INews Newsletter - Nov 17, 2000
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* * * I N e w s * * *
A publication of Internet Nebraska, composed and distributed by
* * * manager@inebraska.com * * *
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Volume 3, Number 12 November 17, 2000
Welcome to another issue of INews, Internet Nebraska's customer
newsletter. This monthly newsletter communicates service bulletins,
announcements and other useful information to our customers. Please let
us know what you think of it. Archives of INews are located at
http://www.inebraska.com/inews
In this issue: Welcome Seward!
Internet: Not Just for Work
E-Thanksgiving
Routers, Workhorses of the 'Net
Mr. Internet
*** Seward to be Online with IN ***
Beginning early next week, Internet Nebraska will be offering the same high
quality Internet access we offer elsewhere to the residents of Seward, NE
and the surrounding local calling area. Please let friends and family in
the area know that we're coming! Seward residents should call
1-800-GET-INET for more information or to sign up.
*** The Capital Soccer Association - Advertisement ***
Capital Soccer Association specializes in
teaching soccer. However we recognize that
soccer, or any other youth sport is merely
one tool in the development of a young
child. Teamwork and sportsmanship through
knowledge and proficiency of the game are
our main goals.
-- http://www.capitalsoccer.com/
*** The State of Online Gaming ***
I don't know how many of you play games on the Internet, but I'd have to
say that I personally log 20 hours a week or more on these sometimes
addictive programs. Those of you that haven't had the opportunity or
inclination to partake in such activities might be missing out an
experience that can be very fulfilling (and if nothing else, a lot of fun!)
Whether you would prefer to play a quiet game of hearts with someone from
Germany, lay siege to a castle or two in Age of Empires II, or run around
blowing other people up in Quake III, there's probably a game out there to
fit your tastes.
In years past, issues like server capacity, available bandwidth and
client-side processing power limited multiplayer games to the likes of
"tic-tac-toe," "frogger," and my personal favorite, "MUDs" (text-only Multi
User Dungeons). With the growing availability of high capacity connections
on campus and companies running dedicated game servers, and the
availability of faster and faster computers, online gaming has become more
and more mainstream. You would be hard-pressed to walk into the gaming
section of any computer store and find a game that didn't offer some sort
of online connection for playing.
As people become more accustomed to online environments, and as technology
allows, the scope of the online gaming environment becomes larger and
larger. Presently, one of the most populated games that you'll find is
Everquest; a multiplayer fantasy game that allows roughly 2,000 people per
server to connect at once, with the number of servers growing from an
original 4 to somewhere near 35 at present. There are plans in the works
for new MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) that will eclipse
present-day games, allowing close to 4 thousand people to play on the same
server at the same time.
Client side connection speeds vary from slower modems (33.6k) to higher
speed connections like ADSL, but though a high speed connection may help,
it is certainly not requisite. Games are generally coded to allow any
number of connection types to enjoy a rich gaming experience.
Everquest is by no means the only global online experience that one could
have, however. You'll find die-hard players of Quake, Tribes, Half-Life,
Unreal Tournament, and a plethora of other games playing from all corners
of the world.
*** Give Thanks for Thanksgiving Internet Tips ***
Welcome to the INews Thanksgiving special. We've got something for
everyone in the family. Whether you're looking for a fresh new recipe,
stories on Thanksgiving and it's origin, family activities and games, or
just some good old fashioned Thanksgiving crafts, we've got a webpage for
you to visit. Make Thanksgiving just a little more interactive this year
with exciting new ideas through these links we've put together for you.
First up is for the culinary guru in the family. Tired of always having
the same turkey and mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner? Try looking
through the link mentioned below. They've got everything from turkey to
cranberries, so there's something for everyone.
http://www.kitchenlink.com/cgi/public_frames?page=thanksgiving
Next is the Readers' Digest all around guide to Thanksgiving. There's
really nothing to say that can do justice to this site, it's got literally
something that will interest anyone.
http://www.readersdigest.com/features/thanksgiving/
We have quiet games, indoor games, outdoor games, noisy games, games for
kids, games for adults, games that will include the whole family. Instead
of just eating turkey and sitting around, have a fresh new activity to
brighten up your Thanksgiving, and make it one that you can really be
thankful for, because it will mean quality time with the family.
http://www.night.net/thanksgiving/games11.html-ssi
And now for the crafts section. There are crafts for everyone here. This
site has hand turkeys, centerpieces, hair ties, placemats, etc. What more
can you ask for? This page will give you many new ideas to decorate your
home and get into the true holiday spirit.
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/_Thanks.html
*** Schaefer's TV & Appliance Center - Advertisement ***
Schaefer's is an independently owned and
operated television, appliance, and home
theater retailer in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Born out of a small corner drugstore four
decades ago, Schaefer's TV & Appliance is a
22,000 square-foot "superstore" today,
specializing in commercial/professional-grade
appliances, whole house sound systems, home
theater and central vacuum systems. The
success of Schaefer's is key to repeat
business. If a customer happens to have a
problem with a product, Schaefer's will bend
over backwards to get it solved. Our service
center is the largest in the city, and has been
voted Lincoln's #1 servicer for 10 years in a
row! A knowledgeable sales staff, express
delivery, easy financing, and our customer
service representatives are just a few of the
ways in which we at Schaefer's distinguish
ourselves from the rest. Stop by our showroom
at 48th and R in Lincoln, or call us at
and see for yourself.
