Guide to starting a new network

darkwarrior · Lurker Joined: 02 Aug 2008 Posts: 194

After recently finding katslaw's post on IRC Administration, I have decided to take it upon myself to share my knowledge and provide tips on how to start a new network. With SearchIRC, I have been blessed with the resources to get my network name out to users, so I'd like to give back to the community by sharing this guide.

First, allow me to introduce myself. I am DarkWarrior, of irc.sleisysoft.net, a new network I am working on. I have been a user of IRC for nearly 10 years, as both a user and administrator of many networks, working under many different titles, such as Network Admin, Server Admin, Global IRC Operator, Network Helper, Web Developer, Staff Manager, and many more titles that I can't remember at the time. The most recent position I held was Network Helper/Support Agent on irc.gamesurge.net (Thanks to GameSurge, I have gained a lot of experience and knowledge in the customer service and support field, and will always remember them and respect them for it).

One of the first networks I was a user on was mircx, which I believe was admin'ed by CJB (cjb.net) and definitely will be missed, which is where I learned many things about IRC. The users there were very helpful and taught me a lot about the basics of IRC, and some basic mIRC scripting. I will also definitely remember them for it as well. I believe that network is dead now though, unfortunately. DALnet, irc.dal.net, was another of the networks that I first got into, where I learned a lot more about different services, ircd's, linux/shells and hosting services, and irc operator stuff, thanks to many friendly users and helpers that I ran into on that network.

Due to those networks I mentioned above, and many more, which if I went into, would be a very huge list, I have learned a lot about the internet and IRC, from PHP, to Scripting, Programming, Administration, Social skills, and much much more, even things relevant to every day real life. So, for all of that, I would love to give back to the community, with things that I know that may help those of you looking to start something new.

So, we'll end with my boring, and tear jerking speech there and move on with the guide.

The first thing you should think about when starting a new network is, are you able to afford the running costs of servers, domain, website design and programming, and webhosting services? Most of these services have monthly fees. It is highly recommended to have your own servers rather than shared hosting, especially if you plan on becoming overly large like the top 5. It is however, ok to start small and work your way up on shared hosting, but I do not recommend it as a permanent thing.

Shared hosting has many limitations and restrictions that may keep you from running a successful network. Some limitations and restrictions include, but not limited to: Very small amount of disk space (generally needed for future upgrades, patches, additional features, etc), very small amount of bandwidth, predefined max users (commonly 1,000).

With shared hosting, the server resources are also shared with other customers who are hosted on the same server. If they tick the right person off, they may very well get their network DDoS'ed, which will definitely affect your network as well.

With your own dedicated server, or co location, you have the whole server resources, disk space, bandwidth, and IP addresses to yourself, and can allow yourself to have as many max users as your server can handle.

Web hosting doesn't really require your own server, but think about bandwidth usage. If you plan on having a large network, with well over 10,000 users, chances are, you're going to have 50,000+ hits per day, and your website will become a bandwidth hog. Shared hosting does not generally have the necessary bandwidth included in their packages that is needed to run a large service.

Using your own gives you much more freedom and room to do as you wish. I even recommend going with a datacenter that allows IRC processes on the service, such as php bots which can be programmed to gather network information, such as user count, channel count, and ability to integrate network services into the website. Being like me, I like to be able to have ability to register channels through the website as well for newer users that aren't familiar with ChanServ commands. I use a php irc bot to do this, and in order to do that, you need to make sure the web service you have would allow that. But that is completely up to you.

The next thing you want to think about is, your network structure and setup. If you're goal is having a large network, you will want some hubs, and leaf servers. Some people tend to get this wrong and have their hub as both a hub and user connections. That is completely wrong. A hub should exclusively be used for server links only, and should not have any dns or round robin dns pointing to it. The IP Address for hubs should be private and not given out to users. A leaf server is what is used for users to connect to, and a leaf server commonly connects to the closest hub server, or whichever hub server it gets the best connection to. The hub servers connect to each other.

