07/02/2006: "Current Situation"

Heliopolis is back on-line, though parts of it are barely functional at best (ftp, e-mail) and others are currently unavailable (search, upload).

Here is the current situation:
I received a message from my hosting company today that the Helio account had been suspended because the search script in use at Helio is "spiking the server". At this point, I have offered to remove the script, but that is a stop-gap measure at best. What they want me to do is move to a dedicated server, for at least triple the current cost. I don't think that's feasible. (I have been with them for 14 months, but they have recently reorganized their site and raised prices across the board. My current plan doesn't even exist anymore, and I have to think that is at least part of the reason behind their actions.)

I am once again thinking of switching hosts. I think I have found a place, and it will even be cheaper in the long-run, but I will have to prepay for one or two years, or pay a large set-up fee. I am not crazy about prepaying after the fiasco last time I did that with a hosting company (where they canceled my account after 1 month and kept the money). I also do not know if the new host may also have the same problems with the site, but the account that I am considering, recomended to me by other fans, will have even more bandwith than I am currently using, so perhaps they will have more server resources available. I think I am going to take the leap and do that, and hope that it works out better than my last effort. It really is much cheaper in the long run, and I think that I can make changes to keep the site stable for at least that long. I have chosen a package with a larger bandwidth allowance and options similiar to those that I currently enjoy.

As usual, I can't make this move without help. I have some of the money required for the payment, but need about $300 more to prepay the account for the year. If I receive enough to do that, I will. If not, I will pay the set-up fee and the slightly larger month-by-month fee.

If you enjoy the site, and are able to donate, and wish to, I can still accept paypal donations, or you can e-mail me at rachel-c [at] sbcglobal [dot] net for my snail mail address.

This site is up as a temporary measure, but it is my intention to have it up and intact by Sunday, 16, July, 2006. Expect some down-time along the way.

Here is a link to paypal donations:

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