Configuring Services
Configuring services
- Introduction
- Default Route/Gateway
- Name Servers
- Time Servers
- Password Server
- Smart Mail Gateway
- Incoming Mail Stores
- POP3 Mail Server
- News Server
- Demon Internet Web Server
- Homepages Web Server
- Commercial Web Space Server
- FTP Server
- IRC Servers
- Miscellaneous Services
Introduction
What follows is a summary of the machine and service names that are provided by us for the use of customers or for public access. Attempts to access services or machines not listed here may be treated as an offence under the Computer Misuse Act unless our staff give explicit permission for you to access them (such as an announcement of a new service in the newsgroup demon.announce).
These are the official names for the services that we provide and the ports they operate on. Unless otherwise stated, the services are available only with the TCP protocol rather than the UDP protocol.
Use of other names and/or IP addresses is unsupported and not recommended. Unless you are advised otherwise about a specific service in this document:
- You should not access a service by the IP address (e.g. [158.152.1.65]), use the service name instead.
- You should not access a service by the machine name (e.g. dismayl.demon.net), use the generic name instead
- You should not access a service using a demon.net name (e.g. ftp.demon.co.uk) when a demon.co.uk domain name has been provided for the service.
For instance, the FTP server is on ftp.demon.co.uk which currently happens to be an alias for the machine disabuse.ftp.demon.net - the name of the FTP server will always be ftp.demon.co.uk but the machine it runs on may not always be disabuse.ftp.demon.net. Similarly, the IP address of the FTP server may change as may the name ftp.demon.net but ftp.demon.co.uk will remain as the customer interface to the FTP service.
The names and addresses which this document directs you to use are the customer interfaces to the various services and are unlikely to change. If any addresses do need to be changed then warning will be given and steps taken to minimize disruption.
Note that we occasionally provide beta-test versions of new or changed services for experienced customers to try in order to check for problems or to determine if such a service is feasible. These normally, but not always, have the word "beta" in the service name. Beta-test services cannot be relied upon to work correctly and may disappear without warning during the test period in order that problems can be fixed. If you decide to risk trying a beta-test service then you must not continue to use the beta service name when the beta-testing ends: the beta service name may be withdrawn without notice after the trial period has ended.
Default Route/Gateway
This is the address to which you should send any data that is not contained on your own network. It is sometimes referred to as the "gateway address".
158.152.1.222 (demon-du.demon.co.uk)
Some software can obtain the information from the PPP connection, in which case you don't need to configure this yourself. Most software which uses SLIP connections requires you to specify a gateway address but doesn't actually care what address you give it; even so it is safest to always specify the correct address.
Note that this gateway address applies only to UK customers (those whose addresses ends in demon.co.uk) and that it should be used as the Default Route Gateway even if you access the service from a Demon PoP outside the UK.
Name Servers
The Internet addresses (often known as "IP addresses") used by computers on the Internet to identify each other are pure numbers (they serve a similar purpose to phone numbers), and are rather difficult to remember. They are actually 4-byte (32-bit) numbers, but are usually written in "dotted quad" form - four numbers each in the range 0-255 separated by dots, such as "158.152.1.222".
Numbers like this are not particularly easy to remember, so they can be given associated domain names using the Domain Name System (DNS). The DNS uses a distributed network of name servers which allow your computer to convert between domain names and IP addresses, in much the same way that directory enquiries can give you the phone number belonging to a particular person.
This means that instead of having to remember a number such as "194.159.255.135" you can use a name, such as "ftp.demon.co.uk" - your TCP/IP software automatically queries a name server to convert the domain name to an IP address. In fact, except for a few specific cases, like the default route (above) and the name servers themselves, it is always best to use domain names rather than IP addresses - when servers are replaced the IP address may change but the name will remain the same. However, you should remember that whilst the name of the service will remain the same, the name of the machine it runs on may not - you should use (for example) ftp.demon.co.uk (the name of the service) rather than disabuse.ftp.demon.net which is the name of the machine the FTP server currently runs on (previously this service used to run on disabuse.demon.co.uk which is a different machine).
Of course, if you are in the habit of using directory enquiries to find phone numbers, there is one phone number you must already know: the phone number of directory enquiries itself. Similarly, your TCP/IP software needs to be told the IP address of our name servers as these are addresses it cannot look up for itself.
