Due to the ever increasing amount of downtime I'd just like to clarify the situation as I believe some folk are starting to get a bit frustrated.

The fault is not with the server. It’s simply down to the limitations of the forums software in it’s current configuration. In the early days it was set up to run on an ACCESS database (.asp) as this was the cheapest and easiest to set-up.

Obviously the site membership has expanded way beyond expectations and unfortunately this has exposed the limitations of the ASP set-up. If too many people try to access the default.asp file at once, it goes over until the server is reset at midnight.

I’ve looked into shifting to vBulletin running on MySQL (as MINI2) but this option presents a number of problems. To do this, I’d have to run the existing database through two different converters before importing into the new forums hosted on a UNIX server. I have neither the knowhow or a PC to do this on.

OR

We could simply start from scratch with brand new forums on a new server. The old forums would be available for browsing only. Everyone would have to re-register.

I’m somewhat lacking in the technical expertise to do any of the work required. I’ve made several appeals on this site for help regarding these issues without success. So once again, any willing bods with a good knowledge of ASP and MySQL, could you please get in touch.

Hope this makes the situation clearer. Any feedback on the best way forward would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Calum
NMS Webmaster