in prevent this from happening. At least if it does happen again, PMer's still have all the valuable data. Backing up data once a month pun jadi lah...

2 ringgit...

[moo]

I am not worry about the data lost, but DATA THEFT. Luckily there is no credit card number , execpt our precious email address :cry:

Brian can do little because the server is not host locally. In addition, I think he don't own the whole server, so it is not possible to harden the server from attack.

[bimmer]

Being s supporter since the early days (and suffered thru many forum deaths and reregisters) i'm pissed that i'm relegated to member number xx now when it was just "member no. 5" in the last forum. (Wow, talk about putting things into perspective here...).

Will this "temporary" forum and posts here be saved or killed off once the main site gets up and running? We've lost so much good info. <sigh!> Now i have to ask again and the gurus have to answer again. <double sigh!>

[bimmer]

And i'm a "lurker" too!
ONO!!
<smaking forehead>

ps - did inthestreet get toasted too??
<groan!>

[abahwafi]

My first hope and first try in PM photo theme contest July was destroy just like that :(

Now I'm really "Getting There...".....sigh :cry:

[atwl77]

Sad news... I was wondering what was up with PM. Some things that don't sound right to me:

1) Doesn't the provider that's hosting the PM site do some sort of regular maintenance or backup? I would change hosts if they didn't do such a thing.

2) Hacking is a serious offence; the hosting company should take this matter seriously and track down the culprit(s) and at the same time investigate the method of intrusion and secure the hole, when found. Again, if they're not serious about such a thing I would again consider switching hosts.


My 2 cents...

:)atwl

[eosguy]

atwl77: your 2 cents is worth more than that... :)

Yes, the web hosting company should be doing regular backups and should try to detect the method of intrusion etc. That is only true, however, if it's shared hosting or premium hosting etc.

I would think that co-lo might be a different case altogether. My 2 cents. :oops:

[Darren]

Hi Brian and Kho King,

Really surprised and sad that this happened. Hope that PhotoMalaysia gets up and running as per its old self as soon as possible.

Best regards,
Darren.

[engku]

fuuuuhhhh..finally, be able to see photomalaysia breathing again.

Thanks to everyone who make this site live and kicking again :)

[yoong]

ah crap...cant believe PM got hacked this bad.. WTF?!

anyway hope everything will be up and running soon. having study break for exams in 2 weeks time , so doubt i can follow the forums like before. anyway hi everybody again hehe. cheers.

[eugene]

Hihi...welcome back all again. Glad to see all of you again. Well, looking from a bright side, I get to change my nickname to a less prominent one. (I hate the Capital E and K in my old nick!! :roll: ). Brian and Khoking, you have my full mental support. If there's anything more I can do that's within my limit, I would do it too. 8) Thankz again for all that you all had done.

[choen]

Makes me wonder if PM was a target of juvenile vandalism, or a target of genuine malicious intent.

[khoking]

hi Darren, thanks for the support.

To answer some questions:
1. Brian rent the whole server...$$$
2. The contents in this forum will be tranfered to the new sites when everything up again. Just like the conversion we did last time. So...don't worry, whatever you posted here will stay.
3. I have discussed with Brian, and we will do physical local backup from now on, although it might take up too much space and time (online downloading)...
4. I am member 4x...but I am glad that within few days, we have more than 200+ members re-registered again.

Once again, thanks for the support. We will try to do whatever we can to serve the community well :)

[Matt]

Brian and Khoking, you have my full mental support.

Err... is that useful? How about financial support? Sounds better already! :lol:

[Brian]

Sad news... I was wondering what was up with PM. Some things that don't sound right to me:

1) Doesn't the provider that's hosting the PM site do some sort of regular maintenance or backup? I would change hosts if they didn't do such a thing.


It's not a webhost. It's a leased machine, not a traditional shared webhost. I lease a physical computer at a physical location (Network Op Center is in Texas, USA) and pay the NOC for the bandwidth and machine footprint.


2) Hacking is a serious offence; the hosting company should take this matter seriously and track down the culprit(s) and at the same time investigate the method of intrusion and secure the hole, when found. Again, if they're not serious about such a thing I would again consider switching hosts.


It is. Unfortunately all data, including all the service logs, got toasted....so I have no physical reference to try and trace a origin. Brute force-type attacks, like DoS, can be detected by firmware at the router level and the offending IPs filtered because the attack is straitforward and obvious. This was a single-user, single entry type attack. Again, we are not "hosted", but host ourselves on our own machine.

