From igc.apc.org!notes Sun Nov 29 15:37:22 1992
From: arni@web.apc.org (Arni Mikelsons)
Date: 24 Nov 92 13:22 PST
Subject: - GreenNet on Internet
To: Recipients of conference "tech.smallsys" <tech.smallsys@conf.igc.apc.org>
Message-Id: <269400022%web.apc.org@igc.apc.org>


Internet Gateway in London

Due to long-distance costs and current communication linkages it is
most economical to move the majority of international messages from
Africa through London, England for re-forwarding worldwide. The
mechanism for doing this is to distribute messages via the
Internet. For structural reasons (local phone calls are not free in
the UK and they are in Canada) Web has already been able to install
an Internet link, but installation costs in the United Kingdom are
much higher. 

However, once the initial costs are met, the Internet connection
will save enough money to cover the ongoing running costs as soon
as installation and testing are complete.  The investment in
equipment and installation should pay for itself through reduced
costs over the first twenty-four months of operation. 

Using Internet has the following advantages:

     -    future per-message costs will be dramatically reduced
          because the cost of Internet is a flat rate which does
          not increase according to volume or time;

     -    messages will move to and from London to most APC and
          academic systems the instant that they are received;

     -    messaging reliability and ease of addressing will be
          greatly increased.

Total requirements for GreenNet's connection include:

     -    registration and installation fees for leased line and
          joining the UKNet Internet group;

     -    subscription fees for up to one year, after which the
          ongoing costs can be covered by using the Internet for
          APC's general message transfer);

     -    additional hardware needed for the link (CISCO router,
          ethernet);

     -    technical staff and consultancy for installation and
          training.

In order to take advantage of the Internet connection the APC
international gateways for Africa (Web and GreenNet) will need to
undertake the following upgrades: 

     -    shadow password suite upgrade
     -    smart mailer (SMAIL 3.1 or Sendmail) upgrade

As already noted, the GreenNet FIDO gateway carries a much higher
volume of traffic than other APC FIDO gateways, and this is likely
to continue. To ensure that this volume of traffic, together with
the full Internet connection, can be reliably operated and
maintained, a second 486 should be installed in parallel to the
current system and be linked by ethernet so that the load can be
shared across two CPUs when the bulk of gnfido's traffic is
transferred to UNIX under RFMAIL.