[olug] (OT) - Free/Cheap Temporary Colo-space

Sean Edwards cybersean3000 at yahoo.com
Tue Mar 15 03:32:26 UTC 2005 

> The idea of a non-profit organization is to spend as
> much as you bring in, thus the term non-profit.

That is the general idea.  Specifically, there are
many places for a non-profit organization to put
excess money.  Trust funds, scholarships and grants
are just a few places.


> Yep, it's all that stuff, and pretty soon you spend
> all your time working on "the organization" instead
> of Linux.  As a battle scarred veteran of three
> non-profits, I urge you not to break what already 
> works quite well.

We got so caught up in the "what I will get out of
it," we have not yet thought "what I will have to put
into it".  It would not be easy, and money would be
just one challenge.  Keeping enough volunteers in some
kind of development/support rotation will be another
challenge, but something worth doing and doing well is
seldom easy.

I think that opportunities that many of us are well
qualified for but denied in the workplace for no fault
of our own, could be addressed and mastered in such an
environment.  Project Management, System Admin,
Development, Infrastructure, People Management, and
many other vital skills could develop in this
near-production environment.

-=Sean Edwards=-

--- Charles Bird <thebirdman at operamail.com> wrote:

> I agree, we need to establish an intent that appeals
> to some companies with money. I know that hardware
> will not be an issue, leasing a line/lines and a
> good space without breaking our piggie banks is the
> hurdle.
>   
>   I was an FBO manager at an airport for about 5
> years and I know we leased out our basement for 5
> bucks per month to a non profit, the building was
> owned by the city. So I know there is cheap space
> around, there always is, maybe need alot of bleach
> to disinfect all the surfaces but I know theyre out
> there.
>   As far as lines and a way to save on those, I dont
> have any worthy input on that, beg till thy get
> tired of hearing it?   "we wanna oc3", "we wanna
> oc3" We could try that  =D
> 
>   I am excited about this and I am willing to do
> whatever it takes to bring our ideas into a reality.
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Trent Melcher" <trent at wispair.net>
> To: "'Omaha Linux User Group'" <olug at olug.org>
> Subject: RE: [olug] (OT) -  Free/Cheap Temporary
> Colo-space
> Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 20:05:38 -0600
> 
> > 
> > Well, I am hosting my churches website at home
> right now,  I don't have Cox,
> > so I don't have to deal with the port blocking. 
> Im taking car eof DNS and
> > have battery backup and cool for my little data
> center in my basement,
> > however, my pipe is only 256Kbps (advertised) Im
> actually getting close to
> > 900Kbps up and down.  So far its runniing fine,
> but it's a wireless
> > connection with line-of-site to the tower, so on
> really windy days (like
> > last Thursday) my connection can drop
> intermitently, so Im looking for an
> > alternative.  Im really interested into a facility
> of some sort.  Im working
> > on a deal with a friend of mine right now, that is
> looking at moving his
> > home office into a space in bellevue(close to his
> residence) he has offered
> > me some space for a rack to hold my handful of
> servers.  He is going to have
> > a dedicated T1 to start, and depending on his
> revenue and requirements might
> > be increasing that.  This at least will be a good
> start for me, to host my
> > web/dns/smb/mysql/postgresql servers.  Myabe there
> is a site somewhere in
> > Omaha that could do something similar for our
> needs,  where are OLUGS
> > currents servers residing?  Maybe there is a
> little space avaiable in that
> > area?
> > 
> > Trent
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: olug-bounces at olug.org
> [mailto:olug-bounces at olug.org] On Behalf Of
> > Craig Wolf
> > Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 4:29 PM
> > To: olug at olug.org
> > Subject: Re: [olug] (OT) - Free/Cheap Temporary
> Colo-space
> > 
> > Folks we are onto something worth looking into
> IMHO.  I am looking at
> > setting up a small webserver/file server at home
> with my registered domain
> > name but I am having to figure out how to "get
> around" cox's residential
> > plan/blocking to do it.  I say that our next
> meeting should be just this
> > discussion or setting the means to continue down
> this road.
> >   How many "members" would be willing to put some
> money upfront/ongoing to do
> > this, put forth hardware to get it started,
> dedicate time to upkeep,
> > paperwork, expanding it for "non-profit" reasons
> to meet our needs, etc?
> > Who will lead the effort?  This would not be a
> weekend event every 6 months,
> > this would be ongoing.  I know that I would be
> willing to donate time and
> > some money but I am in that position right now in
> my life where as some of
> > our members are not.  (That could change in the
> next month with the baby
> > coming but so goes life.)  This community of
> "geeks" is good but are we
> > ready to take this next step and continue down it
> or are we just happy with