[Brian]

Makes me wonder if PM was a target of juvenile vandalism, or a target of genuine malicious intent.

Yeah, I've been wondering the same thing. We've actually been attacked quite a few times in the past...most recently there was a huge DoS effort the month after we moved to a dedicated server. The result was only a slight slowdown until the Cisco routers at the NOC realized the huge traffic coming in from a small number of IPs and filtered them...problem solved.

Like the CIA says: "Our failures are well known, our victories secret" :wink:

[atwl77]

Thanks for the info, Brian. From the looks of it, seems that the intruder managed to get root-level access to the machine then, allowing him to directly affect the data and partitions.

Is the server already protected by a firewall? If not, would it be too costly to add one (preferably a second machine) for protection? What about clamping down on security more, shutting off all ports except the necessary ones, limiting access to those ports (except the unavoidable http port, i guess), requiring stricter access to your admin ports (e.g. via SSH only), etc?

Not sure what's going on at your back end but just throwing a few ideas... :D


:)atwl

[Brian]

Thanks for the info, Brian. From the looks of it, seems that the intruder managed to get root-level access to the machine then, allowing him to directly affect the data and partitions.

Is the server already protected by a firewall? If not, would it be too costly to add one (preferably a second machine) for protection? What about clamping down on security more, shutting off all ports except the necessary ones, limiting access to those ports (except the unavoidable http port, i guess), requiring stricter access to your admin ports (e.g. via SSH only), etc?

Not sure what's going on at your back end but just throwing a few ideas... :D


:)atwl

All higher-access stuff (like hosting account control panels) have always been via a secure and non-standard port for HTTP access and SSH for shell access. I've alredy changed the ports again and notified our users behind firewalls to close their old ports and open the new ones. I'm strongly considering turning off any kind of shell access at all unless specifically asked for...probably will. I also have the server scanning all executable scripts once a week (PHP, Perl, Python, etc...) and returning to me a list of scripts that contain specific function calls so that I can make sure that they are tame. I also have the server running weekly scans for trojans.

I really can't afford a second machine to run a firewall, but am running some software on the hosting machine.

[goldenhorse]

Thanks for the info, Brian. From the looks of it, seems that the intruder managed to get root-level access to the machine then, allowing him to directly affect the data and partitions.

Is the server already protected by a firewall? If not, would it be too costly to add one (preferably a second machine) for protection? What about clamping down on security more, shutting off all ports except the necessary ones, limiting access to those ports (except the unavoidable http port, i guess), requiring stricter access to your admin ports (e.g. via SSH only), etc?

Not sure what's going on at your back end but just throwing a few ideas... :D


:)atwl

All higher-access stuff (like hosting account control panels) have always been via a secure and non-standard port for HTTP access and SSH for shell access. I've alredy changed the ports again and notified our users behind firewalls to close their old ports and open the new ones. I'm strongly considering turning off any kind of shell access at all unless specifically asked for...probably will. I also have the server scanning all executable scripts once a week (PHP, Perl, Python, etc...) and returning to me a list of scripts that contain specific function calls so that I can make sure that they are tame. I also have the server running weekly scans for trojans.

I really can't afford a second machine to run a firewall, but am running some software on the hosting machine.


Hi Brian,

Errr.... Talking about what you intend to do does not help as the assailant maybe watching your every move.

Conspiracy theory - could it be the rival forum myk*****.com that launched the bug ?

0.02 msian cents.

[Brian]

Hi Brian,

Errr.... Talking about what you intend to do does not help as the assailant maybe watching your every move.

It's okay...we weren't specific enough...we're just talking generalities :)

[seagull]

and my freaking web server crashed big time too. harddisk failure. everything gone and can't even boot. got backup twice weekly, just lost a couple of blog entries because i didn't download the latest backup dump from my server.

just when i wanted to find you for web hosting, you crashed! i ended up hosting 2 web sites in vancouver.

no worry brian. no matter how hard i know you can handle it. :)

Wasn't a crash. Was an attack.

[gadrian]

Brian.. how much will it cost to rent another server?

I think we can pool together enough money to rent another server.. what do you think Brian..

What do you think guys?

PM has become a second home to us.. dont you think we should monetarily support it now?

