CouchSurfing Knocked Out By “Perfect Storm” of Tech Problems
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 07.06.06 | 7:13 AM ET
Is CouchSurfing wiped out? The popular Web site that connects travelers with fellow travelers and places to sleep around the world suffered a huge data loss in recent days, erasing profiles, e-mails, photos and other information central to the site’s mission. It may have also turned some CouchSurfers into “refugees.” The damage to the community has been “massive,” according to a message Sebastien, one of the site’s co-founders, posted on a message board that’s currently taking the place of the once-vibrant site.
Another of the site’s co-founders, Casey Fenton, wrote a message to the community, blaming the data loss on two critical mistakes:
First, we had a major, avoidable hard drive crash. Secondly, the incremental back-ups weren’t executed in the correct manner, and twelve of our most important data files didn’t survive.
I have been working non-stop trying to repair the data, but as difficult as it is for me to say, it has become clear that certain essential pieces are not recoverable. This crash happened at a particularly vulnerable time, in a transition between two back-up methods. If the crash had happened a week ago, or next week, we would have had a different outcome.
It is with a heavy heart that I face the truth of this situation. CouchSurfing as we knew it doesn’t exist anymore. We’ve had an amazing two and a half years.
Wired News reports that the site may not be dead yet.
“People have begun to donate money online, and even sell their possessions to help finance a rebuilding effort. Administrators are culling old member records off of Google’s web cache, and are retrieving what data they can from the dead hard drive,” writes Scott Carney. “Other members are holding meetings in Vienna and Montreal to consider their options, and former CouchSurfer.com users are regrouping at a new, skeletal site dedicated to keeping the community alive.”
The site is taking donations here.
Here’s hoping CouchSurfing 2.0 succeeds. It’s a fantastic idea that deserves to live on strong.