> > no "dues" and going to the bar once a month?? 
> Something to think
> > about.......
> > 
> > Craig Wolf
> > Linux Web Server Support
> > Desktop/Network Specialist
> > 402-894-6283
> > 
> > 
> > >>> Sean Edwards <cybersean3000 at yahoo.com>
> 3/14/2005 >>>
> > The idea of a non-profit organization is to spend
> as much as you bring in,
> > thus the term non-profit.  The problem soon
> becomes "as much as you bring
> > in" part.
> > Many businesses and other organizations give to
> non-profit groups for the
> > tax deduction, but the non-profit organization
> needs to have a goal a little
> > loftier than "sponsor our electronic playground,
> please."  If OLUG is
> > already set up as a  non-profit organization,
> there should be a mission
> > statement and/or a purpose for being in the
> articles of incorporation, on
> > file with the State of Nebraska.
> > 
> > Install fest is a good goal, to promote Linux in
> the community.  If you look
> > at other similar ideas in the Linux community, you
> have Open Source
> > projects, Linux distributions, Source Forge, and
> many other entities
> > operating as non-profits.  There are other
> companies which offer OpenSource
> > projects with commercial support, such as JBOSS
> and MySQL.  The trick is
> > finding an angle that attracts interest from the
> business community.
> > 
> > Treasurer:
> > * getting the bills paid ?
> > 
> > Mebership Director:
> > * collecting "fees" from "customers" (or "dues"
> > from "members", if you prefer) ?
> > 
> > Secretary, President
> > (isn't OLUG already set up as a non-profit?)
> > * putting up with the gov'ment (they can get antsy
> if they think we're
> > running a business and aren't paying our taxes)?
> > 
> > Secretary, President, Treasurer:
> > (don't forget liability)
> > * insurance (vandalism, fire, flood, etc) ?
> > 
> > Plenty of volunteers for this:
> > * sysadmin issues - infrastructure configuration
> and maintenance, defining
> > and enforcing an AUP and the like?
> > 
> > Organize a Data Center exploration committee:
> > * getting all of the above figured out ?
> > 
> > -=Sean Edwards=-
> > 
> > --- Phil Brutsche <phil at brutsche.us> wrote:
> > > Jay Swackhamer wrote:
> > > > If you wanted to have an independant Data
> > > Center...
> > > > > The industrial park at 156th & Center would
> be a
> > > good location
> > > > If I remember correctly, you can get bays in
> the
> > > size range of
> > > > 1000 square feet and up for around $800/month,
> so
> > > figure on
> > > > > Space  $800-$1000/month
> > > > Utils  $300-$500 /month
> > > > T1/DSL $300-$500/month
> > >
> > > That's on the low side for a T1, and we haven't
> done any research 
> > > as to DSL availability in that area to know if
> it's available.
> > >
> > > Cox Optical Internet may be a better idea
> > >
> >
>
(http://www.coxbusiness.com/systems/ne_omaha/coxoptical.asp)
> > > - last I
> > > heard they run the fiber line to the premises.
> > >
> > > > Initial Wiring Costs ~$3000(unless someone's
> an
> > > electrician)
> > > > Commitment would probably be a minimum of
> three
> > > years.
> > >
> > > And let's not forget other materials - UPSs,
> switches, rackmount 
> > > gear (shelves), etc.  Much of it is cheap enough
> that some people 
> > > could donate hardware, but some of it isn't.
> > >
> > > OK, just for the sake of argument, let's say we
> did it (rented a 
> > > bay in an industrial park and set up a
> low-budget data center).
> > >
> > > Who's going to be the point man (people?) for:
> > >  * getting the bills paid ?
> > >  * collecting "fees" from "customers" (or "dues"
> > > from "members", if you
> > >    prefer) ?
> > >  * putting up with the gov'ment (they can get
> antsy if they think we're
> > >    running a business and aren't paying our
> taxes) ?
> > >  * insurance (vandalism, fire, flood, etc) ?
> > >  * sysadmin issues - infrastructure
> configuration and maintenance,
> > >    defining and enforcing an AUP and the like ?
> > >  * getting all of the above figured out ?
> > >
> > > Is it worth it to start a non-profit
> organization of some kind 
> > > (note the question above about the government)?
> > >
> > > Assuming a worst case of $2000/mo in expenses we
> would need 
> > > several dozen "members" @ $50/mo - how much are
> people on this 
> > > list willing to pay?
> > >
> > > Assuming that we'll need more "members" than the
> list can 
> > > provide, can we find enough people to be
> "members" to make it 
> > > work - alternate hosting methods to help take up
> the slack, 
> > > perhaps?
> > >
> > > Are there cheaper alternatives, such as renting
> a cage at one of 
> > > the already established colocation facilities
> (ie IP Revolution 
> > > or First National)?
> > >
> > > And no, I am *not* volunteering to do anything
> right now, I'm 
> > > just trying to stimulate some discussion.
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > Phil Brutsche
> > > phil at brutsche.us
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > OLUG mailing list
> > > OLUG at olug.org
> > > http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > >
> > 
> > 
> > 		
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> -- 
>
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