Or Perhaps Brian.. does the NOC provide backup services.. being doing a backup every week.. or something.. am sure there is a fee... but perhaps that can be borne by all of us..

[sharpshooter]

Yes, adrian's got a point there. We've grown so close to PM that, there must be a way in which we can help.

In fact, for future purposes, perhaps PM should earn a little income somewhere not for profit making but to sustain the many features it contains and most importantly to buff up security and backup costs.

There's hosting plans but perhaps money making associations too?

Keep us in the loop brian, some of us may have the resources.

[Brian]

Keep us in the loop brian, some of us may have the resources.

I always try to be completely transparent. A few times I've even itemized the costs...granted, this tends to occur when someone makes a comment about the website that pisses me off :P

Actually, the cost of a dedicated server isn't that much split across half a dozen users...basically, it's paid for if 6 users each pay US$20/mo for 10GB storage and 200GB bandwidth...this would leave 20GB storage & 300GB bandwidth open for PM (Celeron 2.4GHz/1GB DDE RAM, 100 MBPS Port). Plus, each user would be able to create their own full accounts within their allocated space.

It's always cheaper distributed :wink:

[hliew]

As a lot of us are rather sensitive about Credit Card when making contributions which in this case a lot of us will gladly do, may I suggest that PM open an account under any one's name, and post the account number online for anyone interested to contribute.
Of course, to be transparent, that account must be updated and scan copy online for all members detailing withdrawals, incomes etc. Only through good financial standing will we be able to weather the future hacks etc and improve on the site to be the best of the lot.
Really apprecitate the efforts put up by the administrators to voluntarily put up the site, but it is not fair that they have to contribute both money and effort to keep this site going.
Money from website hosting etc is minimal I guess as not all of us need to put up materials for our site.
So, PM fellows, contribute say RM10/- to RM100/- or whenever one strike it rich or promoted or inherited or retired, contribute to the say account.(legal implications or a waiver agreement on some smart guy suing will do i guess). May be some smart one among us can come up with novel legal transparent way to beef up PM finances through voluntary contributions,

[eugene]

Brian and Khoking, you have my full mental support.

Err... is that useful? How about financial support? Sounds better already! :lol:

Dude...you left out the "if there's anything else I could do.." and I do support PM in a small tiny minor financially way. Would do more if I could afford it. 8)

[eugene]

I agree with what had been said here. Not implementing that is it a definetly a must, but those who had already made PM their "2nd home" and also enjoyed the company of many other photographers, the least you can do is try and contribute back something, no matter how small, back to the community. I would do so myself in future whenever possible.

[gadrian]

Thats USD240 per year per person..

Brian.. how do we make payment to you..?

[eosguy]

Conspiracy theory - could it be the rival forum myk*****.com that launched the bug ?

0.02 msian cents.

Oooo... be careful how you spend your 0.02 msian cents. It could become a lot more.

[Brian]

Thats USD240 per year per person..

Brian.. how do we make payment to you..?

That's the big issue. The dedicated server is payed for directly from a PayPal account setup in PhotoMalaysia's name. This was done for convinience (cash in, cash out of the same account directly /w/ my CC as backup when the hosting cash runs out (after the 2nd month).

unfortunately, even though PayPal now allows Malaysians to signup, they still don't like 'em that much and only allow limited functions (I think send/recieve paypal cash only but no CC payments? Not sure.)

PhotoMalaysia does have a merchant account with 2checkout.com, but because it is an intl account a minimum US$600 balance is required before they will issue a check...then I have to wait for a month before I get it...then I have to deposit it and wait for another month before it clears...not to mention the currency charges. :cry:

On the greedy side of things, those who elect to do it this way will get their own "reseller" control panel and access...so they can sell hosting to their friends (within their webspace/bandwidth). Any accounts they create will have their own cpanel and whatever features you give them :wink:

[gadrian]

I have a paypal account.. i can make payments quite easily.. so keep us informed on more details..

I do lots of purchases in the US.. so my account is good..

