Tim,
Linux generally runs classic news servers such as INN or
CNews+NNTP. Most Linux distro's ship with INN as that is
currently being maintained. I've set up INN sites with full
newsfeeds, thousands of users, and peak usage of +500 concurrent
users... in the BIG News server world this is considered 'dinky.'
Though I haven't done this under Linux I would expect a modern
x86 with plenty of ram should be able to handle the job of a full
feed+bunch o' users, especially now that in kernel disk striping
is available. As for handling a small group like this along with
some ancilliary groups like 'for sale', 'EE', etc., with our
volume I bet a Sun 3 or VAXStation could handle the load of NNTP
Server, Mail Server, and mail to news exploder.
I can't speak to Microsoft NT as a stable News serving platform;
never done that. I can't imagine how it would work without
symbolic links and heirerarchical mount points, but I note that
there _are_ commercial news servers available. However, INN,
Cnews+NNTP, and even the original BNews are still available in
Open Source. As always, YMMV. Though, for something like this I
would _always_ suggest the free alternative first. ;-)
--jmg
From: "Hotze" <photze(a)batelco.com.bh>
Subject: Re: Thoughts about a Classiccmp private newsgroup
Yeah, but could such a thing be done on Linux/UNIX OS's? I'm guessing that
you would need a NT server... and I don't like NT servers. I actually had a
NT and Linux server running on the exact same machine, at different times.
NT was harder to handle, and had more crashes just when I needed it most,
with many requests. Also, I had to reboot it 8 times to get it set up with
my video card, but not other cards, altogether, it took 16 reboots, compared
to 1 with Linux. My NT 5.0 beta is showing some signs of hope, but I'll
need a lot more before trusting NT with a hobby list as important as this
one.
Just my 0.02
[snip]