InfiNet - The International Freedom of Information Network. Requirements of Area Code Hubs and Regional Hosts. Last Updated on November 19, 1995. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ INFINET DEPENDS ON ITS' HUBS AND HOSTS! Without our hubs and hosts, InfiNet would not exist. If you are interested in acting as a hub for your area code, we'd really appreciate it! We are constantly looking for hubs in new areas, and even if you haven't acted as a hub before, as long as you were able to setup this network to run on your BBS, you should also be able to act as a hub with little added difficulty! If you wish to be a hub for your AC, simply netmail John Cropper at 69:1/0, or call him voice at 1-609-637-9654 (anytime) to discuss this. Thanks! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ALL InfiNet systems; hubs, hosts, or otherwise, are required to abide by ALL the Rules, Regulations, and Policies laid out in both INFINPOL.TXT and INFINSET.TXT. Be sure that you are well-acquainted with both of these documents before perusing this one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ UNIVERSAL REQUIREMENT FOR ALL INFINET HUBS AND HOSTS: Regardless of which position you currently occupy, InfiNet Area Code Hubs and Regional Hosts (and this cannot be stressed enough) have a Fido- standard Front End Mailer online and accessible 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 days a week. All of your downlinks must be able to crashmail you if needed, and your mailer must be available in case of emergency or a problem in the network. If ANY current InfiNet host attempts to crashmail you, and it is found that you do not have a mailer currently online, your system will be instantly demoted to a standard node. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ InfiNet Area Code Hub Requirements: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ InfiNet Area Code Hubs have only four requirements: 1) Pick up ALL ECHOS that are requested by your downlinks. (Downlink is a "network" term for any systems that poll from you - ie, the other BBSes in your area code.) If you are already carrying whatever echos they are interested in, then you need carry NOTHING extra. 2) Above and beyond the normal polling requirements, which aren't actually enforced, except in the most extreme cases, Area Code Hubs are REQUIRED to poll at LEAST once every two days. Daily polling is preferred, but may be waived for smaller/less active area codes. 3) Carry INFINET.ZIP, the InfiNet Information Pack, on your BBS for download. If your software has a provision for Free Downloads, it is highly preferable that you set the file to Free, and mark it as such. We want completely unrestrained distribution of this file. Feel free to upload it ANYWHERE - hand it out on IRC, send it up to FTP sites, use it to improve your upload/download ratio on other boards. Spread it! 4) Advertise for the network. This one is more an option than a requirement, but the more you advertise for your network, the more systems will join it, the better off the network will be as a whole. As far as recruiting new nodes for your area code, "Short" applications are available, which makes the entire application process MUCH simpler. Ask John Cropper at 69:1/0 for information on obtaining a short app. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ InfiNet Regional Host Requirements: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ InfiNet Regional Hosts, of course, must follow all of the above rules. In addition: 5) InfiNet Regional Hosts must carry ALL of InfiNet - every single echo, from beginning to end, with a minimum rollover value of 100 messages (per echo). Additionally, InfiNet Regional Hosts must offer InfiNet, in it's entirety, to their entire userbase for immediate access upon validation. 6) InfiNet Regional Hosts MUST POLL NIGHTLY. This cannot be stressed enough: If a host fails to poll nightly, ALL systems under that host are forced to wait for THEIR mail - thus causing MANY negative feelings to erupt, both towards the network, and towards that host. 7) InfiNet Regional Hosts are crashmailed the latest copy of the echolist at LEAST five days in advance of net-wide release. These five days are to be utilized to set up any new echos, and remove any old echos. 8) Help your new nodes in any way possible. While the majority of applicants are knowledgable and experienced, some are occasionally new and inexperienced, and need to "have their hands held", so to speak, during the setup process. As a Regional Host, you are REQUIRED to administer any assistance necessary to get the new nodes setup completely. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cost-Sharing: Any hub or host for InfiNet MAY, at his OWN OPTION, implement a cost- sharing (or cost-recovery) program for his area. What this entails is a monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly or yearly fee paid by any LOCAL nodes that poll you. (A Regional Host may NOT implement this, except for in his OWN area code, due to having LD sysops under him already paying long distance to poll from him.) No exorbitant fees may be requested, and if any of your nodes complains to me about you charging twenty bucks a month to poll ten bases, you die. :) However, if you have six nodes under you, each polling the entire network, feel free to charge them each 1/6th of your monthly costs to poll from your host. Simple enough? I certainly hope so. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If, as a host or hub, you find yourself incapable, unable, or unwilling to comply with ALL of the above regulations (where applicable), you will be forced to resign your position. Now, even though this SOUNDS very cruel and sinister, it isn't. At some point in the future, expect the following to make your jobs easier: ú 1-800 polling nodes for hubs and hosts only. Eventually, I plan to totally shoulder the costs of the regional hosts, making your "job" much less of a chore. ú Salaries. At some point in the future, I intend to instate a commission for the amount of mail to pass through each hub/host system, and a bonus for each new node recruited and setup under your region. Expect to see these two upgrades be discussed sometime in the future. Thank you, John Cropper InfiNet Administrator