In today's world of broadband internet, mobile devices, podcasts, and video-casts, there is no shortage of opportunity to
share your voice. What happens, though, when your voice begins to get heard "too much?" Suddenly, you gain an understanding of how your "free" hosting service can also be a "for-profit" venture. Once your voice becomes a voice worth listening too, you're going to need something beyond what you can get for free. You're going go need bandwidth, and lots of it.
Many hosting companies will simply tell you it's time to move to a
dedicated server, or a
virtual server, or a _____ server (you fill in the blank). They tell you what you currently have won't work anymore, but they can certainly give you what you
do need. All it takes is a few clicks, a few dollars, and you're on your way... right?
Well, kind of. Until you outgrow that server. Or until you find out it's not really all it's cracked up to be.
Consider one of our greatest success stories:
A small podcast was started by a man named Brian on January 1, 2006 with about 20-30 listeners. Brian was looking for some new friends, maybe a little accountability, but certainly not the thousands of people that flocked to the podcast over the course of the first few months. Within a few months, the podcast needed a new server. Suddenly, Brian had to make a choice - let the hosting company include their own ads and promotional materials in his audio files or shell out hundreds of dollars each month to share what thousands of people were longing to hear.
This growth trend continued through 2008, at which time we had the opportunity to step in and help. Our first "podcast and mirror management system" was a system that allowed Brian to upload each podcast file to any number of "mirrored" servers (we started with 3), and then that "load" would be distributed evenly so that each person who listened downloaded was cycled through a "round robin" of servers. It worked wonderfully. Not only did we satisfy the bandwidth requirements of the primary host, but we were able to go out and purchase low cost hosts for all of the other mirrors. Fast forward to 2011, and this podcast now runs on 10 servers, spread across the globe, each serving up 2 to 3 terabytes of data each month to tens of thousands of people every day. All for about $300 a month.
This podcast is in the top 10 in it's genre, yet it's hosting budget is far below that of it's peers.
"So how does C2IT fit in?" you may ask.
Well, we have consulted with Brian over the years and developed this simple mirrored system that allowed him to distribute bandwidth between any number of servers. And we can do that again, and again, and again. But we've found that even
with that solution, it was rather high maintenance. Imagine uploading a 20 megabyte file to 8 servers every day... Even if you can "batch" it, it takes time. Especially if you're traveling and uploading at 512K (or slower). .An hour on a good day, with a very high speed connection. In 2011, we sat down with Brian and devised a new scheme. "
What if," we said, "we could build a system where you upload that file to one server, and then
it takes care of distributing that file to the other servers?" Suddenly you've just saved yourself 45 minutes a day, which, if you don't want to do the math, is
over five 40 hour work weeks a year (205 hours!). And while we're at it, we'll automate a few other things, too.
Would that be a worthwhile investment?
That's a no brainer, of course.
And so here we are. The product is rolled out. It's being used to distribute this podcast over and over and over again across the world.
Do
you have a voice that needs to be heard?
Are you operating on a shoestring budget while you invest your time in sharing worthwhile information and thoughts with hundreds or thousands of people each year?
Let us help you. We can use a system like the one described here to get your voice out there. We can handle the servers, the mirrors, the DNS configuration, and then provide you with a state of the art upload and distribution system that will knock your socks off. Not because of glitz and glamor. But because of speed, simplicity, and support.
Use the form to the right to get more information and contact us today. Or, just
send us an email.