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From: mjohnson@APPLE.COM
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: ftp.apple.com update [PLEASE READ]
Message-ID: <53222@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 22 May 91 20:35:39 GMT
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Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
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Just a short update on ftp.apple.com

The machine has been up and down, but its up time is starting to outlast
its down time.  We are working around one annoying problem that is causing
the crashes and hope to have resolution soon.  In the meantime, we are also
exploring other I/O and RAM options to throw as much CPU as we can at it.

We have now implemented the following (thanks to Erik Fair's dedicated nights):

A number-to-name lookup failure refusal, so if our ftp listener cannot resolve
your name from your IP number you will be refused a connection, and a limit of
one client per remote IP network, so if everyone from a single site decides
to hit us at once you fight it out against each other, instead of against the
rest of the network.

Fortunately, with these changes we have upped the maximum number of concurrent
sessions to 40 for the time being.

I should warn that we have also refused access to several sites who have been
hitting us with automated scripts every few minutes or on the hour.  So if
you use an automated script to get on, get your stuff, and get off, great, but
don't keep hitting the machine over and over again or you risk the same fate.

We had to swap drives out two days ago after one bit the dust, so the normal
DTS sample code and the FDHD images which I had posted are being redone on the
new drive (thanks for your patience here).

Also note that the net install version should really only be used by larger
sites who need to upgrade multiple machines over a network.  The disk images
should suffice for others.  To clear the last bit of confusion, you need
DiskCopy 4.1 or 4.2 to convert the images to floppy disks and you can get this
in /ftp/dts/utils.  Do NOT use MountImage to install from the disks, as the
results are NOT guaranteed.

In summary...

We are still working on the stability of the machine, so it is not yet up
and running without supervision.  If you lose a connection, we apologize.
If you are a SCSI-2 hard disk/card vendor or a RAM vender with 4Mbit SIMMs
and want to help a worthy cause, let me know...

Thanks for your patience.

--
Mark B. Johnson                                            AppleLink: mjohnson
Developer Technical Support                         domain: mjohnson@Apple.com
Apple Computer, Inc.         UUCP:  {amdahl,decwrl,sun,unisoft}!apple!mjohnson

"You gave your life to become the person you are right now.  Was it worth it?"
                                                         - Richard Bach, _One_