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| Author |
Message |
krj
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Centrex and ISDN
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Sep 27 20:55 UTC 1996 |
As Grex is getting a Centrex phone system as part of the move,
I thought I'd mention that this opens up a nice possibility for
an ISDN Internet connection. If the ISDN lines are installed as part of
your Centrex group, then you can make ISDN "data" calls without
the per-minute charges billed to "normal" business customers.
This would cost money and is not urgent. But as an inbound
Telnet user, I'd sure like to see a 128K internet link. :)
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| 59 responses total. |
steve
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response 1 of 59:
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Sep 27 20:59 UTC 1996 |
Heh...
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dang
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response 2 of 59:
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Sep 27 21:19 UTC 1996 |
We can't afford it now, but if we got a lot more members, who knows?
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russ
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response 3 of 59:
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Sep 28 01:12 UTC 1996 |
Grex needs more memory and CPU cycles before it can support that, I fear.
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ryan1
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response 4 of 59:
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Sep 28 03:10 UTC 1996 |
Hm, IMO i would prefer a faster connection.
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robh
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response 5 of 59:
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Sep 28 03:57 UTC 1996 |
Re 3 - I thought the current router could handle 128kbps ISDN
with no problem. But I'm not the hardware expert on the staff.
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davel
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response 6 of 59:
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Sep 28 16:05 UTC 1996 |
Bandwidth limitations keep the CPU cycles actually used on Grex down, Rob.
I'm inclined to think Russ is right, and that the same number of users through
a faster link would bog things down a *lot*. But OTOH much of everyone's time
is spent staring at info just displayed, with a prompt waiting for them to
type something, so maybe not.
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dang
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response 7 of 59:
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Sep 28 17:35 UTC 1996 |
No, not really. That's only in picospan, which is not the top use of the
users on this system. I forget what is, but party and mail are above it.
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ladyevil
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response 8 of 59:
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Sep 29 03:36 UTC 1996 |
This would be dreamy.. but, yes, it's probably better to upgrade the brainchip
and memory first.
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arthurp
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response 9 of 59:
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Sep 29 07:16 UTC 1996 |
I just checked top at 3:15 am, and it says that we are consistently running
at 1.5% idle right now. I'd say that any more net width would help only
slightly since CPU cycles are also at a premium.
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srw
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response 10 of 59:
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Sep 29 17:47 UTC 1996 |
We really do need more bandwidth. I think 128k is probably a good match for
our needs. Yes, it would load the CPU more. But there are remedies. The
biggest obstacle is the cost of the 128k worth of packets. ISPs charge a lot
for that. If we can find an exceptionally good deal, this kind of thing may
very well be in Grex's future. The fact that intra-centrex ISDN is untimed
is not lost on us. We were aware of it years ago. It is part of the motivation
for going to centrex, but there are more important benefits as well
(centrex-mate features) that we can benefit from right away.
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popcorn
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response 11 of 59:
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Sep 29 18:12 UTC 1996 |
I've heard lots of urban legends that the telco no longer lets you make
unlimited ISDN intra-centrex calls, because they were losing money on the
deal. I have *no* idea if this is true or not.
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arthurp
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response 12 of 59:
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Sep 29 19:55 UTC 1996 |
Of course there is that 56K/65K 1 channel option, too.
I think if we left the number of pty's where it is, we could fully load the
system and keep reasonable response times for those people with a wider net
wire.
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scg
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response 13 of 59:
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Sep 30 01:04 UTC 1996 |
We can afford to do this, I think, but we need to talk to an ISP that has made
various offers to us about it and find out. Grex definitely needs more
bandwidth, because we are trying to shove more stuff than will fit over the
current connection. With our current bandwidth situation, there's no way we
could afford to say no to more bandwidth.. As it is, we have staffers
manually having to think out the mail queue, because there isn't enough
bandwidth for all the mail to get through.
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russ
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response 14 of 59:
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Sep 30 05:32 UTC 1996 |
(I spend a great deal of time waiting for either elm or bbs to load.
Given this, IMHO Grex is well short of the CPU it can use.)
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popcorn
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response 15 of 59:
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Sep 30 14:30 UTC 1996 |
As your uid number gets earlier in the password file, some of those delays
should speed up. Hopefully.
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ryan1
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response 16 of 59:
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Oct 1 02:44 UTC 1996 |
Heh, a slight, but good advantage to people who got their accoutn earlier :)
On this matter, I definetly think Grex could use a faster connection
better than a faster processor or more memory. Of corse, I feel this way
because I telnet into grex :) A faster network connection would better
help the people who telnet into grex, however the dialup users won't
notice much of a difference unless they have telnet, ftp, usenet access.
Still, I usually receive more lag from the connection than the processor
in my opinion. Most of the time when I have terrible lag is in fact not
when the load average is shooting way up., but because of the network
connection. (Wheter it is from michnet or grex, i don't know, but it's a
good possibility that MichNet is contributing a LOT to it... i really wish
ALpena would get a real ISP)
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tsty
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response 17 of 59:
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Oct 1 05:52 UTC 1996 |
more,bigger,faster ... the yawp. maybe grex should target AOL for
a takeover bid?
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birdlady
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response 18 of 59:
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Oct 1 20:10 UTC 1996 |
<birdy cheeps and molts>
<apologizes and picks the feathers up>
Fast would be good... But I agree that we have to look carefully at cost,
etc. Grex isn't painfully slow right now, and like Ryan said, it could be
our MichNet link. Some people would love to blame Grex for all of the lag,
where in reality they're dialed into the system from hell and have telnetted
from envirolink to nethernet to m-net to grex. ;-}
BTW -- the cheeping/molting was in response to seeing "AOL" on my screen.
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ryan1
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response 19 of 59:
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Oct 1 22:55 UTC 1996 |
Sarah - When I was talking about MichNet, I was talking about MY connection.
I don't know where grex gets it's connection exactally (ICNET?!?)
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russ
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response 20 of 59:
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Oct 2 03:28 UTC 1996 |
<russ suggests that the low-UID prejudice is a form of inurement to the
staff and long-term users, and watches the fireworks. ;->
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tsty
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response 21 of 59:
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Oct 2 08:45 UTC 1996 |
... until all the holes are opened up for new newuser logins to use.
... re #19 .. yes, ICNET (it's in the motd)(oops, close the wormcan fast)
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scott
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response 22 of 59:
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Oct 2 10:53 UTC 1996 |
<scott suggests that russ check scott's UID before making the suggesting in
#20>
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dang
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response 23 of 59:
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Oct 2 15:11 UTC 1996 |
<dang wonders, because he's forgotten, how to check exactly what his low uid
is>
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ajax
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response 24 of 59:
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Oct 2 15:15 UTC 1996 |
Type !grep dang /etc/passwd at the "Respond or pass?" prompt. The first
number on the line with your name is your UID.
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