Date: Sun, 15 Oct 1995 12:03:45 -0400 From: "Johanan L. Codona" <codona@planet.net> To: freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Starting an ISP! Message-ID: <199510151603.MAA00388@rustic> In-Reply-To: <199510150420.XAA01503@praline.no.NeoSoft.com> (seiffert@neosoft.com)
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On Sat, 14 Oct 1995 23:20:25 -0500, seiffert@neosoft.com (Mark Seiffert) wrote: >* Is FreeBSD a good choice for our OS? (As opposed to BSDI, our second > choice.) The nice thing about BSDI is the available support, but the cost for the first copy is high (for me), subsequent copies for other machines is low ($200?) I agree. But the support for FreeBSD is quite good also. As long as we don't run -current (which occasionally gets itself in real trouble) and don't do anything really offbeat, we should be okay. If we have a problem using 2.0.5 or the -stable version, I think support would be pretty fast. Also, 2.1.0-release should be pretty soon, -stable should be converging. > >* What version of FreeBSD should we use? (We are looking to go > "on-the-air" in about 4-6 weeks.) Well you can use the 2.0.5-Release, or you can use a pre-Release version and fight the bugs. I did not want the hassle of a Beta version and possible bugs and so i opted for 2.0.5-release, which is also being sold for $20 from Surplus Software (can't find the ad right now.) I get the CD-ROMs from Walnut Creek on subscription for about $25 a release. > - memory per user This will depend on what users will be doing, if the just run PPP, then 512K per user should be plenty, if they will be running elm, and compiling programs, thent he sky is the limit. I think Walnut Creek has 128M of RAM. As far as I know, the Walnut Creek server isn't an ISP but rather an FTP (etc.) server. They have a current limit of 300 users which is on the order of half a meg per user. I figure that for 16 or 24 modems (to start with) the memory ought to be at least 64 Meg. I think cheap shell-only accounts will be driven out of existence with the advent of programs like TIA and Linux's term. If a user can get the functionality of full ppp on a shell-only account, why price them differently? > - networking cards This will depend on how many machines you have and whether you have a router or terminal server on ethernet. Only one CPU to start with, but we are still undecided on the terminal server question. For 16-24 modems, it would be possible to do it with multiport serial cards. Is this a misguided option? Obviously, it doesn't scale to many more modems than that. > - other hardware? How about a tape backup and a UPS? Definitely! > >* What about software? > - Accounting, etc. > - Misc Monitoring > - Backup software There's tar, and I saw a program that would do backups of remote machines to a single tape, I think I saw it in one of the linux groups. Anyone have it? I was thinking more in terms of backup and restore. Tar has some less-than-optimal aspects that I don't like. Of course, using gpio with the tar option fixes those, so it's not all bad. Why not use some flavor of [gc]pio? > - Security > - User services Check out www.neosoft.com, (my current ISP), they have al kinds of services available for their users, I think they have an IRC channel, a mud, www (of course), and I think something to do with an audio or video server. I think all those things are good. I also think that multicast routing needs to be enabled so our customers can join the bandwidth-hog generation! :-) > >* Do people have any FreeBSD lessons-learned they would like to share? Only lesson I have learned is that there is a steep learning curve. I am working on getting a number of computers setup like an ISP would, then I will make the decision of whether to devote more money, and lots of time. I already see that. I have climbed many learning curves already, but there are always countless more! -- Johanan L. Codona The Stekas Group codona@planet.net
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