                                                             
                 
                      
                 
                       
      Setting up an incoming telnet connection to PCBoard


Salt Air PCBoard Bulletin Board System / Telnet pcboard.com

Q: Is it possible to have incoming telnet access to a PCBoard BBS with either
   a 28,800/33,600Kb modem connection or ISDN connection?

A: Really, either will work because what you are referring to are just the
   components to get the Internet to your house or place of business.  From
   there, you need to find a way to get that to communicate with PCBoard.

Two ideas come to mind:

 1) With OS/2, you can hook the feed into your network (usually requires a TSU
   and a router) and then use VMODEM.  With the USR connection, you can setup
   the SLIP connection under OS/2 warp and still use VMODEM.  The point being
   here that the SLIP connection with the USR 33.6 will be cheaper in the
   short term but it limits you to one machine.  Once you exceed that, you
   need to look at getting a more permanent connection installed like ISDN or
   fractional T1.

 2) Hook up your internet connection to a terminal server.  Then you plug in
   cables from the term server to COM ports in your BBS machine.  This way
   you can get inbound telnet.
 
   To answer your question, either will work.  What you have to determine is
   the growth of your board and how that will fit into today's purchases.
   For example, if you decide to go ISDN for the short term and growth of your
   system later requires an upgrade, you may have to move to T1.  In doing so,
   you need to purchase new hardware which is an added expense.  On the other
   hand if you start with fractional T1 now, and later move up to full T1,
   the overall upgrade cost is less.

Q: What exactly do you mean by terminal server?

A: A terminal server can take a feed from an Ethernet connection (and probably
   other connections too) and route them out to serial ports.  As I understand
   it, the term server's purpose in life is to take a network connection of
   some type and output it to RS-232 cables so you can connect to "terminals"
   or in our situation, nodes of PCBoard.

Q: In my situation of setting up incoming telnet access via a 33,600Kb modem
   link, is the terminal server (the hardware itself) on my end of the
   connection or at my provider's?

A: The terminal server is on your end.  Here is a diagram showing the
   connection. 

                                        +--------+
                      +--------+-------=|        |
                      |  Term  |-------=|   BBS  |
Internet Feed-+ Server |-------=|Computer|
                      +--------+-------=|        |
                                        +--------+


Therefore, the connection goes like this:

 1)  Internet feed (24/7 33.6) gets connected to the terminal server from
    some sort of receiptor unit (probably a TSU of some sort)

 2)  From the terminal server is usually some RJ-45 -> RS232 (serial)
    cables.

 3)  The serial cables get plugged into COM ports on the BBS machine and
    act like any other standard serial ports.


 CDC Support


Date: 12-14-95 (15:27)              Number: 1001 of 1031 (Refer# NONE)
  To: Intrepid
From: Clay Crye
Subj: Inbound telnet
Read: NO                            Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE (Echo)
Conf: PCBoard Support (180)         Read Type: GENERAL (+)

->    Can anyone tell me how to get inbound telnet setup with PCBoard?

Ok, let me import the information how to get PCBoard telnettable.  The term
used here, "Feed" is a type of connection to an Internet Provider via T-1, 56K,
ISDN, etc.
---------------

There are a couple of different solutions.  We use two different solutions
here.  One uses hardware, the other one uses software.  I'll describe our
two solutions and perhaps the information will help you decide what to do.

1) We have a terminal server with null modem cables for one set of connections.
   PCBoard is configured to talk to a comm port, but it has the Packet Switch
   Network setting (found in PCBSetup | Modem Information | Switches) set to
   YES so that PCBoard talks directly to the serial port without expecting to
   find a modem on the line.

   The internet feed comes into the term server and then gets split out to each
   of the comm ports that PCBoard is talking to.

   The advantages here are simplicity.  The disadvantages are the limited
   number of ports on the term server, and the speed at which the serial ports
   can be configured.  We have set ours to 38400 bps.

   This approach will work under any operating system.  You don't even need
   a multitasker if you want to just use separate machines for each node.

2) Our other method requires using OS/2 and is a software-only solution to
   the problem (in this case, a term server is not needed).

   To do this, we have installed IBM's TCP/IP for OS/2 (just the base product)
   together with Artisoft's LANtastic for OS/2.  The combination of these two
   products makes our company wide network available on that machine and that
   includes both the file services (provided by LANtastic) as well as the
   TCP/IP services.

