Attachments on Autoshite. Pictures, Video, Other files. Policy update

[Talbot]

Following on from the recent issues with uploading attachments due to running out of storage space and the subsequent outage of the forum, the uploading of Video files and anything other than pictures is going to be restricted.  The up-loader will still be available for as many pictures as wanted (and this is positively encouraged) but video will no longer be able to be hosted by Autoshite.  There are several reputable video hosting sites which can be linked/embedded directly into a forum post, so if you want to put a video on a thread, please make use of one of them.  YouTube and Vimeo are two of the most popular ones, but many others are available too.  My preferred host is Vimeo.  YMMV

The reasons for doing this:

• The amount of video storage on Autoshite servers has grown exponentially over the last couple of years and is a very large user of both space and bandwidth that we pay for.
• It is not easily practicable to introduce size/quality compression on video uploads, so it makes far more sense to simply make use of a 3rd party host that already does this well.
• Preventing video storage protects the space we have for photo uploads:  One 5 minute video is worth about 5,000 images in terms of our server space.
• Hosting video on AS servers massively increases the amount of bandwidth we have to pay for each month.

This will take effect immediately.  No other forum I am aware of will allow video hosting, and it's very clear why that is true!

 

Existing video stored on AS servers will not be immediately removed.  Instead over the next weeks I will be sending out PMs to people who have the most video storage, advising that they will be removed, and if needed/wanted, could they be downloaded and re-hosted on a video service provider.  (or indeed the OP may have their own copy elsewhere which can be re-hosted)

The reasons for doing this:

• Initial estimates show that there is at least 60GB of video being stored on the AS server.  This is equivalent to maybe 400,000 images being stored, so by removing video, we open up a huge amount of space.  After the great Photobucket disaster of 2017, the storage of photos on AS servers is important and should be prioritised.
• Several members have uploaded very large videos indeed, which don't play well once embedded in a forum post as they cannot be streamed fast enough.  YouTube/Vimeo/etc. are far better at compressing and presenting video that plays properly.
• Playing video is a disproportionate use of Autoshite bandwith, which is part of the recent increases in hosting costs.  Playing these from a 3rd party provider moves the bandwith on to them.
• Some of these videos are not actually being displayed on forum posts or in PMs, meaning they are just sitting there taking up space, having to be backed up and costing money for no reason.  Their removal will open up space that was otherwise lost.

 

Some points I must emphasise to avoid confusion:

• Please DO NOT delete any old threads or posts in the mistaken belief that it's "helping out".  The amount of space needed for the database of threads is absolutely tiny compared to what is being discussed above.  That would be the motoring equivalent of pulling a single strand of hay off a tractor-trailer full of 500 bales.  It will make no difference at all.  Threads and discussion is the lifeblood of the forum and they should not be removed.
• The forum software does currently compress and reduce the size of uploaded images.  At the moment this is set to a maximum resolution of 1280pixels in each direction, with each image being displayed on the forum post at a maximum 800x600. (when you click on it, you get the up-to-1280x1280 version)  If you want to host higher-resolution images, then there are many options on the web for 3rd-party image hosting.
• There is no restriction on uploading images to the AS servers for inclusion into threads.  Pictures make the threads and they are actively encouraged.  No-one should stop doing so.

 

The slightly more detailed bit, for those interested:

100GB of storage was enough to keep Autoshite going from it's inception all the way up to early 2021.  At that point another 100GB was rented, but this has lasted just 18 months.  Another 50GB has been rented now, but at current usage rates, this will last significantly less than a year, at which point we'll be back to a full server again and have to buy our way out of trouble.  This would appear to be mainly due to video uploads over the last couple of years, but is also due to ever-increasing megapixel counts on digital cameras.  Also, there is no pruning of old stored files, so the storage needed can only grow in size.  It's growing exponentially and so is the rate at which files are being uploaded:
in 2014 - February - the total size of the file uploads was 110MB
in 2017 - February - the total size of the file uploads was 702MB
in 2022 - February - the total size of the file uploads was 2.5GB

Whilst storage is indeed fairly cheap, there is the knock-on of the fact that we currently have off-site duplication and regular recovery points, meaning anything uploaded not only uses multiple instances of storage space, but also uses bandwidth to be copied to that off-site storage.  Removing videos and other large files will save space, save bandwidth and should see a reduction in monthly hosting/bandwidth costs.  The increase over the last 18 months from £50/m to £80/m co-insides rather with the massive increase in video files, so I am hoping this will drop back a bit, or at least not go up any more as hosting costs rise generally.

 

Any queries on this, please ask in the  "Autoshite technical help" thread.

[Talbot]

For anyone who knows they have videos hosted on Autoshite that they want to either download and keep, or download to re-host elsewhere:

Go to your account drop-down menu top right.  Drop it down and select "my attachments"  Thusly:

Once you've done that, on the list of attachments you have saved on AS, you'll see a "sort by" drop-down.  Select "size" from this, and it will show the largest attachments first.

This will almost certainly have your video files first on the list.  From there, you can either click on the filename to download it directly to your computer, click on the thread to take you to the post where the video is linked from, or on the far right-hand-side is a check-box where you can select files and then click delete at the bottom of the screen.

For a video that you would very much like to be kept visible on Autoshite, the best thing to do is download it to your computer, and then re-upload it to a video hosting site as mentioned in the post above.  Once you've done that, you can go to the post in question and insert the copied URL from Youtube or Vimeo or whoever.  Many video hosting sites are automatically recognised by the forum software, and your video will be embedded immediately.  Your video is now hosted away from Autoshite.

I've done this from Vimeo a fair number of times in the past and it was quite straightforward.  This may seem like a bit of a faff, but needs doing only once.

Once this has been done, you can tick the check-box next to the video in question and then click delete at the bottom of the screen as the copy on Autoshite is no longer needed.  I should also point out that every time you delete an attachment, the "sort by" reverts to "by upload date".   I've no idea why this happens and can't stop it.  You just need to run the sort by size again.

If there are video files that are just no longer relevant (e.g. I had a short video of a camera I was selling, which is now long gone.) you can just delete them, or leave them to be deleted in due course.

 

Again, some points I want to emphasise to avoid confusion:

• The forum structure (topics, threads, posts) is a completely separate thing from the attachments storage.  Please do not delete any posts or threads in the mistaken belief that this will assist storage space.  It won't.
• Any attachment deleted as described above (video, or indeed any image)  will not delete the post that it was shown on.  The post will remain, which can be edited with the new video location in if you wish.
• When videos are all eventually deleted from the Autoshite servers, it again will not delete the posts that these were on.  Any video that hasn't been re-uploaded elsewhere will show as a broken link, like this:

If anyone needs assistance with this, then do please either ask in the "technical assistance" thread, or feel free to PM me directly.  It's worth noting that some members have already had a purge of videos after my previous sticky on this matter, and appear to have freed-up over 15GB of space already.  This is most welcome and is a potential 100,000 images of storage space made available.