West Coast US Hub <-> Central US Hub <-> East Coast US Hub
^West Coast Leaf 1 ...... ^Central Leaf 1 ...... ^ East Leaf 1
^West Coast Leaf 2 ...... ^Central Leaf 2 ...... ^ East Leaf 2

That's just a general idea of network mapping. That's how most networks do things. Notice that the West coast hub and central hub is connected, central hub and east coast is connected. Then, you have the west coast leaf servers connecting to the west coast hub, central leaf servers connecting to the central hub, east coast leaf servers connecting to the east coast hub.

The next thing you want to think about is the naming of your servers. Most commonly, and professionally, larger networks have a format for all links, name.ST.CNTRY.NetworkDomain.net (ExampleName.CA.US.MyNetwork.net for California, USA based server). For hubs, most use name.HUB.CNTRY.NetworkDomain.net (ExampleName.HUB.US.NetworkDomain.net). Users don't need to know the location of your hubs. Users like to know the location of the leaf servers available to connect to, that way they can choose the closest one possible for better connection. It is strongly discouraged to name your server something like irc.network.net as most do.

You will now want to think about a website, features, themes, and such. If your network does not have a website, chances are, you won't be successful. Most users look for a website relating to the network, hoping to find documentation about your network, what its all about, how to use it, what features and services you offer, news updates, possibly a forums, and especially help documents. A lot of the IRC users will not touch a network that has no website.

Without a website, it shows that its not 100% ready for the public, and is taken as a warning that the network may not last very long. My impression on networks without a website is that its a warning that the network isn't very serious, and doesn't want to invest any time or money into the network. If the admin of the network doesn't want to invest any time, then there will never be new features introduced, and chances are, there won't be any experienced/trained staff or support. If the admin also doesn't want to invest any money into the network, then chances are, they will end up not paying the bill for the server a month later and it will go down.

As far as features, as katslaw's post mentioned, you should do your best to program your own feature additions, that way your network can have something unique to offer that others don't. What is the point in visiting a network that is the same as the one I already used thats more established? The only reason I will go to another network is if it has something that I don't already have access to, that I might need, or that would prove useful to me. If you don't want to invest any time into the network, users aren't going to invest any time into it either.

Next, it takes time. You can't expect to just sit back and hope for people to automatically know that your network is there and find it on their own. It takes time to grow, and it takes a lot of effort to grow. The best method for getting the word out is, exchanging banner links with other websites, possibly paying to have your banner/link advertisement placed on large websites, etc.. Another common method is contacting communities who don't have IRC channels, and asking if they'd like to use your network for their chat room to be based. Some very well may accept, and some don't. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't work out overnight, as I will say it again, it takes time and you can't just expect it to all work out right away.

Believe me, if it was that easy, I think we'd have millions of users using IRC every day, and a million more users on each of the top 10 networks. It's not that easy. So don't give up, and don't be discouraged, pick yourself back up and keep going.

Another thing is, do you have any friends? Both real life and internet friends that you might be able to get involved and have them visit your IRC Network? If they don't know what IRC is, perhaps you could teach them how to use it. It is very difficult getting the first 100-200 users on your network, but it is all pretty much downhill after reaching that 500 user mark. Usually after having about 200-300 users, your network will begin to grow a little quicker, as it will begin spreading by word of mouth. If those 300 users like what you have to offer, they'll tell their friends, and their friends will tell theirs, and so on.

Also, you will most likely want some help with your network. All you really need to start with is yourself and possibly a co admin to assist you with getting things started, and if you don't have the ability to program, a developer to help you out. Perhaps you have some friends that might have some talent in those areas. Ask them for help! And please, please, please for the love of IRC, don't think that you need to have 20 admins to start with. You don't. The last thing myself, or other users want to see is 100 IRC Operators with only 2 regular users. It looks very bad, and is strongly discouraged. We don't need 100 IRCOps watching just 2 of us. I believe the common ratio is 1 IRCOp to every 5,000 users (correct me anyone if I am wrong). And please, please, please, don't give everyone who asks IRC Operator status.

