This instance is starting to attract more attention on the fediverse. So, the question naturally arises about if the instance and the discussions on it will be here for the next sunrise. I’m aware that this instance is run as a personal and experimental project.

Is there a way to make this instance more self sustaining? Also, are there periodic backups that could be used to resurrect the instance in case of a failure or migration?

  •  A10@kerala.party   ( @A10@kerala.party ) English
    3•1 year ago

    Thanks for showing interest in this instance. I have just noticed that there are over 100 subscribers to the c/kerala community. Jagatheesh happy

    … it will be here for the next sunrise. ?

    Probably yes, but I cannot guarantee 100% uptime. I guess you are asking this in light of recent events regarding the .ml domain and vlemmy.net. Currently the instance is running on free credits on Oracle Cloud and I am using some free cloudflare services to expose it to the internet. Either I could screw things up or the companies there could change something.

    Is there a way to make this instance more self-sustaining?

    Things are running fine at the moment. Eventually, when we get really big, I might need community support.

    Backups?

    Yes, I do weekly incremental backups.

    •  4dpuzzle   ( @tesseract@beehaw.org ) OPEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      I have just noticed that there are over 100 subscribers to the c/kerala community

      Congrats! 🎉

      but I cannot guarantee 100% uptime

      To clarify, I wasn’t talking about uptime. Frankly, I don’t think many care about it. Recently, many instances shut down for nearly a day when an XSS vulnerability was discovered in Lemmy. The instance admins were actually praised for that move. I personally find the fediverse to be much less addictive (for the time being?) than proprietary social media (may be due to difference in algorithm). I wouldn’t really miss anything if an instance is down for several hours.

      What I meant was long term sustainability. As in - will the instance be able to avoid shuttering.

      Eventually, when we get really big, I might need community support.

      I hope that both comes true!

      Yes, I do weekly incremental backups

      That is usually a large time period for a public service. The normal case I have seen is once or twice a day. However, if frequent backups are costly, it may be a good idea to have a disclaimer somewhere - that data up to a week may be lost in case of unforeseen failures.