=== - The FreeLists Newsletter - You're receiving this email because you are subscribed to the FreeLists Newsletter, a newsletter sent out to all FreeLists list owners. It contains important updates about changes to FreeLists services. For subscription information, please see the bottom of this email. Administrative contact: weez@xxxxxxxxxxxxx === This month will be a turbulent one for FreeLists. But that's about the worst that can be said about it. Our 1-year contract with our current ISP will be up this summer, and given some QoS issues and poor customer service in dealing with the problem, we'll be canceling that contract at the end of February. Given the growth of FreeLists, especially in the past 6 months, it will soon be time to move to a larger-capacity network anyway, so this seems like the right time to make that move. Here are our current plans: on February 18th, we'll be establishing new network connectivity and space in a new data center. That week, the network, power, and climate control will be tested. On Saturday morning, February 23rd, we'll take down and move all FreeLists servers from the current network to the new one. That process will only take about an hour. However, given the nature of the DNS system and the fact that we have to change our IP addresses, there will be a longer service outage that will vary for some people depending on your ISP's DNS configuration. For some, the change will be immediate; for others, it might take a day or so; the worst we've seen is Verizon, which stored invalid DNS data for a week. It's unfortunate that this move has to be made, but it will be better for FreeLists in the long run. We're entering into a 3-year contract, so we won't be making another move like this for a long time. Since we're making this change on a weekend, fewer people will be affected, and hopefully everything will be straightened out for most by Monday, February 25th. FreeLists has had ISP changes before though, so what really makes this a "month of change?" Well, with more-premium-than-we've-got-now net access comes a larger ISP bill -- one that's 3 times larger than what we're paying on our current contract. Sure, FreeLists is a hobby for all of us, but that cost simply isn't feasible. To produce an income to offset network costs, we'll be setting up a parallel internet services venture which will become FreeLists' parent company. More details on that parent company will be toward the end of this month. Before anyone gets out their flame cannon, please let me I stress this one, very important point: FreeLists and the services it provides will not be: changing for the worse (although probably for the better), commercializing, spamming, selling advertisements, selling out, selling email addresses, working the corner, or bought by Microsoft. The service hundreds of thousands of people across the globe have come to depend on as the best mailing list service available isn't going anywhere. To re-cap: - FreeLists will be moved and down for a bit on Saturday, February 23rd. The actual outage will only be about an hour, but some may experience trouble for a couple of days. - New network costs will force us to make money by setting up an company on the side. - The sky will not fall. Questions, concerns, and comments are, of course, always welcome. John - FreeLists Staff ======================= The FreeLists Newsletter Keeping you in touch with the lastest FreeLists news - For subscription info and list modes, please see: //www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/lsg2.cgi - List webpage: //www.freelists.org/webpage/freelists-news - Administrative contact: weez@xxxxxxxxxxxxx =======================