Berkeley Software Design, Inc. BSDI Internet Gateway Server Questions and Answers October, 1994 The BSD/OS Gateway Server Version 1.1 is the first release of BSDI's ground-breaking UNIX-like operating system for Internet Service. Version 1.1 is based on the Net2 release of the Computer Systems Research Group at University of California, Berkeley and includes Net2's features and capabilities. Additionally, it includes MIT's X Window system and other software from a wide variety of sources. BSDI has augmented these software bases with all the modules needed to provide a complete operating system and set of utilities. Version 2.0, due at the end of 1994, moves the code base to Berkeley's 4.4BSDLite release. The operating system name has recently changed from BSD/386 to BSD/OS. BSDI's operating system releases are unique in their offering of supported base systems software with almost complete source code. We invite you to read these questions and answers to clarify the many features and benefits of BSDI's BSD/OS and the Internet Gateway Server. Question: What is the BSDI Internet Gateway Server? Answer: The Internet Gateway product uses the BSD/OS operating system to provide a complete Internet environment including: o TCP/IP, SLIP, and PPP o WWW/Mosaic client o WWW/Mosaic server (at BSDI's ftp site) o Gopher o Electronic mail (SMTP) o File transfers (FTP) o NFS o USENET News (NNTP and INN at BSDI's ftp site) o X11 servers & clients The latest versions of some of these software packages are available at BSDI's ftp site as BSDI continues to ship BSD/OS on a CDROM manufactured a few months ago. New E-Z Internet configuration software is to be delivered to customers who request it after October 10, 1994. Question: How will I connect my machine to the Internet? Answer: Connecting your machine to the Internet requires an Internet Service Provider (ISP) who can transfer your packets to the Internet. Your area may or may not have a geographically-close ISP. AlterNet (Phone: 800-4UU-NET4) can arrange service anywhere in the United States. Your ISP will advise you as to whether you should connect with lower speed modems (e.g., 14,400 or 28,800 BPI), 56K lines, or T-1 lines and which protocol to use: (e.g., SLIP, PPP, X.25, or Frame Relay). You'll need whatever hardware your ISP requires (modem for slower speeds, CSU/DSU and an interface card for higher speeds). Both SDL and Emerging Technologies have various high speed cards; contact BSDI for details. Once connected to the Internet, you'll want to set up your own site name using DNS. The new E-Z configuration system makes this simple. You'll want to set up clients and servers for the various services you wish to use. Most are shipped with the system; some are available at the FTP site. Question: How do I connect my MSWindows network to the Internet Gateway? Answer: Use TCP/IP to connect other networks to the Gateway. Ethernet is your best bet as a connection medium. Some Windows programs have TCP/IP stacks built-in (e.g., some of the Mosaic servers). Question: Can I run my PC BBS program on BSD/OS? Answer: Only Galacticomm's MAJOR BBS is currently slated for delivery on BSD/OS (in January, 1995). Other freeware BBS's are available at various FTP sites. Question: How many users can I run on my system? Answer: Running more users requires more RAM, more CPU power, and sometimes require more network bandwidth. Of course, one user can always saturate a machine, but generally, users using low-bandwidth services like e-mail, telnet, and ftp consume only a fraction of a machine. While one large timesharing service supports 260 users on a 486/66, you might consider these guidelines: +-----------------------------------+ | Arch Speed Est User Est | +-----------------------------------+ |386/33 6 MIPS 12 users | |486/33 12 MIPS 25 users | |486/66 25 MIPS 50 users | |Pentium 66 60 MIPS 90 users | |Pentium 90 70 MIPS 100 users | +-----------------------------------+ These guidelines are estimates and can vary significantly. Perform your own benchmarks and profiling to find better estimates for your user base. Question: Can I build a firewall with BSD/OS? Answer: Yes, some commercial firewall companies even use BSD/OS as their delivery platform. You'll want to ftp screend from ftp.vix.com and the firewall toolkit from ftp.tis.com. Configuration takes a couple hours. Question: Does BSD/OS support multi-port serial I/O cards? Answer: You bet. In addition to the standard PC serial ports and the AST-4 style cards, BSD/OS supports the SDL RISCom/8; DigiBoard PC/Xe, PC/8i, PC/Xem; Maxpeed SS-4/2, SS-4PLUS, SS-8/2, SS-16/2; Specialix SLXOS; and SCCSI USENET II. Question: Does BSD/OS support ISDN? Answer: BSDI has not identified an ISDN card for its operating system yet. Until an interface is developed for BSDI, please consider the use of BSD/OS with a CombiNet modem for ISDN traffic at about 120Kb/second. Question: What about terminal servers? Answer: BSD/OS's standard TCP/IP and telnet protocols enable most terminal servers to work correctly right out-of-the-box. Contact the server vendor if the terminal server requires special software for the hosts it supports. Question: Can BSD/OS help me with my billing? Answer: BSD/OS tracks user connect hours, user CPU time used, and disk space consumed. It does not log network activity. Trivial scripts can summarize this data for billing purposes. BSD/OS does not, in general, count the number of packets passed through it nor does it generally account for random network connections that do not login (either through telnet or rsh). Question: How does BSDI help me if I have trouble? Answer: BSDI prides itself on providing outstanding support. Our telephone service desk is available toll-free five days a week from 9 am to 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (and sometimes after hours). If you are still on your initial 60-day full service period or have a telephone support contract then you can call our 1-800 number for assistance. If you have an e-mail/fax support contract, you can contact us via either of those methods. Question: How much does the Internet Gateway Server cost? Answer: Prices for the first license start at $545. Question: What if I buy BSD/OS and decide I don't need it? Answer: BSD/OS comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee. Question: What about hardware configurations? Answer: See the document on BSD/OS for the complete supported list of hardware.