Hey everyone,
Im a web developer by trade and run one of the largest game sites on the internet. I love this community and would be great to give back to the developers etc.
Im thinking of creating a new site, purley for hosting developers latest cooks and products.
I personally hate downloading apps from rapidshare etc, especially with download limits per 24 hours etc.
So as mentioned, this new site will allow developers to sign up and have there own personal hosting space free of charge, some other features i have begun to implement are as follows.
- Free hosting for Dev files and finished products.
- Built in donation system with donations going straight to the developers.
- Revenue share for the top Developers.
- Built in Shopping cart for developers finished products if they wish to sell the product. Finished products can also be download for free if the developer chooses so.
- Custom developer homepage, with all projects listed on each developers homepage.
I aim this site at developers who cannot afford to run there own website, and want to cut costs on bandwith and also make some money from donations and revenue share from the site.
I would appreciate anybodys comments on this service aimed to developers.
The site should launch in a few weeks time.
So for quite some time, there has always been issues and complaints about users not being able to download roms from the links posted by the devs on new releases and/or updates (4shared, Rapid share, Mega upload to name a few)
with that being said they are always complaining and begging for someone who gets a complete download to re-upload with a mirror, to make their lives easier...understandable. But if there's one thing I know, "Most" devs hate it when users fill their threads up with a bunch of links...why? well that’s simple:
It confuses others (especially noobs) as to which link is the correct one and the one intended for download by the OP. This means that if someone put a faulty link/mirror that contained a bad file, un-signed zip, or their own custom version of the rom/mod that they decided to play "dev" with and screwed it up rendering it full of bugs...the Dev and/or OP has to deal with the complaints when that user comes back to post. Leaving him confused and dumbfounded as to what the hell they are talking about because nobody else is reporting these issues.
Download count just so happens to be very important to a lot of devs. It gives them a general idea of how many users are flashing their work, which can not only make them feel appreciated and needed by the community because of all the attention...but also create a ratio of problems to success. Example, 300 users download, only 50 come back to report bugs, the rest either don't post at all (I call them ghost readers) or give good feedback. Now, out of that 50 only 7 reported bugs can be legitimately confirmed, which means the other 43 people either did not follow directions clearly, or already had some other stuff going on that effected their experience. Why are these numbers important? Because, if the numbers of bugs are high...the dev knows to update quickly and correct things, if the number of user errors are high...the dev knows he needs to re-adjust his instructions or make them more clear and descriptive so that nobody misunderstands. And if the number of successful flashes are high...well...you know. And all of this can be based on number of downloads...which other users screw up when they post their own links!
Lost and forgotten is what all these mirrors, linked threads/topics, and uploaded fixes by random users become when the topic is over populated (especially big named threads like Eugene, CM, Wes Garner etc). So if the thread has 105 pages and an important link was dropped by a user that proved to be helpful way back on say...page 23! How in the hell is anyone who hasn't been following the entire topic to know that? And nobody in their right mind, who has a life, is going to sit there and skim all 105 pages. So if you must, or feel, that you have a useful link pertaining specifically to the topic that can help others, the best resolution would be to PM it to the OP, so that they can update the first post where all users can easily refer back to if need be.
Now with the why covered, let's move on the the what. And the what is what I have to offer:
A hosting service that I paid for out of my own pocket. This is my way of contributing to the community, as I do not offer donations, sorry. But for the exchange of helpful information, resources, mods, and great roms! I hereby offer all devs, and I do mean DEVS ONLY (yes that includes themers) the use of this hosting service is at no cost to them.
How beneficial is this you ask?
For Devs:
unlimited online storage space for all zips, rar's, and other files that are specifically related to the xda development (No personal storage like mp3's, movies, and family portrait please)
direct download links! No pop-ups, No ads, No human text box verifications
unlimited links- they never run out of time or number of downloads they will stay on the internet forever!!!! (or until you remove it)
Detailed info- keeps track of number of clicks, page views, downloads, you name it, you get your own personal page to view this statistics at any time
No size limit! Big or small, you upload it all (multiple uploads at once supported as well) I have not seen anything in any of these forums over 200mb...so if you're running up 1-2 gigs of use in a matter of days I will be investingating your usage!
For users
No more 4shared yay! Lol
No time wait (30 secs, 90 secs or whatever) Downloads start immediately after clicking the link!
No pop-up or separate browser pages to go to, download starts without the need to open a new page or tab, so you can easily continue on reading through the forum you are in
Links are never broken-they will always work until the OP removes it
No signing up, no memberships.. paid or free, just download. Same benefit as downloading links uploaded directly through Xda, except you don't have to be logged in to click these!
To keep things under control and fair I will only allow 3 request per week for access to this service. I'm not sure how many devs are registered and active but I'm quite sure there are a lot. Eventually all devs who are interested will have the opportunity, but for my own conveyance I will only take 3 request a week, because I will not be online everyday to take all request, this also give me the time to help each individual to get set-up and answer any questions they may have.