[BurgaFlippinMan]

Well, at least we are back together again! Cheers!!:)

[jaga]

brian if i may ask,

what OS were u running on the old toasted server? i'm just curious thats all

[maxby]

As a lot of us are rather sensitive about Credit Card when making contributions which in this case a lot of us will gladly do, may I suggest that PM open an account under any one's name, and post the account number online for anyone interested to contribute.
Of course, to be transparent, that account must be updated and scan copy online for all members detailing withdrawals, incomes etc. Only through good financial standing will we be able to weather the future hacks etc and improve on the site to be the best of the lot.
Really apprecitate the efforts put up by the administrators to voluntarily put up the site, but it is not fair that they have to contribute both money and effort to keep this site going.
Money from website hosting etc is minimal I guess as not all of us need to put up materials for our site.
So, PM fellows, contribute say RM10/- to RM100/- or whenever one strike it rich or promoted or inherited or retired, contribute to the say account.(legal implications or a waiver agreement on some smart guy suing will do i guess). May be some smart one among us can come up with novel legal transparent way to beef up PM finances through voluntary contributions,

I agree with hliew.....maybe just set up a PM fund for members to contribute whatever they can afford and try to sell some web space by the side. Perhaps you can get a dedicated server.....Maybe we can bank into Khoking's account and let him do the transfering or handle the funds.

Just to be transparent, if you wish, just keep a small account and post it here to keep the members informed.

[Brian]

brian if i may ask,

what OS were u running on the old toasted server? i'm just curious thats all

RedHat with the latest Linux kernel. Typical LAMP server.

[zaman]

Why not we start immediately ...... :?: :?:

[Brian]

I have a paypal account.. i can make payments quite easily.. so keep us informed on more details..

I do lots of purchases in the US.. so my account is good..

Gadrian, if you really are interested just paypal the funds to donation@photomalaysia.com and I'll set you up right away.

If anyone is interested, you can PM me with whether you want to pay annually or monthly, your domain, a password, and how much space/bandwidth you want to use for your domain (the rest will be allocated into your "reseller" amount for you to sell to/give to/bribe friends & family with. I'll get back to you with a paypal link (MUCH preferred), a 2checkout link (if you can't use PayPal), or PM khoking for his bank details (for strait cash).

If you just want to strait up donate, PayPal to donation@photomalaysia.com or PM khoking for his banking details.

[Shukor Janis]

Actually, the cost of a dedicated server isn't that much split across half a dozen users...basically, it's paid for if 6 users each pay US$20/mo for 10GB storage and 200GB bandwidth...

So it is US$120/mo x 12 = US$1,440 per year x 3.8 = RM5,472 to keep PM running for a year.

If we have 100 members willing to contribute, each of us would only put in RM54.72 per year to keep this site up and running for as long as we want to. I will start the ball rolling by pledging RM100. As I already have Kho King's a/c number, my money should be in by early next week to Kho King bank account. I might put in more.

Brian, KhoKing and everybody out there who has help make this site successful .... keep it going.

[Brian]

Actually, the cost of a dedicated server isn't that much split across half a dozen users...basically, it's paid for if 6 users each pay US$20/mo for 10GB storage and 200GB bandwidth...

So it is US$120/mo x 12 = US$1,440 per year x 3.8 = RM5,472 to keep PM running for a year.

If we have 100 members willing to contribute, each of us would only put in RM54.72 per year to keep this site up and running for as long as we want to. I will start the ball rolling by pledging RM100. As I already have Kho King's a/c number, my money should be in by early next week to Kho King bank account. I might put in more.

Brian, KhoKing and everybody out there who has help make this site successful .... keep it going.

Aye, but here's the rub: if we host 100 smaller accounts on this server then performance will take a major nosedive...which is the whole reason we have the dedicated server. From a practical standpoint, with any more then 60 seperate domain accounts (doesn't include parked domains) served from a machine with 1GB RAM and a 100MBPS/Etherfast line like this one and the slowdown becomes noticable to those with broadband.

[jaga]

correct me if i'm wrong but i think shukor was hinting on donation drive and assuming 100 members donating...and not 100 members setting up their own personal webpage

[moo]

Beside donating $$, I think somebody must donating their effort to harden the server for future attack. Close lots of port (well I don't want to port scan on your server, but I doubt the US ISP counterpart will harden your server for free) , apply patches,etc.


And for the funding part, I think it is a good idea to get some serious photograph enthusiation club to host at PM server, since the price is almost the same if they host in a webhost server.