In your set-up software you need to give the following two addresses as DNS name servers. Make sure you include the dots.
158.152.1.58 (ns-cache-1.demon.co.uk)
158.152.1.43 (ns-cache-2.demon.co.uk)
The servers operate on the default DNS port (53). The servers respond to all types of request except zone transfers made using the UDP protocol; the servers respond to all types of request made using the TCP protocol. However, well-behaved Internet software will initially make requests (other than zone transfers) using the UDP protocol and will only repeat the request using the TCP protocol if the initial (UDP) response is truncated.
We recommend that customers use these in place of any previous name server configurations they may have. Addresses which used to act as domain name servers may cease doing so at any time without warning.
For those whose software cannot handle DNS queries, it is possible to find the IP address corresponding to a particular fully-qualified domain name by fingering:
fully.qualified.domain.name@gate.demon.co.uk
using the default finger port (79).
However, we strongly recommend that you replace your software with something that can perform DNS queries as the IP addresses associated with various our servers can change without notice. If your software uses DNS these changes are taken care of automatically, if not you may find that some services suddenly stop working.
Time Servers
These are the machines you will access to synchronize your machine clock to the Internet. Our time servers are synchronized onto master GPS and atomic clocks on the Internet using the Network Time Protocol (NTP) and respond to customer queries using the Time and NTP protocols.
You should use the time servers to synchronize your machine clock before you download news or, with some software, you will run the risk of missing articles if your machine's clock drifts.
Note that the Time and NTP protocols both return the elapsed time since 00:00 (midnight) on the 1st of January 1900 GMT - it is your machine that converts this to Local Time, either by use of timezone commands in a configuration file or by timezone settings in the operating system. In the summer it is essential that your machine distinguish between UTC (or GMT), as used on the Internet, and Daylight Saving Time (which is British Summer Time in the UK), as displayed by your machine. If this is not the case, you will suffer one of the following symptoms:
- Your machine's clock displays the correct time in Daylight Saving Time until you connect and synchronize the clock to the Internet, at which point it jumps back one hour.
- You find that news articles are missing from your download, and the more frequently you connect to download news the more articles go missing. This will happen if you don't make use of the time servers (possibly because you're fed up of them setting your clock back one hour). If you are in the UK, your machine then thinks it is working on GMT rather than BST - e.g., the time is 19:00 BST and your machine's clock says 19:00 but it thinks the time is 19:00 GMT rather than 19:00 BST (which is 18:00 GMT). This results in your machine missing an hour's worth of news on each news download.
The time servers are:
ntp.demon.co.uk
ntp1.demon.co.uk
ntp2.demon.co.uk
The servers respond to Time requests (used by most software) on the default Time port (37) using either the TCP or UDP protocols.
The servers respond to NTP requests on the default NTP port (123).
NB: Whilst the servers also provide a Daytime service on the default Daytime port (13), customers should not use this service. The Daytime protocol returns the local time that the server is running on and we cannot guarantee that this server will always operate on GMT/BST or that it will make the GMT/BST transitions on the correct dates (in many ways it would be more convenient to run it on GMT all year round and we reserve the right to make this change for operational reasons). The Daytime service is not supported and may be withdrawn without notice.
Password Server
The password server exists to allow you to change the password for your standard dial-up account (the password you use to login to Demon). You should change your password if you know, or have reason to suspect, that it as been compromised. As a general precautionary measure we advise you to change it regularly.
The password server also allows you to set a POP3 password that is different from your login password. A separate POP3 password is necessary if you wish to access your mail from elsewhere on the net.
Currently the password server does not allow you to set a separate homepages password.
To change your password, telnet to
password.demon.co.uk
using the default telnet port (23).
The password server password.demon.co.uk is currently for use by UK subscribers (those whose Internet address ends with .demon.co.uk). Similarly, our password servers in other countries may be used only by subscribers in those countries. When abroad UK subscribers dialing into Demon PoPs in other countries must use password.demon.co.uk if they wish to change their password.
When prompted to login give your hostname (not your fully-qualified domain name), e.g., hostname not hostname.demon.co.uk.
When prompted for your password, give your current password (i.e., the one you just used to login to Demon). This will not be echoed to your screen, so you should be careful typing it.
You will then be shown a menu of options. Enter the appropriate number and the instructions.
