Why launching Z4A image hosting sub-site

Z4A image hosting has been operational since 2016, and it's now almost 8 years since it started. Initially, it was for personal use, but as registration and usage were opened to the public, it has now become a highly loaded, high-storage, and high-share-level image hosting service.

As you can see, with nearly 1000TB of traffic each month, it's hard to imagine the load it would be without CLOUDFLARE.

Having stored more than 1 million pictures, totaling over 1.5TB, it's also quite difficult for me to effectively ensure data security. And this free, passion-driven image hosting service, with not a penny in advertising revenue, really can't afford third-party storage services, as that would result in astronomical costs.

In the past year, many friends have reported issues such as registration errors and usage problems. In fact, the biggest issue is that the image hosting software is outdated, but given the high volume of users and usage, I'm afraid to undertake a major software update rashly, as any errors could lead to problems that my guilt couldn't resolve.

Therefore, I have launched a new program version-based image sub-site, which still supports a maximum image size of 64MB, while keeping the main image hosting site running as usual. The current plan is roughly as follows:

Starting from March 16, 2024, activate the IMG.Z4A.NET image hosting sub-site and enter the testing phase.

The Z4A.NET main site will continue to operate as normal. The plan is to close new user registration on the main site after the sub-site has stabilized.

After about half a year of stable operation, choose an appropriate time to upgrade the software on the main site.

After about a year of diverting traffic, relocate the main site (the workload for the relocation will be huge; I have never undertaken a website move of over TB size, so it will be done with caution).

I truly appreciate everyone's support and affection! Still, I'd like to remind everyone that the purpose of the image hosting service is to share images. Although I will do my best to ensure data security, the power of an individual is limited. For perpetual storage, it is still necessary to have a proper plan in place, such as using ICLOUD, ONEDRIVER, or Baidu Cloud.