Data server offline for the foreseeable future
Added 2024-04-16 21:31:39 +0000 UTCOn Sunday evening, the data server once again went offline, due to malicious actions on-site. This was the second such occurrence in two weeks, as it went offline earlier in the month for the same reason. In both instances, the network cable was intentionally removed.
It has become clear that I am going to need to physically relocate the server to another location, but since it is located several thousand miles away from where I reside, this is proving difficult to plan. It is also too large to bring on board an airline flight, and too fragile to trust to shipment, so the only solution is going to be driving it myself to another location where it will be safe.
In retrospect, when I relocated a few years ago, I wish I had been able to take the server with me at the time, but I have a small car and there just wasn't enough space. I also did not anticipate at that time that things could ever get this bad to lead to what's happening currently on site.
My efforts to get the server back online are being stonewalled, and I have been informed I am not welcome on the premises it is located at. I will keep trying to do what I can to get it back in my possession, but for now things are not looking very promising. If I cannot recover the server, the project is most likely going to have to be permanently discontinued, since it cannot function without the data backend. There are no off-site backups for the data backend code, unfortunately, as I could not ever imagine a situation where the surrounding environment could turn hostile as it has now.
I will post updates as the situation progresses.
Comments
Hey Bill - I've been running a 24-7 stream of the WS4K on Twitch for upwards of I think 5 or 6 years now. A lot of people love tuning in to either discover the WS4K or to flash back to how it used to be. It's awful that you're in this position. My heart and sympathies go out to you and I hope you're able to swiftly and easily recover your personal property. If you haven't already contacted a lawyer, look up the county Bar Association where your family is located and ask about their referral services. Usually, it's only $35 or free to consult with a matched lawyer in the appropriate practice area. I'm happy to kick in that $35ish directly if it helps. Another poster mentioned re-considering open sourcing the code. I can understand if you want to keep it closed source, but either way, I would gladly make a bigger monthly contribution to help cover the cost of offsite backup or running the server in the cloud. I am an Azure engineer/architect by trade and am happy to donate my time and knowledge to bring the data server back if it helps.
Mohn J
2024-05-10 00:25:11 +0000 UTCHello Bill, I've had to join the Patreon as the forum registration appears to be broken right now, but I wanted to give you some frank feedback regarding the state of the project. I've been lurking for awhile and watching things play out. First off, you've made a wonderful simulator, it's clearly a product of so many hours of passionate work and dedication to making it true to life and accurate as possible so that we folks who aren't fortunate enough to have a real WeatherStar can mess around and have something authentic play out on our analog TV's. But here's the truth, man, the state of the project is not good. We have to ask ourselves, why does this project exist? I can only imagine it's to preserve the WS4000 experience. Preservation. That's the deal here, but a lot of your actions on this project have flown in the face of overall preservation. I'm a sysadmin of over 15 years of experience, and it's fairly basic knowledge that even in the most secure locations, you have an offsite backup. If I had spent literal thousands of hours on a program, I would want to back it up -everywhere- to ensure that work isn't lost. Hell even burning the code/software to a DVD would've required minimal effort. Secondly, this whole project depends on a single server, that quite honestly, you yourself probably would admit wouldn't running forever and ever. Servers go offline, how many online services have been consigned to the dustbin of history? This too, it looks like the server might be down for good. If we had been able to self-host the server-side software, this wouldn't have been a problem and people in the future could enjoy the software for generations to come. There would no longer be any worry about any one server going down and the software becoming a digital paperweight. Thirdly, I really strongly implore you to reconsider your stance on open-sourcing the simulator if you get the code/software back. My mind is exploding at the possibilities if this were open-sourced. For example, we could have simulators for the other *stars derived from this project. All the features people have been begging for years could be added. It could become a true to life exact simulation of a WS4000 with -all- its abilities. People don't care if the code is messy, that's the beauty of open-source, people can fix it up, you just have to give them the opportunity. And you as the creator, would not be forgotten, your name would be on the Wiki's and whatnot forever. But really the project is at the crossroads. Does the project die and be forgotten despite all this passionate effort, or does it get rejuvenated as an open-source offering that people could enjoy forever? I know which path I would take. Anyways, wishing you the best in regaining access to the server and I really do hope you take my thoughts into account.
Kai RetroHoosk
2024-05-07 20:32:16 +0000 UTCOkay, let me know.
50_SHADES_OF_BEIGE
2024-04-18 19:42:39 +0000 UTCWell I don't consider myself an old timer here, but I started using his stuff back in 2010 and I appreciate everything you've done Bill as well, if you need a donation or anything to help please let me know because I loved your software and I use it in one of our hotels so they can get update on weather information when they are running around the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Curtis
2024-04-17 04:43:00 +0000 UTCIf you ever need someone to drive up to Maine and help Bill, please let me know. Appreciate everything you've done through the years!
Eltiempo10
2024-04-17 00:17:59 +0000 UTCI appreciate the kind gesture, but at the moment I am focusing on getting the server back in my possession, since it contains the extensive amount of code I wrote for it. I wrote the backend software from the ground up, and it isn't as easy as getting new hardware unfortunately. Once the time comes when I can get the server back, I can investigate options for hosting and alternate backup sites.
Bill
2024-04-16 23:19:12 +0000 UTCWould you be amenable to me donating and/or maintaining a backup server on my own dime?
50_SHADES_OF_BEIGE
2024-04-16 22:18:40 +0000 UTC
