response 6 of 56:

Dec 3 18:11 UTC 2008

I wonder if it might be possible to get temporary access to a 2nd
virtual machine at a reduced cost for purposes of testing an upgrade? 
Maybe Grex could buy access to a 2nd virtual machine permanently,
perhaps with limited access and a reduced cost, so the staff would have
a sandbox for testing.  This surely is not a unique need for Grex.

I regard a move away from physical hardware to be a beneficial one for
Grex.  A virtual machine will never wear out or become outdated.  We're
a virtual community anyway and don't need physical hardware for any
purpose as far as the community is concerned.  Is a professionally
administered virtual machine really going to be less secure than what we
have now?

I wonder if we couldn't buy access to an inbound dial-up ISP account and
distribute it for use by anyone who wants to use it for less than we
currently spend on a phone line.  I suppose that would run us the risk
of someone making it their own permanently.  It seems to me there ought
to be some solution like that which is much cheaper for us than
maintaining a terminal server with Internet access and a couple of phone
lines running to it.