Newsletter (May 29 2006)
From Apis Networks Wiki
Contents |
Preamble
You have received this automated update as your account, apisnetworks.com, is in good standing with us. As this update contains important account-specific quota changes, one e-mail is sent for each domain. If you have multiple separate domains with us, just read over "Disk space changes". If you received this update in error, just reply to the e-mail.
Disk space changes
If you haven't logged into your control panel in a while, you may be surprised to know that your disk space has increased from oo.oo MB to nn.nn MB, an increase of 75%. Unfortunately the disk space increase doesn't come freely. We will be counting MySQL, Urchin, and PHP file uploads to your account now. The 75% increase is a rough approximation to average usage. If you're interested in how the final numbers were derived, current statistics, and projected longterm ramifications, check out the forum post (http://forums.apisnetworks.com/showthread.php?t=61) where I ramble incoherently about numbers.
The following numbers were calculated today based upon current usage numbers for your account:
* Old disk quota: oo.oo MB * New disk quota: nn.nn MB
* Current Usage: tt.tt MB
* MySQL Usage: xx.xx MB
* Urchin Usage: yy.yy MB
* Apache Usage: zz.zz MB
=================
* Total Usage: t + x + y + z MB
Thus, you will be using t + x + y + z MB out of nn.nn MB or x% of your total disk quota for the account domain. These changes will be enacted on Friday, June 2nd. If you are projected to go over your new disk quota, start deleting files now. You can use the "Disk Usage Breakdown" in esprit at https://beta.cp.servername.apisnetworks.com/ using the login login, domain domain, and your account password to login.
- If "Apache Usage" is the major contributor to your disk quota, use the File Manager in apnscp esprit to delete those directories.
- If "MySQL Usage" is the major contributor, use the MySQL Manager to delete unnecessary databases or phpMyAdmin to delete unnecessary data from the databases.
- If "Urchin Usage" is the major contributor, visit the "Urchin" provision in apnscp esprit and change the profile retention periods. By default, 6 months of data are kept.
Bottomline: Disk quotas will be changing slightly. Please double check the figures above to ensure you won't go over your disk usage.
apnscp retirement
We would like to begin phasing apnscp out in favor of apnscp esprit within the next few months. If you haven't logged into esprit yet, you're missing out on the fun! esprit is our brand spanking new control panel rewritten from the ground up to be easier to manage and much richer in features.
To access esprit, login at https://beta.cp.servername.apisnetworks.com/ with the login login, domain domain, and your account password. esprit is just like apnscp, in that it is a control panel, but it is a significant step above apnscp's old structure. Not to forget to mention too, esprit offers a lot of new features you won't find in apnscp. Try it out today!
Bottomline: use esprit whenever possible.
Hold that trouble ticket!
Much in line with esprit, there is a startling trend of users filing tickets that can be answered by a feature of esprit. Again we stress that you get in the habit of using esprit, including trouble ticket filing. The following common ticket subjects are addressed by esprit:
- Multiple domain hosting
- MySQL database creation
- Custom DNS records
- Deletion of files owned by user "apache"
If your question falls under any of those four categories, use esprit. The problem has degenerated to the point where a macro is setup to inform users that the question can be solved by using esprit.
Bottomline: check esprit first before filing a ticket.
Referral System
When we first started out, $5 sounded like a great idea to reward people who referred users under qualifying terms. Of course $5 is a paltry amount, so we decided to up the ante (well rather it was my call exclusively) and change that $5 into a recurring 10%, 15%, 20%, and even up to 25%. What is even better now is that those users who you refer, when they refer another user, you also pick up a portion of their payments starting at 5% all the way up to 12.5%.
We will be retroactively adding referrals to the system as well. Based upon the recurring term, if the user paid in:
- 12 month intervals, payments will be retroactively added for up to 6 months ago
- 6 month intervals, payments will be retroactively added for up to 3 months ago
- 3 month intervals, payments will be retroactively added for up to 1 month ago
Otherwise the next payment made will be credited towards your referral account.
You can get started by visiting the "Referral Tree" link in esprit. Setup a referral profile, pick a username, and then file a trouble ticket in esprit with the subject, "Referral Confirmation". Include the domain name of the user and name to retroactively add. Referrals must be a different individual other than yourself in order to be counted.
If you are looking for banners to use on your site, or want to contribute your own, check out the Wiki entry at http://guide.apisnetworks.com/index.php/Referral_Tree
Bottomline: introductory referral rate of 10%/5% for normal users, graduated structure upwards to 25%/12.5% based upon earnings; see Referral_Tree for further information
Special Referral System
If the new referral system sounds sweet and you happen to be a college student or a member of a large online community, this is an even sweeter offering.
