[ This is a retransmit of a message I sent last Thursday -- turns out most of the list didn't receive it the first time through. My apologies to the folks who receive it twice ... -B ] It's been a long, rough summer. ### We had excruciating problems with attacks from crackers, but we've tightened security somewhat and that problem seems to have abated. <knock on wood> ### As many of you know, RootsWeb adopted the 1,000-odd Maiser mailing lists after a spam attack forced Larry Stephens to close his site. Since that time, the number of lists has grown to more than 1,500 and we are continuing to create more than 100 new lists each month. We've also adopted the eWorld mailing lists after Apple chose to stop supporting them at LSoft. These are among the largest genealogical lists, and share gateways with the various genealogical Usenet news groups. It's important to note that Apple didn't forsake the lists, though: they generously donated a server to RootsWeb to help house the lists. ### As a consequence of these adoptions and the natural growth in use of RootsWeb, we're now "moving more bytes" than *any* other genealogical site on the Internet. Our Web server handles a substantial fraction of the load handled by Microsoft.com's 15 servers, and our older (and more heavily loaded) mail server handles about half the load of plum.lsoft.com, the world's busiest list server. ### In part caused by the influx of new lists (and also by the increasing popularity of the 1,700 Websites we host), RootsWeb experienced a series of technical problems. While we managed to come through the problems with little actual downtime, Karen and I were running with very little sleep and no free time for several months. During that time we made a number of changes, including: o Growing from 2 to 4 main servers, and from 2 to 5 auxiliary servers. o Upgrading the operating systems on our servers to a more stable version of Unix. o Adding industrial quality uninterruptible power supplies and power conditioners. o Adding redundant networking hardware in our network operating centers. o Growing from one to two (and soon three) separate and partially redundant network operating centers. o Adding fast, high-capacity tape backup systems. o And a hundred other large and small improvements. But the executive summary is that we've made a laborious and expensive transition to operating a professional-quality site. ### Concerning Member and Sponsor services, the one thing we regret from the last year is that we've done a poor job of supporting folks who wanted Web space or GEDCOM service on our servers. We intend to remedy that problem within the next several weeks. And as we announced before, all of the folks who wanted Web space or GEDCOM service will have their memberships extended to a year after we get them up and running. ### Concerning fundraising, RootsWeb is now entering its thirteenth month of full operation. We've been too busy supporting the site to spend much time on fundraising, but we anticipate launching a major drive shortly. While part of the funds will be used for covering the costs of operating the site, we're hopeful that in the next fiscal year we can raise enough fungible funds that we can get on with what we'd really like to be spending money on: BUYING GOVERNMENT RECORD SETS AND BRINGING THEM ONLINE FOR EVERYONE TO FREELY USE. ### I'd like to end with a personal thank-you to everyone who has contributed to RootsWeb during the last year. You should each feel like you've done something for Internet genealogy -- if you hadn't supported RootsWeb, the world would have been a different place: o ROOTS-L, the Maiser lists, and the eWorld lists would still be depending on the charity of others, and might not exist at all. o 1,700 USGenWeb and other Websites wouldn't have had a home with unlimited space for data. o The Roots Surname List wouldn't have had a home. Thank you for helping Internet genealogy grow! -B -- Dr. Brian Leverich leverich@rootsweb.com Co-moderator, soc.genealogy.methods/GENMTD-L http://www.rootsweb.com/ RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative P.O. Box 6798 Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798