68 lines
2.5 KiB
Plaintext
68 lines
2.5 KiB
Plaintext
ZONES, ZONEGATES, ZONEHOSTS AND IFNA KLUDGES
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Tom Jennings
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25 Jan 88
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I believe Fido/FidoNet 12f's addressing is spirit & letter of the�
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"law". It works as follows:
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I am node 1:125/111. I enter a message to 2:500/1. Fido does�
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this:
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a) Create the .MSG file as we all know it.
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b) Since the destination is outside our own zone:
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1) put the ifna kludge algorithmic address into
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the .MSG file header: "myzone/destzone". This case,
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the message is marked "1/2", ie. implied full address
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is "1:1/2", if the IFNA Kludge "zone gate".
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2) Put the "full" address into the INTL line:
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"^AINTL 2:500/1 1:125/111".
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Programs that don't understand the INTL line just route according�
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to ancient tradition to 1/2, with no side effects. Programs that�
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understand INTL lines do whatever it is they decide to do.
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The only thing that Fido does that is different here is that it�
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hides the ugliness. Fido has a pure three level addressing�
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scheme, and knows enough to how to treat what I call "fully�
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addressed" (INTL lines) messages properly.
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By default, Fido treats the network as a true three level�
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addressing scheme; a message addressed to "2:500/1" will go to�
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"2:0/0", the host for that zone. Zone Host not Zone Gate. I�
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realize this isn't what is desired, IFNA kludge or not, and am�
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not trying to foist anything on anyone. The intent was a "pure"�
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FidoNet three level mailer, and thats what I got.
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The problem is solved by the router. There is a route file,�
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supplied with the FIDO.EXE program, called ROUTE.DEF. It only has�
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to exist, and it is applied to *all* possible FidoNet routing�
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unless overridden. By default, Fido will do the Zone Host�
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routing; all you do is specify a new host:
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Zone 2; ZoneGate 1:1/2
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...
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Zone N; ZoneGate 1:1/N
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A ROUTE.DEF file is supplied with Fido v12f. Instead of all mail�
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for zone 2 going to "2:0/0", the "pure" ZoneHost, it goes to (in�
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this example) "1:1/2". It could all go to "1:125/31" and drive�
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Bob Kovach crazy. It could even go to "3:1/1" and waste�
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everybodys time. For a Fido operated in Europe, in Zone 2, it�
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would have a ROUTE.DEF that contained:
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Zone 1; ZoneGate 2:2/1
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My intent was to build a mailer devoid of all kludges, plus solve�
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the stupid shit IFNA Kludge thing. Plus not force someone to use�
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"my way".
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Zones are here to stay, and I do not like coding things twice.�
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Network addressing issues are very serious, and we have to live�
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with them for years, and I want to do things "right". This is my�
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solution; if anyone is interested in implementation details just�
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ask!
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