We have more options now than we did when the system was designed. I think
we need to be talking about IF this is the best option for us.

IDEAS:
*Instead of spending more $ on AWS we could host it ourselves and use the
AWS $ for an ISP with an SLA.
*Contact other hosting & VPS providers for discounts for 501c3.
*Co-Lo at another location.
*Use alternative services like groupspaces ---
http://groupspaces.com/SynHakThey offer a service that can handle our
Email, Membership listing,
Wiki/Website, Membership Private area, File Hosting, Event Announcement,
and Payment scheduling. (this would not help with spiff but would allow us
to offload many critical pieces)

I am not suggesting throwing out Spiff with the bath water but simply
stating maybe its time we reevaluate the design INSTEAD of throwing $ at a
project without evaluating other options.

I would like to setup a Working Group to discuss the needs and evaluate the
options. Would anyone else be interested in doing this also and if so when?


On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 1:10 AM, Andrew Buczko <[email protected]>wrote:

> What is AWS ? (Akron Waffle Supply)
>
> * here is our current infrastructure:
>
> ** Two t1.micro servers as web servers
> ** One t1.micro server as mail host
> ** One t1.micro MySQL RDS instance
>
> *** current AWS bill: $81,88 /mo
>
>
> *Here is the new infrastucture:
>
> ** 3 year heavy reservations for two t1.micro EC2 instances @ $200
> ** 1 year heavy reservation for one m1.small EC2 instance @ $169
> ** 3 year heavy reservation for one m1.small EC2 instance @ $257
> ** 3 year heavy reservation for one m1.small MySQL RDS instance @ $257.00
>
> *** Total upfront cost: $883.00
> *** Estimated monthly cost to run synhak.org: $83.52
>
> This sounds great.
>
> 1> Um, according to your figures, the new infrastructure will cost $1.64
> more per month than the old one, Where do you get a savings of $123.10?
>
> 2> Is it what we need? What do the logs show as far as load's on the
> current servers?
>
> 3> Can we get smaller servers and save even more money?
>
> This is an operating expense and does not fall under the grant that we
> just got.
>
> Andy
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 5:05 PM, Torrie Fischer 
> <[email protected]>wrote:
>
>> On Tuesday, February 25, 2014 12:38:58 Justin Herman wrote:
>> > I think an evaluation of several hosting options and establishing the
>> > infrastructure needs be done, before we earmark funds and make any plan
>> > changes.
>>
>> I didn't say any funds were being earmarked. I'm not evaluating other
>> hosting
>> options because I'm the one doing the work and would very much rather not
>> migrate synhak.org to another provider when I've already poured a
>> significant
>> quantity of effort and time into the current setup.
>>
>> >
>> > I am concerned with how much horse power & cost has been amassed even
>> after
>> > we have achieved a 501c3 status.
>>
>> Please elaborate.
>>
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 12:13 PM, Torrie Fischer
>> >
>> > <[email protected]>wrote:
>> > > Hi, all.
>> > >
>> > > Something I've wanted to do for quite some time is invest in some
>> reserved
>> > > AWS
>> > > instances for synhak.org to reduce our monthly bill. The problem with
>> > > that is
>> > > paying the high up-front cost. Since we now have this $15k grant, I'd
>> like
>> > > to
>> > > use a small portion of it to build what I consider an ideal
>> synhak.org
>> > > infrastructure:
>> > >
>> > > * 3 year heavy reservations for two t1.micro EC2 instances @ $200
>> > > * 1 year heavy reservation for one m1.small EC2 instance @ $169
>> > > * 3 year heavy reservation for one m1.small EC2 instance @ $257
>> > > * 3 year heavy reservation for one m1.small MySQL RDS instance @
>> $257.00
>> > >
>> > > Total upfront cost: $883.00
>> > > Estimated monthly cost to run synhak.org: $83.52
>> > > Estimated cost without reservations: $206.62
>> > >
>> > > Monthly savings: $123.10
>> > > Yearly savings: $1447.20
>> > >
>> > > One year commitment: $1002.24, approximately 14% of our 2013
>> membership
>> > > dues
>> > > income.
>> > > Three year commitment: $3006.72, approximately 8% of projected three
>> year
>> > > income of $36,000.
>> > >
>> > > Our member dues already handily cover all our other bills.
>> > >
>> > > Here's my sources on the AWS calculator:
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> http://calculator.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html#r=IAD&key=calc-E7EBCA4F-D171
>> > > -416F-AB21-D1CFE82DE07B
>> > >
>> > > The two micros will be used as edge webservers to host the wiki and
>> spiff.
>> > > The one year small will be a general purpose shell, phong, logging,
>> and
>> > > event
>> > > processing server
>> > > The three year small will be a dedicated mailing list server
>> > >
>> > > I'm suggesting a one year reservation to avoid getting ourselves
>> locked
>> > > into a
>> > > situation of needing more horsepower for administrivia but not able to
>> > > spend
>> > > more than $85/mo. I don't envision our mailing list server
>> requirements
>> > > growing beyond an m1.small instance within the next three years,
>> provided
>> > > it
>> > > remains dedicated to just mail.
>> > >
>> > > Our current AWS bill is $81.88/mo due to free tier expiring a few
>> months
>> > > ago.
>> > > This investment will keep our monthly infrastructure bill roughly the
>> same
>> > > while at the same time giving us a *lot* more room to grow for that
>> same
>> > > price. For comparison, here is our current infrastructure:
>> > >
>> > > * Two t1.micro servers as web servers
>> > > * One t1.micro server as mail host
>> > > * One t1.micro MySQL RDS instance
>> > >
>> > > The following benefits will be realized with this $883 investment:
>> > >
>> > > * Faster performance on mediawiki, spiff, and other applications
>> > > * Less resource contention when mailman, postfix, phong, and document
>> > > rebuilding aren't all competing for the same pittance of CPU and
>> memory
>> > > * Tighter security by establishing a bastion host setup resulting in
>> > > exactly
>> > > two public endpoints for synhak.org
>> > > * Room for growth in website activity and services offered
>> > > * Significant cost reduction in critical infrastructure will be
>> secured
>> > > for
>> > > three years
>> > > * We would have a really cool playground for devops hackers
>> > > * Current $80/mo AWS budget could be reallocated towards the
>> maintenance
>> > > budget or funneled into a monthly Hacker Grant program.
>> > >
>> > > I would appreciate any feedback on this idea.
>> > > _______________________________________________
>> > > Discuss mailing list
>> > > [email protected]
>> > > https://synhak.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> https://synhak.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://synhak.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
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