Starting a Bulletin Board System in Todays Marketplace By: Pat Carter Reality Relief Inc. A Lot of POTENTIAL Sysop's (System Operators) out there reading this article may feel a bit apprehensive about starting up a "BBS" today with the recent explosion of boards and the dramatic increase in the size of existing BBS systems. This article is being written to let you know theres plenty of users for all and that if anything the influx of new boards is good for the BBS community in general. I myself started Reality Relief BBS on a shoe string and a prayer in April of 1991. The BBS was a 286 with a 2400 baud modem and a 40 meg Harddrive. I began buy using a TEST-DRIVE version of wildcat's BBS Software and like a lot of folks who get into it, had the help of a local sysop to get me started. As Time progressed and people started joining our User Group of the BBS, I was able to expand the board to the point is it at today. In less than 1 year we were able to goto 5 Nodes and a 486/50 Main Server with additional Sub Servers and workstations. Also we went from 2400 Baud to 14,400 on three of our lines. This example is to show you it is still possible to (1) Have fun running a BBS (2) Expand your equipment (3) Not let the BBS run your life. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO RUN A BBS TODAY? Thats a question a lot of sysops ask of me and Im here to tell you the DEMANDS of users has gone up SIGNIFICANTLY in the past 2 YEARS. However the below list is a good starting point for you to reference. HARDWARE: 286 or Greater CPU with 2 Megs of Memory 40 Meg Hard Drive 2400 Baud Modem Color Monitor of some sort COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE/BBS SOFTWARE A BBS Operating System Now alot of you may wonder what software to run? What files do I need to carry? What Games Do I need to have? What Messages areas do I need to create? The Answer to all these questions is simple. (1) BBS Software - Download some of the test drive versions available on most local BBS Systems. Try them out (Before you set up a Board for others to call in to) then pick one YOU Like.... dont use a package just because everyone else seems to.... Be a innovator not a member of the pack. (2) Files - This will generally be determined by the types of users you attract to your board and WILL Vary from BBS to BBS even in the same city. My board for example caters to Sysops/Game Players/Adult Files/Networking. While John Doe's BBS May cater to Programming/Windows/Religous Files. The point is try to let th users dictate what files you carry or DECIDE what YOU like and carry that and let those that share your likes be attracted to your board. (2) Games - On-Line Games are a pretty stick subject, but I believe I can give you some help here. In my opinion you should scout arround the local boards and find what seems to be the TOP FIVE Played Games in the area. Then load those Door Programs onto your system. Then do a little exploring and find say 15 more doors that no one else in YOUR Area seems to be running and install those. It gets pretty tiring to the average user to see the SAME Doors on EVERY BBS they call. (3) Message Areas - There are two types of message areas you will find on the average BBS. [1] Local Message Areas - These are Message Areas that are only on that particular BBS you are happening to call. [2] Echo Conferences - These are message areas that the messages within are bounced between BBS system across the state, country, or world. This allows users to communicate with others across the nets who they normally might never have contact with in a local message area. This should be enough to get you started. If you have Questions/Comments feel free to drop me a note via the READER FEEDBACK Area of this magazine or VIA Netmail, US Mail or BBS Connect at: REALITY RELIEF BBS Inc. 5712 Sourwood Lane Knoxville, Tn 37921 615-690-2BBS 14,400 V32 615-690-0424 14,400 V32 615-690-0428 14,400 HST FIDONET: 1:3615/25 1:3615/26 REALNET: 54:54/1 54:54/2 54:54/1000 This is intended to be a monthly column so feel free to write with questions or topics you would like me to discuss.