Q: how to make home PC an internet node?

[Glen]

Dave Writes...
> From: dc at max.berkeley.edu (Dave Cottingham)
> Message-ID: <00942BD0.3790B740 at max.berkeley.edu>
 
> It sure would be great if my PC at home were on the internet.  I'm
> sure this must be possible, since there are plenty of smallish
> businesses on the internet.  However, a perusal of the documents at
> nic.ddn.mil shows only how to launch a new network, which requires
> divine intervention from a government agency, and is definitely of a
> grander scale than what I have in mind.

Depending on what type of PC you have, you can definitely get hooked
up to the net.  SCO produces a short version of UNIX (called Xenix)
which should satisfy your needs - a version is even available for
an 8088-XT based machine.
 
> I'm hoping that someone out there who's done this can tell me how to
> go about getting assigned an internet address, and what kind of
> physical connection they use and to where, and just how massive a
> financial outlay is required.  (Software is another issue, but I was
> going to worry about that later.)

Now, getting a true internet registration cannot be done under Xenix,
because it lacks some of the communications systems needed to perform
true internet connections.  From my experience, you need a minimum
386-based PC, with 2M RAM, at LEAST a 40MB hard drive, and SCO UNIX.

If you don't mind being in another domain, instead of having your own,
you don't need UNIX.  I, for example, have a machine called "sungate",
but I'm "in" the UUNET domain.  So, instead of being  glen at sungate.ORG,
I am glen%sungate at uunet.UU.NET... makes no difference to me, but I'm
running Xenix, and that's just me.  Being in the UUNET domain as I am,
I still have full access to news and mail, and 24-hour support from
them for changes and problems.  

Getting news and mail requires a minimum 286-PC, and SCO-Xenix with 
a minimum of 20MB hard drive and 1M RAM.  If you want to store news
for a while, you should probably have more space.  I have 25 newsgroups
coming in here, and they require 10MB for two weeks storage.

If you just want mail access, you can do it on an 86-XT machine with
640K and as little as 10MB of hard drive space.  SCO's Xenix-86 will
do that job nicely.

If you have the hardware, the software reatils for about $400 from
SCO.  Send a message to info at sco.COM for up-to-date pricing, and a
sales referral.
 
> If this turns out to be impossible, I figure I'll settle for news and
> mail via uucp.  I know one way to do this, which is to get in contact
> with one of the sites on the NIXPUB list.  If anybody knows a better
> way, I'd like to hear about it.

In any event, many people choose to hook up to a number of networks.  The
most popular of these is probably UUNET Communications in Fairfax, VA. 
They offer a full news feed, mail service, FTP's and other services.  You
can reach them at  postmaster at uunet.UU.NET  for info; however, I can tell
you that, to become a uunet member costs $35/month plus $2/hour connect.
There is no setup charge.  UUNET can help you register a domain with all
the proper people.  This is provided free to members, and costs $35 for
non members.  The uunet postmaster can provide you with more info.

For me, I started out not knowing what "uucp" was, and learned everything
I know from SCO and UUNET.  I recommend you contact them; however, feel
free to re-contact me.  I'd be happy to help you get set up and, since
I'm in the uunet domain, I can get assistance from them for you very
quickly.  You can reach me again at   glen%sungate at uunet.UU.NET .

Hope this helps!

-- 
--*--  --*--  --*--  --*--  --*--  --*--  --*--  --*--  --*--  --*--  --*--
Glen / sungate! 301-330-4700         It'll take time, but we're going far...
BangPath: uunet!sungate!glen         you and me, I know we are... In time,
InterNet: glen%sungate at uunet.UU.NET  we'll be dancing in the streets all night