For our PM member, why not raise some $$ during the gathering or even. Or even "buy" :twisted: your status, e.g. RM 20 get rid of the lurker status :shock:. And for the PM gathering, heh, why not set aside 20% of $$ that you buy the food and contribute to PM. If you spend RM10 for coffee, then you must donate RM2 to PM :twisted:

[jaga]

Beside donating $$, I think somebody must donating their effort to harden the server for future attack. Close lots of port (well I don't want to port scan on your server, but I doubt the US ISP counterpart will harden your server for free) , apply patches,etc.


i cannot code to save my life :oops: therefore my only option is to give $$

[Brian]

Beside donating $$, I think somebody must donating their effort to harden the server for future attack. Close lots of port (well I don't want to port scan on your server, but I doubt the US ISP counterpart will harden your server for free) , apply patches,etc.

Remember, it's a dedicated server and not a webhosting service...and even before the attack all non-essential ports were closed. Since then I have changed a few port addresses (like for webmail, hosting cpanel, etc...) and made them secure access-only. Patches are applied for free upon request, however since the whole setup was installed from scratch we are now running the latest & greatest stable versions of everything.


And for the funding part, I think it is a good idea to get some serious photograph enthusiation club to host at PM server, since the price is almost the same if they host in a webhost server.


Yeah, but all the ones I've come across host on free services or really cheap accounts...they don't care to much about features or performance, just cost.


For our PM member, why not raise some $$ during the gathering or even. Or even "buy" :twisted: your status, e.g. RM 20 get rid of the lurker status :shock:.

Alredy done for hosting customers...they get a special title and color. Strait up donors did too...along with enhanced forum features and more albums space. Didn't help.

A lot of people talk a lot... :roll: . I wish the old data hadn't gotten trashed so I could point out the half dozen other similar threads to this where everyone has a great idea about how anyone but them can help or people offer to help, then grow silent at the last moment.

In the end it's always up to me. Disheartening as it may be (well, to me anyway), I accepted that a long time ago...and look, PM's still here so everyone keep taking advantage while you can. I mean, if PM goes someone else like me will just start something similar for free, right? That's the great thing about the Internet.

[gadrian]

I have a paypal account.. i can make payments quite easily.. so keep us informed on more details..

I do lots of purchases in the US.. so my account is good..

Gadrian, if you really are interested just paypal the funds to donation@photomalaysia.com and I'll set you up right away.

If anyone is interested, you can PM me with whether you want to pay annually or monthly, your domain, a password, and how much space/bandwidth you want to use for your domain (the rest will be allocated into your "reseller" amount for you to sell to/give to/bribe friends & family with. I'll get back to you with a paypal link (MUCH preferred), a 2checkout link (if you can't use PayPal), or PM khoking for his bank details (for strait cash).

If you just want to strait up donate, PayPal to donation@photomalaysia.com or PM khoking for his banking details.

Brian.. done.. sent you USD40.. will do so every 2months..

I have started the ball rolling.. now lets get rolling..

No more NATO..

[Brian]

Brian.. done.. sent you USD40.. will do so every 2months..

I have started the ball rolling.. now lets get rolling..

No more NATO..

Crap...and right after I posted a NATO speech, too. You did that on purpose, didn't you? :lol:

Thanks, Adrian. Seriously...in the past 3 years that's the most anyone has helped out with (per annum).

BTW, when you get a chance PM me with what domain you want to use and how you want the space & bandwidth allocated (domain vs. resellable).

Thanks again :)

[Flintstone]

PLease include the local bank details for the tranfer of monies.

[Brian]

PLease include the local bank details for the tranfer of monies.

PM khoking

[gadrian]

Brian.. done.. sent you USD40.. will do so every 2months..

I have started the ball rolling.. now lets get rolling..

No more NATO..

Crap...and right after I posted a NATO speech, too. You did that on purpose, didn't you? :lol:

Thanks, Adrian. Seriously...in the past 3 years that's the most anyone has helped out with (per annum).

BTW, when you get a chance PM me with what domain you want to use and how you want the space & bandwidth allocated (domain vs. resellable).

Thanks again :)

Haha.. was waiting for your usual long speech.. lol..

Nah.. I was out for a couple of hours.. so didnt get to do it.. until I get back home.

[maxby]

Hi Khoking,

Can you let us have your banking details?

[malek]

ok guys, lets start...

remember our car sticker?? not that difficult, right??

KK, I'll sms u, maybe tomorrow, today I'm working... cannot go out..

