GeekShed IRC Network
A Tip for Connecting with Mibbit
Nov 15th
Mibbit is a free, Javascript-based IRC client that can be embedded on a web page or used from the Mibbit site to connect to GeekShed. To connect properly, Mibbit needs to pass the correct information to the GeekShed server.
If you type out a server name for Mibbit , your personal information (like your IP address) can be revealed to everyone. To protect your privacy, please be sure to choose GeekShed from the list of networks on the Mibbit site. Do not click the “Server” link to enter a server name.
Here’s what that part of your screen will look like:
If you have any other questions about using Mibbit, check out the documentation on the Mibbit site.
—posted by Tengrrl/Bunny
Are You Using Our Round Robins?
Jun 1st
This is an archived post. Please see the February 17, 2015 post for details on the current round robin configuration.
As we explain on our Servers page, you often achieve the best connection by connecting to the server geographically closest to you. To do this, you can find the closest server on the map and then connect to servername.geekshed.net – for example, enterprise.geekshed.net would be a good choice if you were in Europe.
Geographical Round Robins
You can also choose a pool of servers that are near you by using our round robin addresses. The biggest round robin pool is also the most general one (and the one most clients use on their prepopulated server lists): irc.geekshed.net. That round robin includes all the GeekShed servers.
If you want to choose a smaller pool, you can use one of these round robins, based on your geographical area:
- ap.geekshed.net if you’re in Asia or the Pacific
- ca.geekshed.net if you’re in Canada
- eu.geekshed.net if you’re in Europe
- us.geekshed.net if you’re in the United States
Special Connection Round Robins
We also have round robins based on pools of servers with special capabilities. If you need these features, use one of these options:
- ipv6.geekshed.net if you want an IPv6 server
- lightirc.geekshed.net if you’re configuring your copy of the LightIRC client
You may also notice that if you’re using GeekShed’s free BNC service, you’ll be connected to bnc.geekshed.net. That’s the pool for our BNC service.
—posted by Tengrrl/Bunny
[Photo: Robin mom by photofarmer, on Flickr]
New Swedish Server – Greenbean
Feb 6th
Kottizen, a new user to GeekShed but a long time member of the Anope and UnrealIRCD support communities has kindly donated a server on behalf of the datacentre he works for, connect2ip.se. The server is located in Växjö, Sweden and adds another great European leaf to the GeekShed network.
We thank Kottizen for the donation of Greenbean and hope it shall benefit our European users.
We thank Kottizen for the donation of Greenbean and hope it shall benefit our European users.
New Server and Staff Member
Dec 5th
Today, GeekShed has welcomed another server to its array and another staff member to its ranks. We are pleased to announce the linking of a new server, based in Kent, England, named Andromus. This server has been donated by Kyle, who, after many years of service to GeekShed has been asked to join our staff team. This is never a decision taken lightly (see can I be an oper on GeekShed for info) and we wholly believe that he will be a great asset to the team. Kyle is based in Australia and has much experience running IRC networks. Feel free to come chat to him in #help on irc.geekshed.net.
New Server
Nov 16th
Corey and CoreyRants.com have donated a new server to the GeekShed family. This server goes by the name Equinox and is located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This should provide lower latency connections for our Northern, Central and Western Canadian users. The server is still undergoing testing and will be added to the round robin sometime next week. For now, you can connect to it at equinox.geekshed.net.
Can I link a server to GeekShed?
Nov 7th
GeekShed is not linking any servers at this time. If our server status changes, we will update this post to let you know that we are linking servers again.
In the event our needs change, servers linked to GeekShed must fulfill the following requirements:
Hardware
- 1GHz+ CPU
- 512MB+ RAM
- 3GB available hard disk space
- 100Mbit FD NIC
- Currently 60+ days uptime
Network
- 10mbit downstream
- 10mbit upstream
- 1 spare IP that can be dedicated to GeekShed
- Firewall allowing unrestricted connections to and from TCP ports 843, 1494, 1755, 4400, 4401, 6660-6669, 6697, 7029 and 7070
- The server must allow both inbound and outbound connections
- You will also be asked to host a 100MB file (create it with dd if=/dev/zero of=/path/to/100mb-zero.bin bs=1MB count=100) for download with http, sftp or scp to test throughput
- Server owners must be aware that their server will suffer from frequent denial of service attacks (DDOS) and servers hosted with ISPs sensitive to DDOS will not be accepted
Software
-
The following libraries must be installed:
- openssl
- zlib
- For Linux, all -dev packages for installed libraries must be installed.
- A full toolchain, including gcc, binutils, coreutils, etc. If you cannot compile software, we can’t use the machine right now.
- Full SSH access (including sftp and scp)
- If the server has a restricted firewall, we must have the ability to add ports to it promptly, not wait around for 30 days for an email tag to get them allowed.
- Server owners should be prompt in updating for security updates and updating the system itself.
- FreeBSD 7+ and Linux 2.6+ kernels have priority – Windows servers will NEVER be accepted.
- Must be able to run a small C file via a super-server daemon on port 843 – This typically requires root access or co-operation from the server administrator
- Have hard and soft FD limits greater than or equal to 2048 (ulimit -Hn ; ulimit -Sn)
Network Staff
Server owners will rarely be given an O:Line on their server. Server owners must earn their position on the network staff team, like everyone else. Server donations, however, will be considered as a positive when considering new staff. Please do not ask to link a server simply because you want to be network staff!
—updated by Tengrrl/Bunny on 2014/07/01; originally posted by Phil on 2009/11/07.