ATK Hosting

[Chalex4]

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ATK has grown fantastically over the years, and it's time for another improvement. This site can no longer survive on a measly couple of GB a month, so that's why I'm proposing that ATK buys a reseller package. This will allow us to host all of our files in one centralised location, as well opening up the possibility of an ATK download area.

Unfortunately, the cost is too much for me to support on my own, but this goes hand-in-hand with not needing all the space the reseller account would give us. This is why I am planning to leave lots of space for ATK hosting accounts!

Below are my current drafts, I haven't decided completely on the amount of databases etc but I wouldn't expect the price to change much.

|£1.00/month|£1.50/month|£0.75/month FastDL
Web Space|0.5GB|1GB|Fair Usage
Data Transfer|6GB|15GB|Unlimited
CPanel|Yes|Yes|No
Email Accounts|Yes|Yes|No
MySQL Databases|Yes|Yes|No
Parked Domains|Yes|Yes|No
Subdomains|Unlimited|Unlimited|No
FTP Accounts|Unlimited|Unlimited|Unlimited

The fast download service idea is to create a pool of fast download maps for Valve's games. If this hosting goes ahead, I would investigate a way to make users able to upload files, but not remove anything that they didn't upload themselves.

Below are some questions I anticipate you asking:

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Do I need my own domain?
Of course not! You can choose a subdomain at any of the following addresses:

mysite.atkcommunity.com
mysite.atkonline.co.uk

If you have a domain, we can link it to your account too!

Why do I need hosting?
Web hosting is fantastic for everything, whether you are just creating a blog, clan website or hosting backups of your important documents.

How would I pay?
Paypal is preferred, but monthly bank transfers would be acceptable.

Who would manage this?
If this turns out to be popular, I will create a team of admins who are in charge of setting up accounts and management.

Why should I get hosting from ATK?
ATK Hosting would be a reseller of UK Web.Solutions Direct, which ATK has been hosted on for at least a couple of years now. So, buying hosting from us would effectively be the same as from a much larger company (except much more personal).

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I hope the above answers most of the usual questions! Lots still needs to be decided, so please post your suggestions below!

Please vote in the poll to show your interest! By choosing that you are interested in a package, you won't be forced to carry this through.

[Vicious Horizon]

I'll donate some moneys when I get everything up and running, as I said earlier (and after I buy this computer >_>), so I can help out, but don't count on it soon.

[Target]

Sounds good, what are the main benefits for the community? I'll try and donate when I get a job sorted at home and have payed for car MoT and flat rent :D

[Calneon]

It's not so much donating guys, you get a fully featured web hosting package for as little as £1 a month. I'd probably take out a £1 hosting package, always useful to have web space when you need it.

EDIT: The poll is open DE :) Why do you think it's a bad idea??

[Trigger]

I dont even understand about Domains lol but you can have a quid a month from me, least i can do

Its not an open poll Phant, your a Mod and so can see it :p
Unless Chalex has changed it

[Isphera]

You missed out an option - None, because I am not interested in buying one.

I think it's a great idea, but I wouldn't buy one because I simply don't need it.

[Zealous]

I'm with trigger at the moment because I don't understand what they do or what you can do with one, but for a pound it sounds like a bargin lol, so count me in!

[Chalex4]

Good point Oricalcos, but who doesn't need webhosting?! I added the option :p.

For those of you that don't know what you can do, you could do anything from creating the next google to just lobbing up files. Since many of you probably don't know how to make websites, you get access to a panel where there is loads of help and pre-installed stuff for you. Even with no knowledge of web stuff, you can install a slideshow script and stick up the family pics in a passworded directory.

If you've ever used FTP before then that's how you'd put your files onto your webspace.

[D_K_Head]

...we could always host the podcast on one of these things...

[ez64]

Got my own and considering there are compltely free top level domains and hosting options and I dont see why people would pay to have .atk.com.

It's a good idea but there are already really really good free alt's but for people that are not too tech inclined this could be good.

[Calneon]

Got my own and considering there are compltely free top level domains and hosting options and I dont see why people would pay to have .atk.com.

It's a good idea but there are already really really good free alt's but for people that are not too tech inclined this could be good.
Erm, this isn't just sub domains, you get a whole hosting package... I don't think you'll find that for free anywhere, or near as cheap as £1 for the same space/bandwidth.

[ez64]

Erm, this isn't just sub domains, you get a whole hosting package... I don't think you'll find that for free anywhere, or near as cheap as £1 for the same space/bandwidth.

You get that in a hell of a lot of places and free business email systems from google partner program,

and it is just sub domains as you have to link your own if you want a top level domain.

[Colonel Mitch]

I went for the i dont need it option. With BT i get a shitload fo free webspace that i never use and i have unlimited on filefront because once upon a time i sent like £1.50 to them.

Also people need to consider when thinking about this that on a standard 8 meg conenction most people only get about 5meg DOWNLOAD, your upload is more like 0.5meg, meaning if you were thinking about backing up large files, videos etc, its going to take you a LONG time, and if it gets interrupted, which it might, if you use a bad client you're gunna have to start over again.

[Chalex4]

This hosting isn't really meant for massive file backups, as you can tell by the <1GB web space. Also, although there are these free web hosting places, most of them require you to stick adverts all over it and are hosted on a slow server in the USA.

This hosting is exactly the same as buying from somewhere like TSOHost, you get exactly the same features. I chose the prices above to undercut all good hosts buy a good amount, so it's not a bad deal at all.

See here (http://ukwebsolutionsdirect.co.uk/uk-web-hosting.php) for the UKWSD pricing, you get all of the same features but for waayyyy less.

Anyway, whether you want hosting or not, this will really benefit ATK in allowing us to properly host everything here such as the cinema files and fast download service. I'm also tempted to hook up a download/upload file system into the site. At the moment we only have room for about 3 backups which is crap.

So yeah, donate if you don't need space :).