I do not discriminate by phone make or model. All devs are welcome to this offer regardless of what phone they developed for. However; I will only post this thread here in the Vibrant forums, well, because that's the phone I use. But Mods are more than welcome to sticky it or link the word to other locations so that all devs can read. My only rules are:
Must be and already have been a member of XDA for at least one year.
Must provide at least two links to their work contributed here in the xda forums
Must have a valid email address and/or twitter account. (simply so that I can contact and update you if any changes or problems occur)
Must only use this service for the development of roms/themes/mods. Please do not take advantage of my kind heart, and use this hosting service for your own personal purpose, I will know, and I will take away privileges.
How to sign up for this?
Simply PM me if you are interested... with the above^^ requirements, and I will give you all the details and instructions you need.
Unfortunately, I will not start taking request until Monday of next week, a relative has just passed away a couple of days ago, and I am closing a deal on a new home, trying to fit time for a funeral, and moving all in one week can be a headache. But you are welcome to start sending me request if you like, but as I said I will only deal with 3 at a time. So if you send a request and don't hear back, please do not continue sending me your inquiry. Your voice has been heard and will be responded as soon as I get to you. Thank you.
Wow, I'm not a dev or anything like that but this is real nice of you. Kudos to you sir.
Working in the er its nice to know when your help is appreciated. So thank you.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
bguzmanz2 said:
Wow, I'm not a dev or anything like that but this is real nice of you. Kudos to you sir.
Working in the er its nice to know when your help is appreciated. So thank you.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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+1
This will not only help the devs, but the forum community in general, making it much more easier on both ends, so i thank you for this. Kudos to you.
TL;DR
You might also want to post this in the Dev sub-forum too. It's over here --> Vibrant Android Development.
Thanks for providing the service.
I hope you have some serious monthly download allowences. I do some hosting not related to XDA and I'm easily pushing 30Gig a month, which spikes even more depending on releases.
What your doing is awesome none the less.
If you find that you are pushing some serious downloads you could always turn some builds into torrents and use your machine as the master seed and let others help out that want to help out. Lord knows my machine at home has been seeding many Linux builds over the past months.
http://burnbit.com/
Not to disrespect you in any form or way, I appreciate this thread to the developers but this idea has been made quite a while ago since the first-generation of Android phone (G1).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=665957
AndroidSPIN has been around for a long time and has provided hosting for developers and their ROMs as well as a pretty organized database.
zephiK said:
Not to disrespect you in any form or way, I appreciate this thread to the developers but this idea has been made quite a while ago since the first-generation of Android phone (G1).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=665957
AndroidSPIN has been around for a long time and has provided hosting for developers and their ROMs as well as a pretty organized database.
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Click to collapse
Yes, I already know this. But please understand this is specifically for xda...androidspin is its own website in itself, also still has its limitations as well as ads and opens new pages/tabs for downloads. My service does not do that, and is without limits.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
That is very helpful, and I appreciate it. But no I have no monthly cap, and I pay for my services once per year.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
kizer said:
I hope you have some serious monthly download allowences. I do some hosting not related to XDA and I'm easily pushing 30Gig a month, which spikes even more depending on releases.
What your doing is awesome none the less.
If you find that you are pushing some serious downloads you could always turn some builds into torrents and use your machine as the master seed and let others help out that want to help out. Lord knows my machine at home has been seeding many Linux builds over the past months.
http://burnbit.com/
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Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Kudos to you sir
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant
try it and soon you will get email from your hosting company of over usage. Unlimited in your contract means nothing.
They might make you pay for overusage by saying that you abused their network.
Klyentel said:
That is very helpful, and I appreciate it. But no I have no monthly cap, and I pay for my services once per year.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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Congrats I wish I had an unlimited bandwith host. I can get away with gigs of storage, but they caped me around 60gig a month.
Anyways hope it works out.
good luck, ive tried this a few times but seems like devs like those crappy upload sites. i'm gonna take a guess and say you are on a site like hostgator or something with "unlimited" bandwidth, watch it cuz its only unlimited untill you use to much resources.
Just an idea.
Why don't we create a distributed system using available tools/software like torrent files.
We need one or more torrent server/tracker and list of volunteers to be reliable seeders. Once you sign as a seeder, you will receive a list of # files you'll seed 24/7 until you receive an updated list.
I don't mind seeding 5-10 files 24/7.
We can retire any file at any time if there is no interest and archive it.
By archiving i mean switch to more "standard" way of hosting it like http or ftp access.
And when a new release is out the downloading will be even faster.
Us at TechBurrow think that the XDA Forum is a great place for developers to upload their ROMs and what not. However one thing that could be aggravating is uploading your ROMs or any files you may have to file sharing sites, because they are too slow.
Us at TechBurrow.com want to help the developers here at this forum. If you would like to host your files on our servers for free all you need to do is contact us. We have fast dedicated servers. This would allow all users to download the files quickly.