-- http://www.schaeferstv.com/index2.htm
*** The Hardware That Runs the Internet ***
You've got to admit, the Internet is pretty cool. It allows people all
around the world to communicate with each other nearly instantaneously. It
even brings you the INews every month! :) Everything that you do and see
on the Internet -- email, webpages, downloads , and more -- passes through
a piece of the Internet that you've probably never seen: the router.
Routers are devices that, simply put, send all the data on the Internet to
their destinations along thousands of different interconnecting pathways.
Routers are the devices that permit traffic to flow between, rather than
within, computer networks.
Connections that routers use to talk to other networks are referred to as
interfaces. For example, a standard Cisco 2501 router has 3 interfaces.
The 2501 is a basic, entry-level T1 router. It has a local area network
interface (Ethernet0) and two serial interfaces for connecting to wide area
network circuits. (Serial0 and Serial1) Many of you have Cisco 675/678
ADSL routers; these have an ethernet interface and a WAN (your phone line)
interface.
In a simple configuration, a router simply passes data between the two
interfaces it has, from the ethernet to the wide area network. In more
complex routers, there may be a great number of interfaces, either to other
parts of a company's intranet, or to an upstream Internet access provider.
For example, Internet Nebraska's core router has 12 serial interfaces.
Some of these connect our network to our upstream providers while others
connect to our POPs in other cities. The router is responsible for
determining what packets go where, based on it's configuration rules. In a
nutshell, these rules contain:
* Information on which router interfaces lead to which networks on the
Internet.
* Information about which interfaces have priority when another network can
be reached multiple ways
Because of this, a router has two separate but related jobs. It must
ensure that traffic doesn't go where it's not supposed to and prevent
clogging the connections of networks that have no business with the data
the router is handling. It also must ensure that the data does get to its
proper destination. This makes a router useful for dealing with two
heterogeneous networks. It joins the two, and in some cases can perform
protocol and address translation on the fly. As the number of connected
networks increases, the configuration rules for the routers also grow, and
more router memory and CPU is required.
Routers exchange data in units called packets. A router receives a packet,
which is then sent off to its destination via the router configuration
rules. A static route entry means that traffic for the destination network
will always take the same path. regardless. Most routers with multiple
pathways use some for of dynamic routing. The allows the router to choose
the best available route -- a route that might be taken by all the other
packets in the message or by none of the other packets in the message. This
might seem very complicated, but in a network designed for data there are
two huge advantages to the packet-switching plan. First, the network can
balance the load across various pieces of equipment on a
millisecond-by-millisecond basis. Second, if there is a problem with one
piece of equipment in the network while a message is being transferred,
packets can be routed around the problem, ensuring the delivery of the
entire message.
Dynamic routing is neat. Dynamic routing occurs when routers talk to
adjacent routers ("next hop" or "neighbor" routers), informing each other
of what network each router is currently connected to. The routers must
communicate using a routing protocol that is running by both routers.
Currently, popular implementations of dynamic routing include (among
others) RIP, OSPF, and BGP. In contrast to static routing, the information
placed into the routing tables is added to and deleted dynamically by a
routing daemon, as routes change over time. The routing daemon adds a
routing policy to the system, choosing which routes to insert into the
routing table. In case of multiple routes to the same destination, the
router chooses which route is the best. If a link has gone down, the
daemon deletes routes connected to that link, and finds alternatives to the
routes if such exist. In a nutshell, dynamic routing, when configured and
running properly, provides load balancing and redundancy on the router
interfaces it serves. If one link is down, traffic simply reroutes to
another.
*** Mr. Internet ***
Q: How do I know when I have gone over my alloted time for my dial-in
account?
A: To check your dial-in usage, use the simple utility provided on the
Internet Nebraska web site. The dial-in usage link is found under the
Customer Utilities section in the left hand column at
http://www.inebraska.com .
To use it, simply click "View Dial-in Usage," enter your username and
password, and select the time period for which you would like to see your
usage.
Mr. Internet is a regular feature of the INews, and he welcomes questions
of any kind. Just mail them to mrinternet@inebraska.com, and he'll answer
one or two each issue. Those he doesn't use will not necessarily be
answered, and you should still use 'manager' and 'accounts' for regular
business.
*** Advertise on Our Home Pages ***
What better way to advertise your business than on a Web page that is seen
tens of thousands of time every month? None, if you're paying as little
as we charge for it!
We are now offering banner advertising that rotates on all our pages
which is priced based on the number of impressions (viewings) per month.
Your banner can reach thousands of Nebraska residents, and this is a
unique way to advertise your Nebraska business to residents in the area.
Prices for banner advertisement can be found at:
http://www.inebraska.com/ad.html
We will also be selling links from our main page. Please contact
manager@inebraska.com, or give us a give us a call at our office,
402-434-8680, and ask how you can reserve banner spots on some of the
hottest URL's in the state. The advertisers in this issue did, and we
recommend them highly.