Infrastructure
Thank you for your interest in helping DareNET!
We appreciate your interest and willingness to contribute your time and resources towards helping DareNET grow. It's important for you to realize that DareNET does not operate the way most conventional IRC networks operate. Servers are hosted, not linked. They are maintained remotely from central sites using ssh and scp. Configuration files, motds and other necessary files are generated via an automated script at a central location, and new servers are either staged as binary files or recompiled on the server account, depending on architecture and other factors.
We will happily acknowledge your contribution publicly, however, as a general rule, we only provide an O-line for the server's administrator. Any other individuals need to apply for a DareNET staff position and their applications will recieve the same consideration as those of other users. When a staff application is accepted, no minimum level of privilege is guaranteed or offered. Information on network governance can be found here.
Regardless, hosting a DareNET server helps the network and the community and we appreciate that you are considering it.
System Specifications & Connectivity Requirements
| Required | Desired | Notes |
| FreeBSD 5.x+ or Linux 2.6 | multilib is desired for 64-bit machines. | |
| Pentium4 or better | 64-bit multi-core | Generally, Intel or other compatible hardware is preferred. |
| 512MB or more of RAM | 1.5G or more |
Minimum Bandwidth
The server must NOT be running on a broadband or dial-up connection. It MUST be on a dedicated line preferably a multihomed network, in order to ensure high reliability and low latency.
Software-related Requirements
| Required | Desired | Notes |
| GNU bash | zsh | Shell scripts for server operations assume the availability of this shell. |
| GNU Awk (gawk) | The awk utility interprets a special-purpose programming language that makes data-reformatting jobs easy. Our lsync program requires this. | |
| GNU screen | This utility is frequently used to run sessions which can be detached automatically at disconnection. Our Server Management team frequently uses this. | |
| Perl 5.6+ | ||
| Compiletime toolchan | gcc 3.2+ (Debian/Fedora users will also need to install gcc-c++/g++), gdb, (g)make, GNU bison 2.4.1+, autotools (Automake, Libtool, etc) | |
| vi or equivalent editor | vim 7.x | Emacs may be helpful |
| Network time daemon | ntpd | The server host should be synced to a time server at all times. |
| Openssh daemon | We require a recent openssh daemon, ssh2 protocol only. | |
| OpenSSL 0.9.8k/libssl-dev | Our servers support SSL client connections using the OpenSSL toolkit. | |
| SVN 1.6.x | Our ircd codebase is consistently evolving and changes are applied on a rapid basis; SVN helps make updating easy! |
System Configuration
Where possible we look for dedicated machines with root access, however, this is not a requirement. We will consider different setups; however, all servers must adequately address any and all security concerns and be sufficient to properly run ircd. We will require:
- Account Access. The server daemon (ircd-darenet) runs as a user program under a vanilla end-user account (frequently called "darenet"), with no setuid or special privilege. We require that our Infrastructure team have access to the account. Preferably, password logins should be disabled, and authentication done via SSH keys.
- Core File Limit. Our ircd code base continues to evolve, and we may require this handy debugging tool at times. DareNET servers will produce very large core files, so the limit should be accordingly high - at least 1GB or so.
Other Requirements
While servers are configured and maintained by our Infrastructure team, and we don't require active involvement from the server administrator, we ask that:
- Server Administrators ensure that we have up-to-date contact information, on and offline.
- Server Administrators stay subscribed to the darenet-admins mailing list (low traffic, announcements only).
- Server Administrators endeavour to give us ample advance warning about network, hardware or software upgrades and maintenance which may affect the network.
- Server Administrators communicate unexpected downtime/maintenance ASAP.
Applying to Link/Host a Server
Before applying to link/host a server, you should take time to read over our current policies. Please do not apply unless you are in full agreement with our policies and practices. Additionally, you may find it helpful to consult with a member of our Infrastructure team prior to applying. Feel free to ask any questions you may have in #routing or by emailing infrastructure@darenet.org. Regardless, the formal application process begins when you submit an email containing the following information to infrastructure@darenet.org.
- Contact Information -- Please include your full name, email address and telephone number. List the best times to contact you (including time zone).
- Sponsor -- Who should we credit for the server? Provide name(s) of organizations/individuals. If you'd like a link placed on our site, with logo, include that as well.
- Geographical Location of Server -- City, state/province and country.
- Hardware, Software, Bandwidth and Hosting -- Please describe the system you are offering to link/host, including where the machine is hosted and the type of arrangement you have with the hosting provider (e.g. co-located, sponsored, etc).
- IP Address -- This will allow us to perform latency and route checking.
DareNET's Infrastructure team liaisons try to respond to all server application requests within 48 hours, unless other circumstances or team business dictate a longer period to elapse. The Infrastructure team is in recess over major holiday periods, such as Christmas/Yule/Hanukkah and New Years. Application requests received during these periods may not receive a response until the team returns.
All applications will be given the same considerations and we regret that we may not always be able to accept a server offer for whatever reason.