We will also upload tutorials and videos to our website and YouTube channel with over 8,000 subscribers showing the completed ROM or whatever it may be. Just send us an email and we can get it done for you. We are a growing community with over 10,000 members, subscribers, and viewers, this will help the developers and make sharing files easier. If you are interested just send me an email to [email protected] and tell me if you need anything uploaded to our server, or need tutorials or promotion videos uploaded.
Please note that this
Recently I've noticed that the free uploading websites have been going down and/or uploads being removed... Many of the ROM's are being pulled down. Well it's time to find a new way to host the files for free...
Alaq said:
Recently I've noticed that the free uploading websites have been going down and/or uploads being removed... Many of the ROM's are being pulled down. Well it's time to find a new way to host the files for free... I would say make a free account on 000webhost, upload a mini site describing your ROM, and upload your ROM. 000webhost gives 1.5GB of space. But others may have better ways so collaborate.
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You can't do that, it goes agaisn't the rules of 000Webhost.
TravisAntonio said:
You can't do that, it goes agaisn't the rules of 000Webhost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, I thought that I read that somewhere... Oh well, like I said collaborate, how are you gonna share your custom ROMs now?
So I'vo got a hosting space that is used to host an HD2 rom. I don't have limitations in terms of space and bandwidth but I don't want use for now...Maybe later...
How about 4shared, mediafire ?
The other solution would be to everybody send 1 € or $1 and to acquire an unlimited hosting plan with access to the devs only...
Why aren't people just using the torrent system? You can torrent from just about any modern device.
Its free, and if bandwidth is an issue for a dev, you can throttle upload speed easily and let initial leechers pick up the slack.
Not to sound sarcastic, but torrenting was made in large part FOR collaberation and sundry, not just pirating. Ironic that we've shifted back to reliance on download server services.
If folks lose the "hit and run" mentality propogated by Megafileserveuploadetc sites we can simplify this entire dynamic drastically.
[Atrix 4GWannabe] XDA Premium suggestions - Analytics opt-out, Setting backup/restore
XDA should open torrent tracket
Sounds funny but that's not bad idea, although that would work only for new/popular files...
+1 Bit Torrent... I'll seed!
im not sure why i didnt think of it either, i am not going to lie that i have been a tad illegal here and there, but i was upset about some legal files getting hit in the cross fire, i have a usb 3.0 1TB drive for my files and a 50 DL 15 UL connection with an always on connection, ill torrent my ass off knowing i wont get a letter for doing something illegal
I dont find it really a huge issue, since there are still many ways to get files if you really need or want them. Plus you can share public files from dropbox which is a fairly good way as long as you have the storage and a decent upload speed.
Where to Host android files
Through the grape vine i have learned of a new site set not yet open but sounds great for developers. its androidromhosting.com , its suppose to open soon and specialize in hosting all things android for the community, developers will have opportunities for their own portals and all kinds of cool stuff. I know some of the people involved and I will update here as soon as it opens !!
Alaq!
can you reupload fastboot wipe? all the links are dead
Introduction
Back in the HTC HD2 Days (2010), I started a project called "VBNFILES" which catered to provide File Storage with additional automation features to ROM Devs. Its aim was to reduce Devs effort on all the aux stuff that was involved in the ROM deployement like Uploading/Managing, etc.
I know I know ... WE DONT NEED ANOTHER HOST ! Read ahead and decide
New Initiative
I would like to host a Dedicated Server (just like before) with all the tools and resources provided to Devs for them to create/compile ROMs on the Server itself and download links available immediately.
Benefits
1. Saves Dev Internet Bandwidth to Upload 500-700 MB ROMs everytime
2. Naturally saves time for the dev as well
3. Direct ROM downloads worldwide (no Ads,no waiting)
4. I am sure some more but the above were my top 3
Cost
The usual cost of this server deployment will be around EUR 100 Setup Fees and EUR 60 monthly which will be borne by me. And of course, my time for setup and maintenance.
The only bottleneck I can foresee is the monthly network transfer limit which is at 10TB (for current server I have checked out). Over that limit is payable, for which the resolution I can think of at this time is to provide mirror links at Dropbox and GDrive (again direct ones only) alongwith the server ones to ease the load. (Ideas welcome)
I am not looking to make any money out of this but just my way of giving back to xda community.
Poll
If you feel, this would be helpful, please vote in the poll. Also feel free to drop in your thoughts and comments.
*** DO NOT GIVE ME THANKS OR DONATION ON THIS ! ATLEAST NOT UNTIL THIS IS LIVE ***
Same has already been PM'd to some devs to gather reactions. Also, this will start with 2-3 devs till its marked as a Stable Environment.
Sounds good to me.
☞ sent from GS3 or Nexus
looks cool ,havent heard of this concept before,sorry i indeed thanked you for your initiative..