Setting up a news server (nntp): hardware, software, people

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2 total messages Started by Juan M. Courcoul Fri, 22 Jan 1993 17:47

#58

Author: Juan M. Courcoul
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 17:47

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Having recently gotten a MicroVAX 3100 up and running with Ultrix 4.3,
and waiting for an IBM RS/6000-320H to arrive (hopefully, with the
latest AIX), I would like to set up a news host for our local academic
community. However, being mostly ignorant of the administrative side
of news, I'd like to ask for your expert opinions.
 
* Of the two machines on which to run it, which would be the best
  candidate, in terms of handling the load ? I would probably get a feed
  from another nearby campus and receive 1,200-1,300 groups, and have to
  serve 600-800 users daily, approx.
 
* What amount of disk space would you recommend to set aside, if we plan
  to keep the articles for a week, on the average ?
 
* Which software would you recommend ? The VAX already has the stock
  code that comes with the Ultrix shipment, but I have no objection to
  using other code.
 
Perhaps I should mention that we would like to be able to read the news
directly from our PC's, using Trumpet or other similar news readers.
Also, our VM users will use Paul Campbell's NNR/VM.
 
Thanks in advance for any information.
 
 
Juan M. Courcoul                            COURCOUL@VMTECQRO.QRO.ITESM.MX
Monterrey Tech.                             COURCOUL@VMTECQR2.QRO.ITESM.MX
Queretaro Campus                            courcoul@itesmcq1.qro.itesm.mx

Re: Setting up a news server (nntp): hardware, software, people

#65

Author: Christophe Wolfhugel
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 18:59

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In article <1jpbvlINNsa@ftp.UU.NET> courcoul@vmtecqro.qro.itesm.mx (Juan M. Courcoul) writes:
>* Of the two machines on which to run it, which would be the best
>  candidate, in terms of handling the load ? 

Speaking of CPU, most modern stations have enough to handle a full
feed, and even more.  The points you need to check is first if the
station will have other duties and how important they will be
(speaking of load).

Speed of disk IO is also an important deal.  This changes a lot from
system to system.

>* What amount of disk space would you recommend to set aside, if we plan
>  to keep the articles for a week, on the average ?

This is also fully system depending. The main point to look at (with
today's one file per article) is the block size.  The more it is
important, the more you'll waste your disk space.

My monthly study (posted to news.lists) indicates that with a 4 Kb 
blocking factor you waste over 50% of disk space whereas with a 512 byte
blocking factor it's only a little bit over 10%.

This means that for storing 500 Mb of articles you'll need between 
600-700 Mb up to 1.4 Gb.

>* Which software would you recommend ? 

I would recommend using INN. Easy to install and operate.
But that's an opinion. Others might not share it.

-- 
Christophe Wolfhugel    |    Email: Christophe.Wolfhugel@grasp.insa-lyon.fr
  "IBM France's high quality rs6k hardware service:  (thanks you ECA-015)"
  "  before, it seems to work...  after,  crash-blurps-noreboot-yellow-button"

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