From: arno@cowpas.waffle.atl.ga.us (ARNO Management at cowpas)
Newsgroups: atl.arno
Subject: Atlanta Regional Network Organization FAQ
Date: 11 Oct 92 02:41:33 GMT
Organization: Atlanta Regional Network Organization
Archive-name: arno/faq
X-Version: 1.0


               Frequently Asked Questions about ATL.ARNO

                          by Charles Stephens
                      cfs@cowpas.waffle.atl.ga.us
                       (Revision 1.0, 10 Oct 92)

Q. What does ARNO stand for?

        ARNO stands for Atlanta Regional Network Organization.  An
independent group that was founded in early October of 1992.  ARNO is a
volunteer group of interconnected local hub systems that are dedicated
to provide non-Internet sties with UUCP network connectivity by
providing news and email services gatewayed from the Internet.

        In the past, the major Atlanta Internet gateway sites (Emory
University and Georgia Institute of Technology) we happy to provide
these services to many to Metro-Atlantans.  However, with no budget
allocated to providing connectivity to the public, these sites have to
cut back drastically.  As a result, ARNO was formed to provide local
hubs with exclusive connectivity to Emory and GIT, and in agreement
distribute connectivity to the rest of us.

Q. ".. Network Organization", which network?

        Though ARNO deals primarily with the UUCP network, it was not
ruled out that other networks may play a key role in efficient network
management in the Metro-Atlanta area.  Anything that has to do with
providing Intenet gateway services is a concern of ARNO.  Right now UUCP
seems to the biggest customer.

Q. Who does ARNO affect?

        Well that is a tricky question.  If you are not a system
administrator, then there should be too much to worry about.  ARNO plans
maintain transparent network management, so users shouldn't see any
noticable differences.

        If you are a network adminstrator and connect already with an
ARNO Internet gateway system (Emory and/or GIT), you may be affected.
The purpose of ARNO is to make Internet gateway services more efficient.
More sites that Internet gateways connect to means less efficiency.
More resources have to be dedicated in providing such connectivity.
With less and less resources to go around and no funding, it's a large
burden that these sites have to face.

        The idea is move sites over to local hubs (see next question).
These sites can distribute the network overhead and thus increase
efficiency by allowing the Internet gateways to use less resources.
Basically it boils down to:

     More sties = Decreased ability and efficiency in connectivity

while,

   Less sites & More local hubs = Faster connectivity and efficiency

Q. What exactly is a local hub?

        A local hub, is a system that can provide high speed and high
capacity transmission capabilities to number of other systems.  Neither
the exact definition of high speed, nor high capacity is written in
stone, however there are certain standards that each system must meet in
order to provide high speed and capacity.

        ARNO has set some guidelines to provide an idea of what it takes
to become a local hub.  As technology improves and situations change, so
will these guidelines.  The main idea is providing connectivity to many,
so keep that in mind.

        * The most efficienty way to get news and mail throught the
          Internet gateways' dialups is to use UltraPEP with UUCP 'g'
          protocol spoofing.  Currently only, Worldblazers can talk with
          TurboPEP with these two sites.  It's important to communicate
          with Emory and GIT at the highest speed possible.  As
          technology's limits expand (ie, V.Fast, ISDN, etc), the
          fastest and most economical will ARNO's first choice in
          communicating with Internet gateways.

        * A relatively large mass storage system is needed.  In order to
          maintain and transmit to many systems requires vast amounts of
          secondary storage (example: hard drives).  There isn't any
          minimum amount required, just enough to store news for a short
          period of time (2-3 weeks) and to be able to batch news and
          mail to other sites.  Some local hub sites might be only able
          to handle mail and a small amount of news.  This is okay.
          Many end user systems only use UUCP for email and little news
          and mail only hubs are the best way to accomodate them.

        * Willingness to provide connectivity at no or low cost.  It was
          decided early on that no one should be denided access to the
          network for the inability to pay.  A system that requests a
          small payment is valid, ONLY if it is to support they system
          itself (phone lines, modems, and other resources and not for
          the profit of the operators.  ARNO believes that commercial
          systems have no right in getting free connectivity and making
          a profit off of it.

