Connecting Your BBS to the Internet Last Updated: Sun 01-29-95 04:11:29 As the result of connecting our BBS to the Internet via a 56k leased line we have answered many questions regarding the how-tos of doing it. This file, similar to an FAQ in concept, is an attempt to answer at least some of those questions. I'm no writer, nor am I particularly talented or intelligent, so you will have to bear with me and if you have questions that aren't answered here, please send me a message and I'll try to answer your question as best I can. With the exception of this file, the Packing.lst and the File_Id.diz contained within this archive, none of the contained files were authored or in any way can be attributed to me. As such they are the property of their respective authors and all restrictions apply regarding the editing and re-distribution of information contained within them. I have included them here simply as sources of solid technical information in the pursuit of setting up an Internet connection for your BBS. Questions and Answers Q: How did you get connected to the Internet? A: As I'm not certain if the person(s) asking the question mean the physical connection or the software it is necessary for me to answer this question a bit later in this file. Q: Did you need any special hardware to make the Internet connection? A: Yes. Our Internet Service Provider (ISP) uses Frame Relay so it was necessary for us to purchase a Frame Relay Device (FRAD). The one we purchased is a FastCOMM EtherFrad that connects to a segment of our Ethernet based Novell Network and cost approximately $1,700.00. Q: What type of phone service was required and who provides the service? A: We decided early on that a 56k leased line would provide all of the necessary bandwidth we would need to operate for a while although we could easily have gone with a fractional T1, full T1 or even as much as a T3 (financial considerations aside). Our ISP contracted with WillTell communications to provide the service, the actual connection to their T3 backbone and arranged for the installation. (Note - In some areas I have been told that WillTell has some line/service problems but this has not been the case here fortunately) The installation fee was picked up by our service provider as we were helping them to test their system and represented a savings of a couple of hundred dollars. WillTell then sub-contracted the actual installation out to our local Telco. The actual monthly charge for our phone line, including the port charge, is around $500.00 per month. Q: Who is your Internet provider? A: We use DataXchange, a young upstart company that we met with at ONE BBSCON in Atlanta (Aug. 94). They were able to provide us with a cost- effective and efficient service. You may reach them at (800) 863-1550. Q: What software was required to provide these services to your users? A: We are using MurkWorks' BBSNet for Netware/386 version which installs some Netware NLMs to our primary network server as well as providing a door interface to their Finger, Ftp, Gopher+, Telnet (inbound & outbound), and WhoIs clients. Their software is currently in gamma testing & should soon include Archie & Wais clients in addition to a SLIP/PPP server. The software is plenty pricey at around $500.00 for a 5 user version, but has been invaluable to us for providing our users with a high level of service without their having to configure SLIP/PPP software from hell. You can reach MurkWorks at (315)265-4717 or (315)268-9812 (fax) For personal internet services as well as an ftp server, we are running IBM TCP/IP (base kit & DNS kit). For newsgroup and mailing list processing we are running GIGO and Net- Mgr, both registered shareware packages with DOS & OS2 versions. Last, but not least, we are running Ray Gwinn's Vmodem package for OS/2 and interfacing it with BinkleyTerm front-end mailer to provide an enhanced telnet server with which to exchange some of our Fidonet mail via IP. Q: Exactly what does your setup look like? A: This part is difficult as I tend to omit details or forget things at times, but the following shows the computer hardware we're currently using to provide all of our Internet services. Machine Machine Specifics OS Software _____________________________________________________________________________ Primary Server 486dx/66 w/64Mb RAM Netware 3.12 BBSNet NLMS CD-ROM Server 386dx/33 w/16Mb RAM Netware 3.12 SCSI Express WS1 486dx/?? w/16Mb RAM OS/2 Warp IBM TCP/IP 8 port DigiBoard BinkleyTerm (4 lines) Maximus BBS (4 lines) BBSNet Door Interface WARPED 486dx/66 w/32Mb RAM OS/2 Warp IBM TCP/IP (IP address - 199.190.72.15. This is my personal machine & serves only as (an ftp server) TOWER 486dx/66 w/16Mb RAM OS/2 Warp IBM TCP/IP 2 port HS serial port Vmodem for OS/2 BinkleyTerm (3 lines) Maximus BBS (3 lines) (IP address - 199.190.72.11. This is my husband's personal machine & serves as both a telnet & ftp server for up to 8 inbound connections for each service). We also have a Linux machine up and running although we haven't yet decided what it's role will be beyond that of a dedicated SLIP/CSLIP/PPP server, and an old KLH 386sx/16 w/4Mb RAM and a 40Mb drive acting as our secretary and taking voicemail messages and faxes. (I used to actually run 2 nodes of RBBS on 2 of these KLH machines under DOS - ugh!) Due to the fact that our personal machines have been multi-tasked nearly to their effective limits we are putting together yet another machine to act as a dedicated telnet, ftp, web & gopher server. Q: How do you set up and register your IP address and/or Domain name? A: Most providers will handle these details for you, but for the sake of information I have included in this archive 2 text files that contain the necessary registration templates and instructions to do so. Look for INTNUMRQ.TXT and DOMTMPLT.TXT within this archive. That's pretty much it for now as the questions I'm receiving tend to be rather generic and encompass all of the answers above. If you have other questions or a suggestion for additions to this file, you can contact me in the RBBS-PC echo on Fidonet, via netmail to 1:380/0 5 or 25, or Internet e-mail to Patty.Morris@secret.com.