General Information about APANA®
(Last updated - 12 September 1999)
What is APANA®?
APANA is the Australian Public Access Network Association,
Incorporated, a not-for-profit on-line computer networking
organisation incorporated in the State of Victoria as A0026600C and
ARBN 081 355 722. APANA runs a non-commercial network that
reaches into every State and Territory in Australia. Machines in
the network range from dial-up UNIX hosts to personal Amiga/IBM/Mac
PCs using communications or terminal emulation software, usually
running from members' homes. APANA membership is open to
individuals and non-profit, non-government organisations. Access to
the APANA network(tm) is available to
members and their guests for personal, non-profit and
non-commercial purposes.
What are its aims?
To give members access to the major networks that Australia and the
world participate in, the Internet in particular. Members access
these services either interactively, by logging onto a member
access site, or by using other protocols, such as UUCP and SLIP.
These are described below. In addition to external traffic APANA
has its own internal mail and special-interest apana news
groups(tm).
Our ultimate aim is to provide direct Internet access with our
Intranet (e.g. telnet, ftp, talk) to all members; these interactive
services are already available to members in the Regions listed
below.
How does APANA work?
APANA has full-time Internet Protocol (IP) links between the
network providers and local APANA networks in many major centres.
This provides APANA with a fast, reliable connection to the rest
of Australia and the world. Interactive internet services such as
telnet and ftp are available between APANA machines in connected
cities, as well as to the wider Internet.
Members are welcome to permanently connect into our local IP
networks, where they exist. This requires additional investment in
hardware, as well as a machine capable of performing IP operations.
This will usually be a box running UNIX, but good software is
available for other operating systems such as Windows. Your Regional Contact can provide further
information.
Connection protocols
The network is linked using UUCP, SLIP and PPP.
UUCP is a protocol that was originally designed for use with
UNIX ("UNIX-to-UNIX-Copy"), but is now available for most
platforms, including Amiga, IBM and Macintosh machines. UUCP
usually operates on a dial-up basis by sending batches of news
articles and mail from one site to another - in this case from your
feed site to your machine. UUCP is not too difficult to set up and
there are plenty of people in APANA® who have done
it before, so if you need help, just ask. However you should be
aware that a UUCP connection does not allow interactive access to
the net for ftp, telnet, etc.
SLIP ("Serial Link Internet Protocol") and PPP ("Point-Point
Protocol") are both means of transporting IP (Internet Protocol)
packets over serial lines, including modem-based permanent links.
The networks in the cities listed above are connected using SLIP
and PPP.
What will you need to add your machine to the APANA
network?
If you would like to join the APANA network, you simply need:
- a suitable computer and modem
- to be acting as an individual, not on behalf of an organisation
or company and not for commercial purposes
Member Access Accounts
In major Regions member access sites are available to provide
accounts for users who for various reasons do not want to link into
the network using UUCP, SLIP or PPP. By dialling into the host site
and logging on with a username and password most services are
conditionally available, including access to the Internet for ftp,
telnet, etc. Conditions tend to vary from Region to Region - your
local Regional Contact can advise.
Fees
APANA is a non-profit organisation, so the cost to members is as
low as possible. If you run a personal system, regularly calling a
hub machine or member access site, your main ongoing cost will be
your phone bills. If you have an account on a member access site
the member running the site will request that you pay an annual
fee. Because of APANA's non-profit nature, these fees are based on
cost recovery only. The operator of a site providing a UUCP feed
may also request a small fee to help offset costs.
There is a clear distinction between cost recovery and profit;
neither APANA nor its members operate for profit.
APANA fees are now set on a regional basis, and each Regional
Committee has the right to set fees for its region based on
projected expenditure for the current year. The current fee
structure is shown in the fees
document.
Virtually all of APANA's revenue (e.g. membership fees) goes towards providing our network
services by payments to our network providers.
Actually Joining! - or, how to contact APANA
If you would like to avail yourself of any of APANA's services,
please get in touch with the National Contact or the closest
Regional Contact, or mail APANA. All publicly available contact
information is available in the contacts
document. In all cases please include a daytime contact phone
number.
We will then contact you by phone or e-mail, and in appropriate
cases will mail you a membership kit, which includes membership
information and an application form. The kit can also be sent by
e-mail, which is quicker, and may be more convenient. You will have
to print out the Application Form, of
course. However please do not send money to APANA before you have
discussed your needs with some appropriate person in APANA (eg, the
National Contact or your Regional Contact).
Note: Some regions may charge extra fees for different
connectivity options. Your Regional
Contact can provide further information.
APANA® is the Registered Trademark of the
Australian Public Access Network Association Inc.
APANA® newsgroups (tm),
APANA® network (tm) and the
APANA® logo (tm) are
trademarks of the Australian Public Access Network Association
Inc.
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