Get to know them first, know what their talents and skills are, know what they will bring to the network and how the network will benefit from having them. If they leave because you refuse to give them oper status, who cares, you didn't need them anyways, that shows immaturity and power hungryness in them (if "hungryness" is such a word, that is). If they are mature, and serious about helping the network, they will wait it out for as long as it takes. My view is, if they plan on being loyal and helpful, they will do so even without oper status.

Also, you will definitely want to have some network rules in place so that users will know what is and isn't acceptable on your network. If you don't have an official document of rules, then don't expect users to follow anything you tell them. Don't try to enforce rules on your users when it doesn't exist in an official document on the website or somewhere that all users can see and read.

If a user asks for help, help them to the best of your ability and be respectful and nice about it. If a user gets excellent and friendly support, chances are, they will respect you and enjoy your network and stick around. If you're mean to them, they won't come back.

Some users don't want IRC Operators in their channel. If that is the case, leave them alone. It may be your network, but if the user is not being harmful or violating your network rules, then leave the channel management to them. The last thing a user wants is the IRC Operators and/or Network Admin coming into their channel and banning their users for things, or messing with their channel. Trust me, they will leave and not come back. You have no reason to mess with a channel unless the user chooses to give you op status, which assumes they give you permission to monitor the channel.

Idling and supporting their channel is ok. If they ask you to leave, or if they don't seem to want you there, your best bet is to do just that and leave. Not everyone likes to have staff assistance, and like to do things on their own. My way is, if they don't ask for help, don't come to me for help, or don't join a help channel, they don't want or need help, so don't mess with them. IRC Networks are much similar to businesses. In my policy, I often go by the saying, "The customer (user in this case) is always right", and "The customer (user) comes first", which is similar to katslaw's post which says the user is the boss.

Treat them as so. Give them what they want within reason. If you can't do it, or don't know how, telling them may not be a bad idea. Perhaps they might try to help you, or find someone who can do it and knows how. IRC users generally love when the services they use are honest, and tell them of problems, and also tell them of problems which they can't fix. I know I do, but I am not going to speak for the whole IRC community here. Most people will understand if you tell them the truth, and the reasoning behind it and why its not being done, or if it is, an ETA on when it will be done. If not, then the best thing you can really do is tell them that you are doing your best to find a way. Make sure to keep that promise and do research to find a way.

Lastly, you should read katslaw's thread, which provides tips for IRC Administration. It is a very helpful guide.

That is all I can think of at the top of my head for the moment, but as I think of more things, I will add to this thread. Those who have experience and knowledge in this topic, please feel free to add to it. I hope this helps, and please keep criticism constructive, and all will be fine! Feel free to comment and let me know if this helped you or not.

greg27 · Idler Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 255 Location: Australia

a few other things..

do you have the necessary experience to run a network? sure, you might be able to get unrealircd and anope running, but can you troubleshoot any problems that may occur? can you protect your servers from attacks? etc.

do you NEED to run a network? what will make your network unique from the thousands already out there? would you be better off just running a channel or linking a server to an existing network?

for smaller networks, i don't see anything wrong with allowing clients to connect to your hub server. you don't need more servers than users; a smaller network of around 200 users can run perfectly well on two servers, which also provides redundancy. more servers just creates more netsplits. if your servers are unreliable enough to warrant more than one server for redundancy, it's time to find a new host.

youngblood · Newbie Joined: 17 Apr 2008 Posts: 66

did you use another nickname named warlord i am just curious

hooiz · none Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 30

darkwarrior · Lurker Joined: 02 Aug 2008 Posts: 194

I have no idea who warlord is, and hooiz, I never claimed to be an expert, and never claimed to be katslaw either.

PingBad · Posted: Aug 12, 2008 9:41pm Post subject: Re: Guide to starting a new network

hooiz · none Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 30