Swan Photo Gallery Launch Page.
Select a server from the list below.
 

Link

 Server Status
Swan Photo Galleries @ KoolPages.com www.koolpages.com/ruel/ Operational
Swan Photo Galleries @ FreeWebSites.com ruel.freewebsites.com/ Operational
Swan Photo Galleries @ DreamWater.net www.dreamwater.net/chrisruel/ Operational

Web Space Issues

Unfortunately, I have run out of webspace on my ISP account. In order to post new pictures, I have had to resort to utilizing commercial web space servers. Most of these servers introduce adverse side effects on the webpages that are stored on these servers. Some adverse side-effects include advertisements (headers, footers, inline, popup), bandwidth restrictions, bandwidth performance problems, and reliability problems. In order to compensate for these side effects, I have loaded the swan photo galleries to multiple servers to provide backup redundancy for users to ensure that the photos will be available via at least one server at any point in time. If you have problems with one server, come back to this page and try selecting another link from the table below to launch the swan photo galleries from a different server. I have selected servers that do not use annoying popup advertisements. If you encounter a popup advertisement navigating the swan photo galleries, please bring it to my immediate attention.

I apologize for any inconveniences and the advertisements that are imposed, but this is the only way that I could bring these new pictures to you at this point in time.

Free Web Space Evaluation
In selecting a server that provides web space for this website, I have considered a number of factors that may be of interest to anybody else who needs to locate web space for their website. The primary factors that were not open to compromise were reliability to ensure the photo galleries are always available to viewers, sufficient web space to host the pictures (25 MB), sufficient bandwidth for viewers to download the pictures no matter how many viewers viewed the galleries (unlimited), absence of popup windows in the incurred advertisements, and the tolerance for large quantities of pictorial data. The secondary factors that I evaluated were the minimization of the imposed advertisements, the location, size, and subtlety of the imposed advertisements, ease of account setup, ease of uploading of the files to the server, ease of maintainence, and the longevity of the company providing the web space. The two web space providers that I selected after much research were www.FreeHomePages.com, www.FreeWebSites.com and www.DreamWater.com from a field of nearly fifty candidates that I researched and tested.

Free Web Space Considerations

If you are considering obtaining web space from a web space provider, I reccommend that you pay careful attention to the following prohibitions that many web space providers impose that may inhibit your ability to bring your website to viewers:

  • prohibitions on file sizes and file types (jpg, etc)

  • prohibitions on the nature of the content of your files

  • prohibitions on external linking to the files maintained on the web space server

  • limitations on daily or monthly bandwidth that may limit the number of viewers that can view your files

  • limitations on available web space that might not accommodate your web space requirements now or in the foreseeable future (allow room for growth)

  • limitations for uploading multiple files

  • usability of the file management and uploading utilities provided by the web space server

  • longevity of the web space provider: If they haven't been around for long, there is no telling if they will fold up their business or drastically change their marketing scheme. This is very common in the web space business.

I have gone through a lot of trouble to find good web space servers and providers. This is why I have taken the time for your benefit to detail my findings.

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Copyright 2001, 2002 Christopher Ruel. (www.ChrisRuel.com) All Rights Reserved.