First, let's talk about college referrals. As I know from personal experience, college is a great way to learn, share ideas, build networks, and of course pay exorbitant amounts of money on textbooks and tuition. Well don't worry about the textbooks and tuitions as the special referral system can defray those costs quite nicely. If you thought 10% was a good introductory rate, then you'll swoon over the college rates. For further information, please contact Matt directly at msaladna@apisnetworks.com (or just reply to this e-mail).
There is a limit of referral profile per college, so the referral keys will be handed out on a first-come, first-serve basis.
We will also be extending this offer to users of large online communities. Acceptance is done on a case-by-case basis. Again you receive the same perks as those bound by the rigors of college, less the hard work. In order to qualify, drop Matt an e-mail and be sure to include:
- Community URL
- Number of users
- Type of community (e.g. gaming, programming, general chat)
- Your role
Bottomline: attending college or part of a large online community? Want better referral rates? Drop Matt (msaladna@apisnetworks.com) an e-mail!
New One-clicks!
We've added some new one-clicks to esprit since last you checked and have a few more planned shortly. The new one-clicks are:
- Gallery 2: a photo gallery
- Joomla!: content management system
- Zen Cart: shopping cart
- phpBB: forums
- Typo: a blog using Ruby on Rails
in addition to the existing one-clicks contributed by myself and other users of Apis Networks:
- Lucida: a photo gallery
- punBB: forums
- Coppermine Photo Gallery: a photo gallery
- CMS Made Simple: content management system
- WordPress: blogging software
This knocks the total up to 10 applications at this point. I will be introducing a few new unnamed one-clicks in the coming weeks and of course users are free to contribute. The reward for a one-click application has increased from a $20 Amazon gift certificate to a $50 one as well.
Bottomline: 5 new one-clicks in esprit, more to follow! Write a one-click application utilizing the framework and get $50!
Trac
As no one wanted to accept the Trac challenge, I have taken up the honor of including Trac as an option in esprit. Visit "Version Control" in esprit, so long as you have the Basic or higher package, and click "Enable Trac" to get started today! Visit the external "Help" link on the page for a quick
Bottomline: Trac's here!
Outgoing e-mail checks
In the never-ending battle of curtailing spam going in and out of the servers, all outbound e-mail will be scanned for spam. This system employs the same heuristics as incoming filtering, thus the system should act accordingly with the filtering you see (e.g. [SPAM] <Subject>). If an e-mail is found to be spam, then it is quarantined until further notice.
Don't worry though about e-mails you send being labeled as spam. If the e-mail is marked as spam and thus quarantined, you will receive an automated notice explaining the e-mail was not delivered. From initial testing on Kernel, the first server to have this system implemented, we have had 0 cases of adverse effects and 52 successful quarantines of spam in 4 days.
If you are wondering why this change has been implemented, let's just say on a shared server, negligence is a popular topic with users. Instead of upgrading software or writing secure applications, users tend to leave gaps open that malicious third-party users exploit to send spam. As a result, servers can become blacklisted and I am left with the duty of scouring the account to patch after the fact. But, then again, this is a waste of time when there are better options, namely outgoing filtering.
Bottomline: outgoing e-mail filtering in place now to curb spam
Wiki and forum reminders
This is just a reminder that the wiki, http://guide.apisnetworks.com/, and forums, http://forums.apisnetworks.com/, are there to help answer questions you might have about services.
The wiki is designed to answer complex questions and give insight on complex topics outside the scope of the "Resource Center". esprit will also use the wiki for its help. If you click on the "Help" icon on a page in esprit, you will be taken to an external wiki link. Of course not all of the pages are filled in, that's where you come in. We want esprit to be an open effort by all users to make it into the hosting control panel. Restricting work to just a handful of people restricts the wonderful ideas and thoughts that flow in to make a community... well, a community. That's why we are going the wiki route for help and hopefully you can contribute to your hosting community.
The forums are in place to answer other types of personal questions. If you have a question about something and can't find the answer, feel free to ask away in the public forums.
Bottomline: esprit will be using a Wiki for its help system and the forums are there to help answer your personal questions.
New backup system
Significant progress has been made on esprit since the last gargantuan newsletter at the end of last year. Now that esprit finally has a function, it's time to work on the new backup system. Before, we utilized a custom system made up of a few rsync commands that unfortunately never scaled well with the current generation of servers. We will be adapting that system to a new environment and hopefully be able to include user-accessible backup directories on the filesystem. Given previous project lengths, we expect this to take roughly 4 to 6 weeks to implement. I have made a thread on the forums at http://forums.apisnetworks.com/showthread.php?t=66 for preliminary discussion. Feel free to lend some feedback as to what the new backup system should feature or just discuss it in general.
Bottomline: a new backup facility should be here in 4 to 6 weeks.
Closing
Until then, have fun and enjoy Memorial Day!
Regards,
- Matt Saladna
- Apis Networks
