PING e.V. - Server Software

Server Software

PING relies on free software. This means, among other things, that we only deploy programs on our servers for which the source code is freely available. This enables us to solve any problems that may arise ourselves, to configure the software without arbitrary restrictions, to share ideas and solutions with other users and to profit from their experience.

The principle software packages
The operating system We use GNU/Linux, a variant of the popular UNIX system. The web server Apache, together with mod_perl, mod_ssl and openssl, serves our pages and the pages of the members onto the World Wide Web. The web proxy We use squid as a cache so that our members do not have to fetch web pages multiple times from the far reaches of the net. The database The technical details of our members' more than 1000 domains are managed in a mysql database. The mail server We use qmail to handle our email traffic quickly and reliably. The web mail server Our members can read their email via POP3, UUCP or via the web. The web interface is realized using sqwebmail.	The mailinglist manager The club's mailing lists and those of the members are managed with ezmlm. ezmlm-web provides a web interface for members. The domain name server All tasks related to the translation of domain names to IP addresses and the reverse are handled using the djbdns package. The radius server Dialup connections to PING are authorized using the Cistron radius server. The news server Usenet news is processed using the program INN. The UUCP server Our members can choose to exchange mail and news with our server via UUCP. We use the Taylor-UUCP package for this.

The operating system

Our servers run under GNU/Linux, one of the free variants of the UNIX family, to which FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD also belong. We use the Redhat Linux distribution. In addition to the operating system kernel, a large number of auxiliary and utility programs that are essential to our operations, such as Perl, are provided with the distribution.

The web server

Our web pages are served by Apache.

Dynamic content and services for the members are provided with the aid of the additional apache module mod_perl.

The transmission of confidential information is protected using the modules openssl.

The web proxy

Our members can accelerate access to popular pages and optimize bandwidth by using the Squid web proxy cache.

The database

Most of the information that is required for PINGs technical operations, in particular the details of members' sites (domains) and the time accounting for our prepaid 0800 dialup service, is stored in a mysql database. Members and administrators can access and update information in the database that is relevant to their activities.

The mail server

Emails to and from PING are processed by our qmail server. The server accepts mail via SMTP and provides it to the members via POP3, or if desired via UUCP. Further information about qmail is available at www.qmail.org.

The web mail server

We use sqwebmail to give members a way to read their mails via WWW.

The mailinglist manager

The club's mailing lists are run using ezmlm, in its extended form named ezmlm-idx. Members can create and manage their own mailinglists using a web interface realized with ezmlm-web.

The domain name server

The nameserver for the domain ping.de is implemented using the tinydns program. We provide a DNS resolver for our members using the dnscache program. Both these programs are available in the djbdns package. Further information about djbdns is available at djbdns.org.

The radius server

Most PING members use dialup connections over normal telephone lines. Their authorization is checked using a password and this job is handled within PINGs internal network using the radius protocol (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service). The server software for this is Cistron Radius.

The news server

Usenet News is handled by an inn server at PING. Members can read and post news online (using the NNRP protocol) or exchange news batches with the server via UUCP.

The UUCP server

To help reduce the phone bills of our members, we enable the exchange of mail and news with our servers via UUCP, using the Taylor-UUCP software.