Xref: utzoo news.misc:1484 news.config:625
Path: utzoo!yunexus!spectrix!clewis
From: clewis@spectrix.UUCP (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: news.misc,news.config
Subject: Re: The USENET Backbone (Updated: 18 May 1988)
Message-ID: <643@spectrix.UUCP>
Date: 2 Jun 88 21:36:36 GMT
Article-I.D.: spectrix.643
Posted: Thu Jun  2 17:36:36 1988
References: <4245@medusa.cs.purdue.edu> <7348@swan.ulowell.edu>
Reply-To: clewis@spectrix.UUCP (Chris Lewis)
Organization: Spectrix Microsystems Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Lines: 42

In article <7348@swan.ulowell.edu> page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) writes:
>Isn't there a new backbone in Spain, fed by mcvax?

Could be.  Then again, maybe they simply didn't tell Gene.  Maybe they didn't
want to be advertised.  After all, "backboneship" isn't really something
that Gene "grants" - it's really just the way the major news flows are
setup by the neighboring site admins.  Gene's list is really only of those 
sites that want to advertise themselves as major traffic points.  Mnetor
was a backbone in everything but name for over a year before we bothered
mentioning it to Gene.  (Actually, it was a backbone for a couple of
days before we knew it... ;-)

>I don't understand some of the map.  Like, why are ulysses, ubc-cs and
>vucomp on there, all dead ends (and vucomp a restricted link at that)?
>I submit that a 'backbone' link is to carry the news fast between
>other backbone links, and I don't see these sites as doing that
>(except for their leaf nodes ... hell, everybody does that). By the
>same token, alberta would have to be looked at.

Reread the posting:

|A Usenet "backbone" site is one which exchanges every (non-local) news
|article it receives with at least two other backbone sites; or which is
							     -----------
|the main newsfeed for a particular geographical area (e.g., Australia)
-----------------------------------------------------
|or special news gateway (e.g., inet) and exchanges news with at least
|one other backbone site.  

Alberta is a geographical region, so's British Columbia etc.  Sounds 
perfectly legit to me.

>
>I can't decide what the rutgers-ukma link is.  Two paths?  Does the '+'
>mean all the connected sites talk to each other?  

Good question.  Gene?  Looks to me like a simple cross-over without
connection.
-- 
Chris Lewis, Spectrix Microsystems Inc, Phone: (416)-474-1955
UUCP: {uunet!mnetor, utcsri!utzoo, lsuc, yunexus}!spectrix!clewis
Moderator of the Ferret Mailing List (ferret-list,ferret-request@spectrix)