        Currently there isn't any formal procedures for requesting local
hub status.  Just send a message to emory!dscatl!arno of your site's
interest and contact information.  You will be promptly contacted by an
ARNO coordinator.  Please besure that your site can pledge the resources
that meet the requirements of the guidelines.

Q. Why should my site wish to cooperate, I thought UUCP was an anarchy,
   and there was no official organization?

        Well, you are right, mostly.  UUCP is an anarchy and no one has
control over another's site's policies or practices.  However, sites can
influence others by the incentive principle:

 If you don't play by our rules, you may find yourself out in the cold.

        If you feel that ARNO's ideals and policies are not in your
agreement, then there are commercial providers (ex: UUnet and UUPSI).
We don't want to sound like fascist overlords of the net, but sometimes
in life, things just got to be done.  Please understand that this is for
the net's benefit.  There could have been more radical changes with even
less choice by users.

Q. I communicate with Emory and/or GIT, what will happen to my feed and
   when?

        Your feed will be moved to one of the local hubs based on
current load and type of feed required by your site.  You might be able
to get a feed off of a non-local hub site that does connect to the local
hub.  All sights will have feeds, ARNO will try to find local hub sites
first and then if needed find other sites.  The sites in question will
be contacted long in advance.

        When is not clear.  A proposed goal is to move everyone by the
end of the year.  This may or may not be feasable.  It's a wait and see
situation.  It's recommended that your subscribe and read atl.arno if
you are sysadmin.  If any changes involve your site, you will be first
contacted by email and then by phone.

Q. How will may connectivity needs be determined?

        Simple.  We will look at which newsgroups you currently receive
and determine how much you receive in volume.  We also look at how fast
you communicate with others and we then find an open slot on one of the
local hubs.  In the event that a local hub cannot accomodate you, we
will try to find a site as close as possible to the local hub.  It's
important to keep up to date UUCP maping information.  Please write
emory!cowpas!uucpmap for more information about the maping project.
Updated maps mean better selection of a host for your site.

Q. I don't connect with Emory or GIT, how will I be affected?

        If your site connects to a site that connects with Emory and/or
GIT, your connectivity could be affected indirectly.  Most downstream
sties should not see a dramatic change, but rather a slight improvement,
because local hubs lessen the load on the gateways (see previous
question).

Q. I am new to Metro-Atlanta, how can ARNO help me?

        Another one of ARNO's objectives to be a focal point for new
sites to latch on to.  Instead of looking all round for a feed, new
sites can be directed to ARNO and ARNO can find the feed for him, either
on a local hub or on a site close to the hub.  Have new sites contact
Charles Stephens at +1 404 425 7599 (4PM to 12AM M-F).

Q. I am not a site, but want to become one, how can ARNO help?

        ARNO can provide limited technical assistance in getting users
started.  ARNO has recognized that the UUCP network is growing at
phenomenal rate and wants all new sites to understand how to get the
most out of the network.

        ARNO will be more than happy to direct new sites to resources
that it needs.  ARNO is not, however a replacement for a company's
technical support.  If you have a question that ARNO can't answer off
hand, then try posting to the usenet.  This is the best way to propagate
your problem to others so it may get sloved faster.

Q. I heard that ARNO will support and endorse the use of Dynafeed.  What
   is Dynafeed, how does it work, and where can I get it?

        Dynafeed is a way for sites to get the most efficiency in their
news feeds.  By only receiving the newsgroups that you and your users
read on a system you can save time in receiving news.  Also you have
great control over which newsgroups you do receive by telling your
upstream site exactly which newsgroups you wish to receive.

        Dynafeed works on a Unix box that runs with 'B' or 'C' News or
any news system that uses B/CNews type sys files.  It replaces the
batching application and sends out the newsgroups that the downstream
sites wishes to receive.

        Currently Dynafeed is only available for Unix types systems, but
there are ways to communicate to dynafeed if you are downstream by the
use of mail gates and sending UUX requests.  The exact details are
beyond the scope of this document.  If you wish to know more, please
post to atl.arno.

        All ARNO sites plan to use Dynafeed in someway, including Emory
and GIT.

Q. Got a question not answered in this FAQ, what should I do?

        Simple, post to atl.arno...

Q. Got a flame and wish to yell at a lot of people, what should I do?

        Simple, calm down, count to 1000000000, and make intellegent
comments and constructive criticisms.  Then post to atl.arno...