2008MoveEmailAndWebsite

toc

Current Status
As of 2008-08-31, all C3HUU staff and many committees have e-mail addresses assigned to them of the form "SelectedName@c3huu.org". Also, with the completion of the move to Network Solutions for hosting and web e-mail, C3HUU has a more flexible set of tools to manage up to 200 e-mail addresses and 2GB of online disk space for web services. See C3H IT Services Help for more information.

With the return of the Manse to church use, we are also considering what electronic services need to be available at the Manse.

History
Alternatives under discussion include getting independent e-mail services, web site services, all combinations. What has worked well and reliably, has been some combination of services to leave us with only 2 providers to deal with for: e-mail, web site, and broadband services.

C3HUU is looking for a volunteer to help coordinate the switchover of e-mail services and DSL to new DSL or T1 line. The web site has already been switched to C3H.Wikispaces.com (as you can tell if you are reading this online).

Fortunately, C3HUU has month-to-month contracts at the moment for all these services:


 * e-mail: Network Solutions (formerly Intrex) See the section on setup of e-mail
 * Web site: Mindspring/Earthlink
 * DSL broadband: Mindspring/Earthlink (DSL delivered by Bellsouth/AT&T though we can't call them for support!)

The main alternatives: >> http://c3huu.org/indexnew.html which renders and looks better in Internet Explorer than in Firefox, :-(
 * e-mail & basic web site: **COMPLETE**
 * **X** Mindspring/Earthlink: web site, multiple e-mails, but no more service except by e-mail or instant messaging, support has degraded, service has too.
 * **X** Bellsouth/AT&T: basic DSL with basic e-mail and basic web site service (preference if we continue with DSL)
 *  **Network Solutions: they still answer the phone without extra charge, but have no integrated local network access service**
 * **X** Dream Host: nice, but pay a premium to be able to call in support problems
 * Full function web site: **COMPLETE**
 * many providers, settled on wikispaces.com to allow for multiple editors and multiple administrators. Yes, Wikispaces do allow for inclusion of multimedia, see http://c3h.wikispaces.com for advanced features in use.
 * Network Solutions has tools which allow C3H to build a much more aesthetically pleasing web site, see a sample here:
 * DSL/Cable broadband (wired):
 * Bellsouth/AT&T; or Earthlink or AOL which contract out the DSL part to AT&T
 * Time Warner Cable: rejected initially as there was no service to the property in 2007, the Manse may now have service, so this may be an option without large up front fee. Can be technically superior to DSL, not to a dedicated T1 service.
 * T1 (dedicated up to 6Mbps service over phone system) may be an option if special rate Pat saw advertised is not a fixed term "teaser" rate.

Suggested order of events: > Pat S noted that a T1 line and DSL for business are within a few dollars of each other. Since we would NOT NEED to use the Bellsouth e-mail service, perhaps T1 is a good idea. It means we'll be separately billed for an e-mail service. So, let's run the numbers on this one. LATER: T1 is prohibitively expensive, looking again at Time Warner Cable as there is service to the Manse.
 * 1) Determine new web site hosting. **COMPLETE**: Wikispaces.com
 * 2) Pay for new web site hosting: **COMPLETE**: 1 year subscription, $50
 * move all content to new hosting service
 * then changeover as outlined below
 * 1) Determine e-mail/web site provider **COMPLETE**: Network Solutions (option if don't take DSL provider e-mail service)
 * 2) Pay for new e-mail/web site service to overlap for one month with old service
 * 3) Determine new DSL provider **COMPLETE**: AT&T.com, the "new" bellsouth.com (only choices with DSL are AT&T, Earthlink, and AOL)
 * 1) Choose date to migrate Domain name, e-mail must be changed within 24 hours of this change
 * 2) Migrate all @c3huu.org e-mail addresses to the new service which means changing settings in all the e-mail programs staff use
 * 3) Migrate c3huu.org (domain not currently used, though we own it) and c3huua.nc.uua.org web site (**LATTER DONE**)
 * Might be good to decide to drop the c3huua.nc.uua.org link entirely. UUA has NOT been responsive to changing where this points, and once we take steps 4 and 5, we can then use c3huu.org or www.c3huu.org as our main web site URL, which we would point to: c3h.wikispaces.com (**DONE**, though not yet implemented)
 * 1) Pay for new DSL/Cable broadband provider
 * 2) Migrate from Mindspring DSL to new broadband provider