Page No. 1. Sound Blaster Connection Network Information Document Release #1 (C) Copyrighted to Matthew Taylor 1991 Formulated On Behalf Of And With The Permission Of Ultra Force ---*--- WHAT IS THE SBCnet? ------------------- The Sound Blaster Connection Network is an idea that a well known group of Sound Blaster programmer's in Holland named 'Ultra Force' came up with early in 1991. It's based on the idea of having a network of BBS's spanning the world that have specialised support for the Creative Lab's Sound Blaster Card, the most exciting thing to happen to affordable sound on the IBM PC in its history. It centres around such BBSs freely sharing & exchanging ideas, programs and information pertaining to the Sound Blaster card for the the good of all the people out there who've invested in this fine piece of sound hardware. Bulletin Boards are an excellent way to achieve mass distribution of such information, as shown by the huge sucess of Shareware in recent years, mostly attributable to the BBS. The invention of the FIDOnet amatuer mail networking system in the early 1980s suddenly opened up a whole new facet of BBSing. Normally local only messages could now be quickly and easily shared between other BBSs around a city, a country and around the globe. The end result has been that those involved have come to a much greater understanding of each other and a realisation of how much we really do have in common as a race of made up of many peoples. Using this technology SBCnet now provides the opportunity for all those interested in the Sound Blaster out there in this big world of ours to meet each other, talk with each other and share what knowledge they have, what programs they've written and or have come across so that all of us may too benefit. HOW DOES IT WORK? ----------------- Using the same programs and protocols as FIDOnet, BBSs involved in SBCnet will be able to send and recieve message to and from any and all other systems in the SBCnet. Many echo mail conferences covering various subjects related to the Sound Blaster have been set up to carry messages on a country and global basis. As needs grow, more of these will be introduced. Page No. 2. WHO DOES WHAT JOBS AND WHERE? ----------------------------- The network as a whole will be be resided over and guided by Ultra Force, since it was their idea from the beginning to create such a Network. The mail host for each Region of the world will oversee the smooth operation of their area and will be responsible for transporting mail into and out of their region. Within a Region, Networks will be overseen by Net Co-ordinators who will be ultimately responsible for admitting new members to the SBCnet. Where appropriate, mail HUBs will be assigned within networks to ease the cost to BBSs in outlying areas of that network and to make mail flow more efficient. BUT I DON'T RUN A BBS, CAN I STILL JOIN IN? ------------------------------------------- Yes you can, if you have good reason to do so. Grounds for such a move may be along the lines of, you write programs for the Sound Blaster or you live in a remote place not currently close to any SBCnet BBS where you can contribute readily, or you have access to other regular information/programs that will be of interest to users of SBCnet that are not already accessable or being utilised by another Network member. Such systems will be granted a Private Node and will pick up mail as any other system but will not be accessable as a BBS. These type of nodes may only be allocated and approved by the Region Co-ordinator with the blessings of the network host involved. HOW DO I JOIN? -------------- To join first you need to find out where your nearest Host is. Probably the place where you got this file from will be able to help you with that part. Next you should send a message to that BBS through the mailer program you intend to use using the address 15:xxxx/9999 where xxxx is the network number you intend to join. In this message you should state your intention to join SBCnet and if applicable why and give a bit of a summary of why you are interested in the Sound Blaster and how you can contribute to the network. Also file attach a filled out application form that will then be passed onto the guys at Ultra Force for you. You will probably hear from them soon after you join. All mail polling times and conferences you are to link to are then to be worked out between you and your host. Mail arrangements are entirely up to the host to assign and are done so on a case by case basis. Page No. 3. TECHNICAL PARTICULARS --------------------- To avoid clashes with other networks, and for ease of operation, particularly in the early days, SBCnet has been set up with the following stucture: 3 Zones To Cover Globe: Zone 14 - Europe Zone 15 - Australia/Pacific Zone 16 - United States/Canada Regions used to Subdivide the Zones into Areas: Region 100 - Central Europe Region 150 - Scandinavia Region 400 - Australia Other Regions will be assigned as needed. Networks Numbers, 4 Digits Corresponding to region numbers, used to logically divide a large area into smaller sections. Going up in increments of 100 for large areas and sub areas of this to go up in increments of 10. For example: Net 4000 - New South Wales Australia Net 4100 - Victoria Australia Network host is to have nodes /0 and /100 of their network. All other nodes follow on in groups incrementing by 1 each time starting with 101. Jumps to the next 100 to be made for main sections of a network eg large areas distant from the host such as another main city. These areas are to have a mail HUB assigned using the node number corresponding to first number in the multiple of one hundred for their area as well as the actaual multiple of one hundred For example: In Net 4000 - Sydney Section - Hub has nodes 2 and 200 ie Node Numbers 15:4000/2 & 15:4000/200 1st system off HUB has number 15:4000/201 All such HUBs and new sections are to be assigned by the host involved with the permission and consultation of the Region co-ordinator for the region covering the area in question. Page No. 4. NODELISTS, ECHOLISTS ETC. ------------------------- The Nodelist for SBCnet will be automatically distributed to all each Friday of the year by the Region host and will pass down stream to all systems by Saturday. For the time being a completely new nodelist will be given out each week as the size of it at present will not cause any problems and nodelist management is still yet to be fully organised so NODEDIFF files are not a reality at present. All changes to the nodelist should be submitted to the region host by no later than 6pm on Thursday (Local time for Region Co-ordinator). A newsletter will also be published and released by the same procedure and will be open to all USERS of the network for contributions, not just sysops. An up to date list of echoes available within each region will also be sent to hosts by their region co-ordinator along with the nodelist each week. The extension of all files indicates the method by which it is compressed and the also the 2nd and 3rd digit of the day number of the year to which it applies. Once extracted the full day number can then be realised. The latest version of all these files will always be available for file request from all hosts under the following MAGIC filenames: Nodelist - SBCNODES Newsletter - SBCNEWS Echo List - SBCECHO also SBCnet Membership Kit - SBCKIT CLOSING WORDS ------------- With your support this network will grow rapidly and will become what the Guys at Ultra Force have had visions of. Please get in contact with any good Sound Blaster programmers you know and encourage them to join. If you know where the programmers of some of the things we all love to show off to our jealous friends are, please tell them about SBCnet and pass on the Information Kit You Recieved this file in. Thankyou for your support. If You Have Any Problems Or Questions. Please Contact Me! Matthew Taylor Lake Macquarie BBS +61-49-754120 SIGnet 28:2200/105 SBCnet 15:4000/0 --*-- Sound Blaster is a registered Trademark of Creative Labs. IBM PC is a registered Trademark of International Business Machines. FIDOnet is a registered Trademark of Tom Jennings. Sound Blaster Connection Network is a Trademark of Ultra Force.