Subj : PHATstar's Use of Secure File Co-Location
To   : All
From : warmfuzzy
Date : Fri May 25 2018 19:31:58

Have you ever wondered how the Fishingnet or the RetroBOX can claim to have
16+ TB of data when the dedicated server host only offers 800 GB to 3 TB? 
Well, using Linux we can "mount" a remote system's file directories onto the
server (attaching it) so as it would be as if the mounted directory worked
just as well as any other files on the server.  There is a major drawback of
speed since the co-location server (the computer at home) only has an upload
capacity of 1.5 megabytes per second (10 Mbit) while the dedicated servers
have 100Mbit and 1Gbit respectively, but 1.5 megs per second is still pretty
good. We put the most important and used files on the dedicated server and
the less used but still cool stuff on the home system which is left on all
the time.  This wouldn't work without a static IP which we pay extra for each
month, but an extra $5 for a static IP is still a really good deal.  The
software used to pull off this piece of magic is called SSHFS and requires
the installation of OpenSSH, and the two systems are required to be running
Linux or FreeBSD.  Linux does everything very well so we use that,
specifically the Ubuntu distribution.  The server is running off of a
Cappuccino PC with a VanTek double-drive docking bay with two 8 TB drives in
JBOD mode (Just a Bunch Of Disks).

Not all of this is implemented yet, but this is how it will be done.

There are two methods of handling co-location in MysticBBS: CD-ROM mode or
normal mode: CD-ROM mode copies the files from the mounted location into a
temporary location and then shoots the data full speed to the downloader,
while normal mode sends it as fast as it can without making a copy of the
files first.  It is intended to use the "normal" mode as it will work very
well that way and the user won't be kept waiting.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A39 2018/04/21 (Linux/64)
 * Origin: Sp00knet Master Hub [PHATstar] (700:100/0)

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