Impending Changes = WordPress 2.5 Update and Blue Host Webhosting

Hello fellow gamers.  Unlike the ordinary content posted on this blog this article has nothing to do with gaming.  This is to alert you to a couple changes that will happen this month.  As soon as WordPress 2.5 is released the blog will be updated to that new version.  I cannot say when that will happen because WP 2.5 was due out an hour or so ago.  It still hasn’t been released and I see no news on Milestone 2.5.  That is the official tracking for WP 2.5.  I hope it comes out tonight so I can update the blog.   Once it is released the blog will be updated that night.

The second change is good and bad.  Currently, our podcast and blog are both hosted on our own server.  The server is an Intel Pentium 4 2.5+GHz with 1GB of RAM, a primary Seagate 7200RPM 160GB hard drive and a secondary Seagate 7200RPM 80GB hard drive for overflow and backups with a Linux operating system.  It is located in The Planet‘s server farm in Texas.  To keep the server safe and functional Platinum Server Management is our server management company.  Unfortunately this setup, while nice and useful, is very expensive.  To maintain this setup I spend $173 each month.  That covers the server ($144) and PSM ($29).  I can no longer afford that setup because of being out of a job for 6 months and now only working part time.

This is not all doom and gloom!  I did say the change is also good.  After conferring with members of the New England Podcasters, doing research at the official WordPress site, and speaking to customer service I have decided to move to BlueHost webhosting.  They are the #1 endorsed and recommended webhost by WordPress.  Additionally, the New England Podcasters have spoken very highly of the company.  For $6.95 per month, which is unfortunately pre-paid for 24 months, the blog and podcast will be moved to a great setup.

Hosting with BlueHost provides the benefit of integrated tech support, saving me $29 each month.  On top of that there is a lot of room to grow.  All of my domains can be put on a single account (that means BLEE.biz, Wargamingforums.com, and my political website jonreinhart.com will all be hosted there).  They provide 1,500 GB of disk space.  Right now our server has over 200GB of space with roughly 150GB usable for non-adminstrative purposes.  You can do the math but we will gain over 1,200GB of space.  We can also have daily and weekly backups, at no extra charge, which will provide an added layer of security in case something goes awry.

What about transfer?  Right now we have a lot of transfer, which we don’t use.  Over the past couple months we’ve been inching towards 30GB of transfer a month.  That’s nothing to sneeze at but certainly not a lot.  BlueHost will give us 15,00GB per month or roughly 500 times more than what we use right now.  I can go on and on about all the great reasons for the switch.  But, it comes down to the bottom line.  A one time cost of $166.80 will provide safer hosting with less headaches for me along with more space, transfer, and other resources.  Keeping the server for the same duration will cost $4,152.  I am trying to save money for graduate school, a wedding, and a house.  Moving to BlueHost saves me $3,985.20.  That’s nothing to sneeze at.

We will try to make the transfer as seamless as possible.  There will be the inevitable hiccups, especially when the DNS updates for 48 hours after the initial change, but we will try to iron them out as fast as possible.  The planned date for the move is March 21st.  That is 11 days away and we will keep you abreast of any changes.