BeerCandle Version 4

Private_Ale · 05-31-2010

This is an official announcement about the future of BeerCandle

BeerCandle is evolving! Starting in early 2011 we will transition BeerCandle Forums over to our new platform. This is a very exciting time and it has been decided to make an announcement giving sneak peaks to behind the scene at BeerCandle!

Here are just some of the new features that you can expect!:

Totally new Web 2.0 Forum platform!
- Fully Web 2.0, faster loading and a new, clean, custom layout!
- New URL structure, friendly page extensions!
New domain name!
- BeerCandle will be moving from our current domain to BeerCandle.com!
- The Forum will move to forum.beercandle.com.
- Our current domain will automatically redirect to the new forum address, no need to update your bookmarks!
The return of BeerCandle Videos!
- Fully intergrated into the forum, use your forum username to log in!
- Complete Web 2.0 with dynamic features!
- Matching layout with the forum and main page!
A custom live streaming webcam chatroom!
- Hosted on-site streaming webcams, totally free! No ads, EVER!
- Unlimited talk time, chat with other members FACE-TO-FACE!
- Fully integrated into the rest of the site!
A brand new state of the art self-owned server!
- A brand new server custom built by yours truly.
- Eight cores of processing power with larger CPU caches, RAID protected storage, and MORE!
- Faster connection in the heart of America, Multi-Homed on three international Bandwidth Providers!
- Datacenter technicians are armed 24/7 with low-grain 9mm hollow-point firearms! WOW!
The return on Facebook Connect!
- Integrate your BeerCandle account and activities with your Facebook account and activities!
- Totally optional, totally secured, designed by Facebook Programmers.

We are extremely excited to bring these new features to our loving members! Following true BeerCandle tradition we will always be Advertisement free! We will never ask you for anything but to enjoy yourself.

BeerCandle Version 4 will be rolled out in three stages: Stage one will be the main site as well as the forum, this will include the new software, domain name, and site layout. Stage two will involve setting up our new video host and integrating it into our future platform. Stage three will be setting up and integrating our new live-streaming webcam portal!

Nothing needs to be done on your part. Possibly the best part of all is that there will be absolutely NO DOWNTIME during this transition! Our steroid-enhanced network monkeys have devised a plan to make transition from both the two servers and two domains totally seamless!

We all love you! Stay being awesome

Private_Ale · 07-27-2010

Registrations are reopened since it was decided to push the release of BeerCandle v4 back a little bit. This was a difficult decision to make, but in the end it will be best for the community and platform as a whole.

By pushing it back a few extra months, it will enable us to avoid upgrading to a new OS release which is scheduled for the end of the year. Thus will avoid the downtime that it would bring, and it will also allow us to be running the latest software on a fresh install which is always favored over an upgrade

Apologies all around.

For the time being nothing will change. However there are bonus points: since registration is open again, there is one last small window for new members to enter and be eligible for grandfathering into the veterans group in BCv4.

I'm going to lock this thread until further details are known, any further discussion on the matter can be made into a new thread which I'll split from this one.

Discussion thread is HERE.

love,
pa

Private_Ale · 3 Weeks Ago

Hello Internet:

I just wanted to post an update of our progress.

Some time next week I will be shipping our new server off to the telco hotel. This is wonderful since at this rate the new server will be online before September. Here's a road map of the our current understanding on how BeerCandle will progress:

Once the new server is online, our current version of BeerCandle will be transferred onto the new server.
In the background we will be building BeerCandle 4. This is super exciting! You are going to love it. A good release estimate is at the end of summer. (late September)
Once the new version of BeerCandle is brought online we are going to make a quick swap, there will be minimal downtime while switching platfoms.
Party

That's the rough road map. As far as forum functionality, as mentioned earlier, we will be rolling out BCv4 in chunks. The forum is our top priority and will obviously be the first thing you see. Here's our game plan:

Release the initial forum. New software, new everything. Super awesomeness!
Build and integrate our new video sharing platform, tie it into the forum to allow single-login between platforms.
Add a new and enhanced arcade back into the forum. I noticed that arcade participation has dropped, therefore the arcade isn't a top priority.
Build, add and integrate our custom live-streaming webcam software so everyone can get their freak on with other members in real-time.
Party becase BCv4 is finally done!

I'm also proud to announce that in an act of complete overkill, our new server will be on a dedicated 100Mbit/sec Ethernet pipe. Furthermore, we will now have multiple bandwidth providers servicing pretty much every area of the globe. You'll get your BeerCandle faster than ever.

What you should do:

There is nothing that you need to do, however in preparation there are some things that you should do. As I mentioned, the new BeerCandle is going to be on entirely new and awesome software. Unfortunately as a result, some things will not initially carry over. I'm telling you now so that you have plenty of time should you choose to do any of the following:

Back up any important Album images
Back up any important Quick Upload images
Back up any User Notes.

Any questions? Ask in this thread => BeerCandle Version 4 Questions/Comments

Private_Ale · 1 Week Ago

Hi Guys:

I just wanted to let you know that this weekend we'll be temporarily closing BeerCandle for about one hour while we transfer the site over to our new server. As of now we have already restored the master backup, so over the weekend we'll just be restoring a small incremental backup to bring the master up to date. Afterwards our current server will be brought offline and taken out of service until I find some use for it. (Who wants a server?)

This is exciting since it will officially mark the first stage in BeerCandle version 4.

As always, the discussion thread is HERE for any questions/comments.

Love,
pa

Private_Ale · 6 Days Ago

We're on the new server, we have actually been on the new server since 08:06AM (EST).

A good portion of traffic is still being routed to the old server so I'll leave it online until Monday, most ISPs flush their DNS resolvers nightly so everybody should be directed to the correct server later today regardless.

Anyway yeah, have fun.

Love,
pa