Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!toby From: toby@angst.forefront.com.au (Toby Sargeant) Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.freetalk.english Subject: Re: ICQ numbers Date: 12 Mar 1998 03:41:41 GMT Organization: PlayStation Net Yaroze (SCEE) Lines: 29 Message-ID: References: <3506f145.5827417@news.playstation.co.uk> <35072BC7.2328FC29@cybec.com.au> NNTP-Posting-Host: ns.forefront.com.au X-Newsreader: slrn (0.9.4.6 UNIX) On Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:26:47 +1000, Toby Hutton wrote: > >I'd use it, except I get shocking connections. I have about a dozen >servers listed in my preferences, and sometimes it'll be weeks before I >can connect. > >Seems to be a crappy system, there must be a better way of doing it, >rather than 'logging in' every time and continuously polling the >server. It should be more server-less, more peer-ful. This approach works for web servers and irc. and from what i've heard, ICQ uses peer-peer transport, so the servers must just be for directory lookup. AFAIK a much better implementation involves having a large number of servers arranged in an n-cube, so that all the high volume traffic travels along a high bandwidth, redundant route. server based protocols are also better in cases where firewalls stop free'n'easy peer-peer networking. Monash university has a system known as goofey, which has been around for about 6 years now, which is similar to ICQ in many ways. There's also a system called zephyr, which grew up in one of the american universities. Maybe it's worth finding the source to the server and clients, and setting up a server just for yaroze users. The only real requirement is a (unix based) machine permanently connected to the net to act as a server. Goofey, at least, has unix and windows clients. >Toby. Toby.