:D

[jaga]

khoking,

PM'ed u already re bank acc

[hliew]

Watch out for the tax man and all other regulated bodies when collecting dconations (apply for exemptions, register body, approval for everything and all the whole heaps of sh.t)
A simple direct approach as some member suggest is to pay direct to khoking's account. I have been using Maybank2u to to transfer funds to any third party and it is instant and all the government regulations will be exempted(am I correct here? any legal folks confirm pl)
Khoking can set up a saving account in say Maybank and we work from there. I do pledge RM100/- for the PM. Do post the account number online please.

[khoking]

Thanks PMers!

My account details:
Maybank
KOH KHO KING
101301088395

To make $$$ transparent, please list your name here after sending me or brian the money. I can't trace who send $$ to my Maybank account...so please list here...

name, $$$, khoking or Brian, date

1. gadrian, USD40, Brian, 27 July 2004
2.
3.

[Brian]

Watch out for the tax man and all other regulated bodies when collecting dconations (apply for exemptions, register body, approval for everything and all the whole heaps of sh.t)
A simple direct approach as some member suggest is to pay direct to khoking's account. I have been using Maybank2u to to transfer funds to any third party and it is instant and all the government regulations will be exempted(am I correct here? any legal folks confirm pl)
Khoking can set up a saving account in say Maybank and we work from there. I do pledge RM100/- for the PM. Do post the account number online please.

This is another reason why PayPal is better...I'm a U.S. citizen and pay appropriate taxes there, credited for the taxes I pay in Taiwan. The paypal funds are in US dollars and reported directly (they have my social security number). When I pay my taxes all I need do is tick a special box and enter the amount donated. So long as those donations don't exceed a certain amount, they aren't taxed. The server and all the monies spent come from me and go to the NOC based in the U.S....all attached to my social security number, too. If donations start to exceed that amount (US$5000/year...highly doubtful) then I will have to register as an organizational entity and obtain a new social security number for that entity...but at that point it might be better just to get a DBA and pay business tax.

[Brian]

1. gadrian, USD40, Brian, 27 July 2004
2.
3.

This list is important...have some goodies planned when the new site is ready.

[Brian]

1. gadrian, USD40, Brian/PayPal, 27 July 2004
2. nabghani, EUR50, Brian/PayPal 28 July 2004
3.

[hliew]

1. gadrian, USD40, Brian/PayPal, 27 July 2004
2. nabghani, EUR50, Brian/PayPal 28 July 2004
3. hliew,RM100, Khoking,28 July 2004

[maxby]

1. gadrian, USD40, Brian/PayPal, 27 July 2004
2. nabghani, EUR50, Brian/PayPal 28 July 2004
3. hliew,RM100, Khoking,28 July 2004
4. maxby...RM100...Khoking a/c 28th July '04

[khoking]

1. gadrian, USD40, Brian/PayPal, 27 July 2004
2. nabghani, EUR50, Brian/PayPal 28 July 2004
3. hliew,RM100, Khoking,28 July 2004
4. maxby...RM100...Khoking a/c 28th July '04
5. ANONYMOUS, RM50, KhoKing a/c 28th July 2004

[Brian]

Maxby started a support-specific thread HERE (http://www.photomalaysia.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=72&hl=)

[potatoe]

hey brian,

thanks for the update and your effort.

glad that photomalaysia is back online.

please do not hesistate to pm me whenever there is a chance for me to contribute to photomalaysia.

[potatoe]

1. gadrian, USD40, Brian/PayPal, 27 July 2004
2. nabghani, EUR50, Brian/PayPal 28 July 2004
3. hliew,RM100, Khoking,28 July 2004
4. maxby...RM100...Khoking a/c 28th July '04
5. ANONYMOUS, RM50, KhoKing a/c 28th July 2004
6. potatoe, RM 100, KhoKing a/c 30th July 2004

[ckutu]

Brian, my PC is plugged in 'most' of the time. Offering it as a mirror site.. is that possible for sites like this or are mirrors just for downloadable stuff ?

[Brian]

Originally posted by ckutu@Jul 30 2004, 01:47 PM
Brian, my PC is plugged in 'most' of the time. Offering it as a mirror site.. is that possible for sites like this or are mirrors just for downloadable stuff ?
Once I finish setting everything up, I'm going to start automated periodic tarballs, which Kho will have access to via secure FTP. That should be enough...we don't really need a mirror as the bandwidth I lease (325GB/mo, 100MB/s...85x the fastest DSL) is more then enough to handle incoming requests.