   From there, we installed the SIO comm driver from Ray Gwinn which includes
   the new VMODEM module.  VMODEM provides a "virtual modem" interface.  The
   word "virtual" implying that no real/physical hardware is used, it's a
   "virtual" (or "unreal") mode, emulated completely in software.

   When using VMODEM, PCBoard thinks it is talking to a real modem.  It sends
   modem init strings, it sends modem answer strings, it watches carrier, flow
   control and other signals, the same way it would if it were talking to a
   real modem.  VMODEM, in the mean time, is mapping the data out thru the
   TCP/IP services and that then goes out to the internet.

   In this case, there is NO extra hardware involved!  No modems.  No serial
   ports.  No cables.  Ignoring the ethernet adapter and cable, the entire
   system is composed of software.  <g>

   The advantages to this approach are that adding another node to the system
   is as simple as opening another window on the desktop.  Plus, the speed of
   the connection is limited only by the speed of our ethernet network, the
   speed of our TCP/IP connection, and the speed of the connections across the
   internet.  (As an example, from here to Andy Keeves' system (ExecNet BBS) we
   typically get 12,000 cps ... but if we used the term server approach we
   would be limited to 3840 cps due to the 38400 bps port speed)

   What are the disadvantagaes?  A little more CPU horsepower and memory is
   needed since you need to run OS/2 instead of DESQview.

The above information is just a brief overview as to the two different
approaches we are using to provide telnet access to our system across the
internet.

You can locate SIO on this system by typing "L SIO A".  The documentation that
comes with SIO describes how to set it up.  As for the term server approach,
your best bet would be to look for internet hardware providers in your area
who are experienced with setting up a term server.
---------------

Hope this helps.

                                 Clay Crye
                           Salt Air Support Staff
                             Clay Crye@1:311/40

                                Team PCBoard
               PPL-Perfect Programming Language for your system


                    Connecting PCBoard to the Internet
      Written by Jonathan C. Higbee, Clark Development Company, Inc.
                              April 11, 1995

     The battle for Internet connectivity solutions has been joined by a
long-time player in the BBS market. With Clark Development's release of
PCBoard 15.2, long time and new BBS sysops can have a more integrated solution
for providing Internet electronic mail and Usenet newsgroup access to their
callers. But that's not all. Because PCBoard has built in support for OS/2
ports and packet switched networks it can easily be set up to allow inbound
telnet(1) sessions from the Internet. Clark Development does not charge extra
for these powerful features. They are included as part of a philosophy that
precludes nickel and dimming of sysops.

     PCBoard's support for Internet mail and Usenet news is provided for in a
new built-in UUCP interface. UUCP is a file transfer protocol used in the UNIX
and Internet world. BBS sysops have recently started adding UUCP interfaces to
their BBSes, but until now a low-cost integrated solution was not available.

     How hard is it to set PCBoard up to do UUCP? Not hard at all! Inside
PCBoard's integrated setup utility, PCBSetup, you enter your Internet address
information, which conference number you want as your Internet mail
conference, what Usenet conferences you want, etc. However the first step in
setting PCBoard up for UUCP is shopping for an Internet provider.

     There are a wide range of providers out there. Some operations are
small, some are large - prices and quality do vary. When shopping for a
provider it is important to obtain a list of all charges. Also don't lock
yourself in for a full year with the first one that strikes your fancy. Try
one out for a month or two and see how they work. You will quickly learn how
easy it is to get onto their system, whether their system is fast enough for
your needs, and how they treat you after the initial sale. Most providers do
an excellent job, but each one's knowledge about how to be a good provider can
vary.

     Monthly fees for UUCP accounts range from $10 to $100 a month, depending
on your location, provider, and on the volume of E-mail and Usenet traffic you
want.  An increasingly popular option with PCBoard sysops is receiving Usenet
news from a satellite (such as PageSat(2) or Planet Connect(3)). The
satellite option allows you to receive as many newsgroups as you want,  and
then pay less to a land-line provider (since all you would be transferring to
them would be E-mail and Usenet postings).

     For some, UUCP is not enough. PCBoard can be easily setup for telnet
access. There are several ways to allow Internet users to telnet to PCBoard.
The easiest and least expensive requires using the increasingly popular and
powerful OS/2 operating system. After obtaining OS/2 the only other software
you need is SIO by Ray Gwinn of The Software Division(4). SIO does exist as
shareware and is available for PCBoard sysops to download from Clark
Development's support BBS, Salt Air, at (801)261-1686.

