I just wanted to share this email that I saw posted over at The Blog Guidebook I personally hope that we… as bloggers are patient, supportive, and continue to use the Linky services.

Keep Linky Tools In Business
Linky Tools has been experiencing growing pains.  {Due in part to us}

There are hundreds of thousands of thumbnails images hosted on Linky Tools.
Let’s band together to keep Linky Tools in business.
Don’t demand a refund if you paid for the year.
There are other services out there, but we all really do love our LINKY TOOLS (also known as MckLinky)!

Read an email from Brent Riggs, owner of Linky Tools… 

About the site slowdown today:
I worked hand in hand with my hosting service today and we narrowed down the one and only issue: thumbnail images.
The retrieval and downloading of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of thumbnail images when your visitors view a Thumbnail Linky on your blogs is causing the overall webserver that hosts Linky Tools to slow down.
It’s not the website; it’s not the database. It’s the sheer number of thumbnail images being downloaded.
THE SOLUTION:
The solution is to have JUST the thumbnail images hosted on their own dedicated server. So I just spent all the subscription income to buy a server and have it hooked up to a very fast internet connection.
There will be NO interruption in service when the new thumbnail server goes online, however IT IS GOING TO TAKE 2-3 DAYS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. I’m praying there won’t be any website slowdowns in the meantime, like there were today, but I have no way of knowing or guaranteeing that.
A lot of people have rushed to demand a refund and I’m praying you won’t do that. First, without subscribers, I can’t afford this and will simply have to shut everything down and GO OUT OF BUSINESS. Second, the only reason the other thumbnail list service out there isn’t dealing with the same issues is because Linky Tools has exponentially more users and participants. Apart from that, Linky Tools offers much more in features and service with more to come. All of my users have personal access to me. How many other services come close to that?
I spent thousands of dollars today to take care of this growing pain (buying the new thumbnail server) and I’m asking – BEGGING – for 2-3 days of patience and understanding while I get this new thumbnail server online. I’ve pleaded with the hosting service to get this server online as fast as possible, even today if possible. I’ll work all night to make it happen if I have to.
I’m committed to constantly improving performance and adding new features. I can’t afford to without subscribers… and I’ll reward your patience with great service and cool new features.


Brent