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Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ulysses.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!ucbvax!ulysses!smb
From: smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin)
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Re: The politics of groups (of people)
Message-ID: <1090@ulysses.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Sep-85 07:56:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: ulysses.1090
Posted: Tue Sep 10 07:56:17 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 11-Sep-85 06:30:35 EDT
References: <1996@amdahl.UUCP>, <791@vortex.UUCP> <626@bu-cs.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 19

> Networking technology is progressing
> quickly enough that I doubt this will be a problem for long. A simple
> thing that would help would just be to figure out some way to get a
> little more 'star' configured, with two sites setting up a fast link
> like a 9600B leased line and feeding their local sites. I think this
> kind of thing is not explored enough, certainly not by me but I will
> (the B.U. == Harvard link is still 1200b.) Processors are getting so
> cheap that I doubt it will be long before active sites can just absorb
> the cost of a dedicated box for feeding/receiving news. I think the
> current cost to us for an AT&T UNIX/PC (nee 7300) with SYSV, 1MB mem,
> 20MB disk is now about 4-5,000, and for these kind of problems will run
> neck and neck with a VAX750.

I'm afraid you're grossly underestimating the CPU and disk throughput
requirements to put netnews on a machine.  2 of our 5 outbound links, on
a 750 used solely as a communications server (Ethernets, DMR-11s, laser
printers, etc.), are at high speed.  Guess what -- one uuxqt running rnews
and there are no cycles left.  If there are two, reading news will become
unpleasant.  Those two plus a print job will totally kill the machine.