     Why do you need the popular SIO communications driver for OS/2? Because
SIO includes a product called VMODEM (for virtual-modem). VMODEM supports a
direct translation of an incoming telnet session to an SIO for OS/2
communications port. Thus after getting a dedicated line, all you need to do
to allow incoming telnet sessions to your PCBoard is to:  configure the TCP/IP
package of  OS/2 to what your Internet address setup is; buy or download SIO
and install it; and lastly tell PCBoard what SIO communications port it is to
monitor. With all that set, when an Internet user telnets to your address, the
session is routed to your machine, VMODEM in SIO translates the incoming
telnet to an SIO communication port, and PCBoard answer the call. PCBoard does
detect when it is being run by OS/2 and gives up times slices appropriately -
so it doesn't hog the whole system like some DOS applications do. PCBoard
talks directly to the default OS/2 communications driver and SIO. All these
features make incoming telnet to PCBoard easy and workable.

     After OS/2 and SIO the second easiest way to allow incoming telnet
sessions to PCBoard is with a terminal server. Those companies and groups
which have a dedicated line called a T1 coming to their site usually have a
router and terminal server hooked up. Between the terminal server and one or
more PCs running PCBoard you connect serial cables with null-modem adapters. 
In PCBoard's PCBSetup you set the option "running a packet switch network" to
"Yes," and that's all you do!

     Clark Development has been successfully using both OS/2 and terminal
server methods to allow inbound telnet access to their support BBS, Salt Air. 
PCBoard users and other interested parties can telnet to 199.67.41.2 (OS/2
solution) or 199.67.41.252 (terminal server solution). Demonstration software
and product information are available on Salt Air for anyone who calls or
telnets in. Full access to their system is reserved for customers. Here are
diagrams of both terminal server and OS/2 connectivity methods:

     PCBoard <-> VMODEM(SIO) <-> OS/2 <-> Internet

     PCBoard <-> Terminal Server <-> Internet

     There are other ways to connect PCBoard up to the Internet, but they are
not as easy as the previously mentioned solutions. One is to use BBSNet by
MurkWorks(5). BBSNet comes in OS/2 and DESQview versions. It allows callers
to PCBoard to telnet to other Internet sites, and allows outbound FTP, Gopher,
and Archie. Providing all this access to BBS callers is not cheap. Not only do
you need an adequate dedicated line to an Internet provider, you also need
adequate hardware and software. The cost for BBSNet is approximately $300 for
a two node version or $800 for ten.

     PCBoard <---> BBSNet <---> Internet

     Another connection solution is produced by Key Software(6). They have
written doors which allow callers to PCBoard to have full Internet access. A
door is just like any other computer program except that it is designed to do
input and output through a serial port and not just to the screen. The
original PCBoard to Internet door they produced is called KA9Q Door. This door
does require the KA9Q NOS (network operating system) - a free-ware amateur
radio related product. However Key Software just released their KSP SLIP door
which no longer requires the use of KA9Q. Here is a diagram of how both doors
are connected to the Internet:

     PCBoard <---> KA9Q Door <---> Local Area Network 
                                   connected to the 
                                   Internet
       
     PCBoard <---> KSP SLIP Door <---> Local Area Network 
                                       connected to the 
                                       Internet


     Clark Development is clearly determined to stay on top of the growing
BBS market. Their latest release of PCBoard 15.2 exemplifies their dedication
to provide low-cost workable solutions for interfacing with exciting entities
like the Internet. After a thorough examination I believe PCBoard provides the
most "bang for the buck" of any BBS package.


(1)  Telnet - a command used on the Internet to directly connect one computer
     to another.

(2)  PageSat Inc., 992 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303, (415)424-0380,
     (800)227-6288, Fax (415)424-0405, info@pagesat.net

(3)  Planet Systems, Inc., 1065 Cosby Highway, Newport, TN 37821, (615)623-
     8300, Fax (615)623-8751, info@ns1.planetc.com

(4)  To order SIO contact: The Software Division, Raymond L. Gwinn, 12469
     Cavalier Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22192, (703) 494-0595, p00321@psilink.com 

(5)  MurkWorks, P.O. Box 631, Potsdam, NY 13676, (315)265-4717,
     bkc@murkworks.com or info@murkworks.com

(6)  Key Software Products, 440 Ninth Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025-1802,
     (415)364-9847
