From: davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane)
Newsgroups: comp.bbs.misc
Subject: Re: Running a BBS under DOS, OS/2, or Linux?
Date: 6 Sep 92 04:41:56 GMT
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

radel@bach.udel.edu (Todd Radel) writes:

>I'd like to get the net's advice.  I'm an experienced user of DOS and OS/2,
>and I play around with Linux occasionally.  For the past year, I've run a
>BBS using Virtual BBS software under Windows 3.1.

>The problem is that anytime a user was online, or if FrontDoor was
>sending mail, the rest of my system would slow to a crawl.  Ditto if
>I was using Borland C++ and someone logged in to the BBS -- both tasks
>would slow horribly.  I tried Maximus/2 and BinkleyTerm OS/2 for
>a while under OS/2 1.3, which seemed a lot speedier, but I had to give
>up all the DOS door games my users love so much.

>My question is this:  Is there a combination of OS, BBS software, and
>mailer that allows all of the following?

>* FidoNet netmail, echomail, and SDS (file distribution).
>* Door games.  (I've only seen maybe 3 or 4 doors for OS/2, and none for
>  Linux.  If I use the OS/2 versions of Binkley and Maximus, can I spawn
>  a DOS door game?)
>* Background mail tossing.  (I carry about 100 echo areas, and I don't want
>  the system tied up for long periods of time just unpacking new mail.)
>* Maximum speed -- as little effect on whatever I'm doing, and vice versa,
>  as possible.
>* [Optional] USENET interface.

For what it's worth and without any intention of starting an OS
flame war, you might consider the following: 

I believe (meaning I think so, but haven't actually done it) you
could run all of the listed programs UNIX + DOS emulator as it's
built from the ground up to handle multi-tasking. Perhaps/probably
there is some other OS that will do that job as well, but according
to my experience, you'll find that your system won't run at
constant/max speed with one task having little effect on others if
you're talking about a single machine. 

For example, I've been running Waffle on top of ISC UNIX on a Dell
386 33MHz for two years now. It handles 6 lines at max speed (1 X
PEP, 3 X v32, 2 X v32bis) with little or no delay when there are
only users using Waffle or reading mail/news with UNIX programs. But
whenever I'm compiling or the system is unpacking USENET news, it
slows down. The stuff goes in/out over the lines OK, it's just that
when one task goes to switch to another there is a 3-10 delay. 

Putting the news on second 330MB ESDI hard disk made some
improvement, but not much. Putting the system on a 486 33MHz made
some improvement, but not much. Installing nn and encouraging people
to use was a big improvement (as nn keeps a database of subject
lines and doesn't have to access the actual news spool to get them),
but still not enough.  

The bottom line is that it's just a lot of work for one machine both
in terms load on the CPU and load on the hard drives. I have access
to a Sparc Station running SunOS and it has the same problem:
whenever it's unpacking incoming USENET news, it slows down. My
buddy who runs the system says it sounds just like my system: grind,
grind, grind goes the hard disk. 

Short of buying a really HUGE machine, I think the only way to keep
people running at constant/max speed is to let them run on a machine
whose load is constant. That means moving the work of compiling,
unpacking news, etc. on another machine and tying the two together
with some kind of LAN. 

I'm right in the middle of doing this by tying together a 386 33MHz,
a 486 33MHz, and a 486 50 MHz with TCP/IP and NFS under ISC UNIX.
This way I can keep users on one machine and put the work of
compiling and unpacking news on another; exactly how I'm not sure of
as I will have to run the system to see how it goes. There are
probably other ways you can do the same thing so I don't think UNIX
is necessarily the only way to go. 

What I feel *is* important is that I think you need about more than
one machine of the AT/Engneering-Workstation class in some kind of
LAN to run all the programs you have listed at constant/max speed.
I would suggest rewording the question as follows:

  My question is this: Is there a combination of machines, OS, LAN
  technology, BBS software, and mailer that allows all of the 
  following?

Hope that helps,

Dave

--
Dave McLane 
JUNET: davidg@aegis.or.jp (ONLY within Japan: post otherwise)
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087