Whether setting a dial-up password or a POP3 password the new password you enter will not be echoed to your screen, so you should be careful typing it. This new password must meet the following conditions:
- It must consist of five or more characters.
- It must be no longer than eight characters (actually, longer passwords will not be rejected, but only the first eight characters will be used and those first eight characters must satisfy the other conditions below).
- It must contain at least one upper-case letter.
- It must contain at least one lower-case letter.
- It must contain at least one digit.
or it will be rejected as unsuitable.
Note: the password's case is significant: the passwords q9Axv4 and Q9Axv4 are different. Advice on choosing good passwords is available:
- On the Web, click here
- By FTP, from ftp.demon.co.uk in the directory /pub/doc/demon as password.txt
- From our mail auto-responder. Send mail to support@demon.net with the subject "send webpassord".
You will then be prompted to type your new password again. This is to ensure that you didn't make a mistake the first time. Again, this will not be echoed to your screen. If the two versions of the new password do not match then your password will not be changed.
Passwords are stored in encrypted form on RADIUS servers (essentially a distributed database architecture specifically designed for authentication of dial-up passwords). There is a period of up to 20 minutes (usually much shorter) before all of our RADIUS servers are informed of your change of password. During that interval you may have difficulties connecting to us - if your login is handled by a RADIUS server which hasn't yet been updated your new password will not work; if your login is handled by a RADIUS server which has been updated then your old password will not work. You should therefore avoid attempting to login for at least 20 minutes after you change your password.
Note: the machine password-beta.demon.co.uk should no longer be used for the purpose of setting your dial-up or POP3 password.
Smart Mail Gateway
This service, more often known as the "smarthost" will accept mail from your host and forward it to the destination address. It is not essential to use this address as mail can be sent directly to the destination but using the smarthost will generally result in less time spent on-line sending Email. Not all Email packages are capable of mailing directly to the destination, in which case, a smarthost like this is used.
The smarthost actually consists of several machines. The only supported method of accessing the smarthost is via:
post.demon.co.uk
which uses DNS manipulation to rotate connections amongst the individual machines which constitute the smarthost. You should not attempt to connect directly to the individual machines in the cluster.
The default port on the smarthost is the SMTP port (25), however you can also connect on the Submission port (587) or the (deprecated) SMTPS port (465) to send authenticated mail from other networks.
Some mailers (notably some versions of sendmail on Unix systems) may have problems using post.demon.co.uk as a mail gateway because it is an alias for post.mail.demon.net. If your mailer has this problem then you may use post.mail.demon.net as the address of the mail gateway.
This service also allows you to check how much email is waiting for you by fingering:
yourhost@post.demon.co.uk
on the default finger port (79). This is often referred to as "short finger output."
You can also obtain more information about waiting Email (sender, size and recipient), if you are logged in at own machine by fingering:
yourhost+@post.demon.co.uk
on the default finger port (79). This is often referred to as "long finger output." You can only obtain long finger output from your own machine, from elsewhere you will only see short finger output.
With some TCP/IP software you can specify an option to the finger protocol for more verbose output (often by using the command switch -w). If you are logged in from your own machine you can use this as an alternative way of getting long finger output. E.g., on a Unix system you could enter:
finger -w yourhost@post.demon.co.uk
Note: long finger output is an unsupported service and may be withdrawn at any time without notice.
Incoming Mail Stores
Because your machine connects to the Internet intermittently, we operate a mail store-and-forward service. Mail destined for you is stored on clusters of machines called (for obscure historical reasons) punts. There are two punt clusters located at our Network Facilities Centre (NFC) at Docklands (Telehouse). This gives us resiliency in case of network problems: if there is a temporary problem with a punt cluster, you can still get Email held on the other punt cluster and new Email will still arrive and be stored there.
If you choose to access your Email by SMTP rather than by POP3 then all you need to do is start an SMTP server (also known as a daemon) on your machine to listen for incoming connections.
Those customers who use firewalls or otherwise place restrictions on external connections to their machines (this applies mainly to Unix software) should allow connections from hosts with IP addresses in the range:
194.217.242.0 to 194.217.242.255
on the default SMTP port (25).
Customers using permanently connected services such as Business Broadband or Leased Line products, which have a direct MX record pointing to their SMTP server (also known as a mailgate) should not use these restrictions as they only apply to mail stored on our Punt servers.
POP3 Mail Server
POP3 is an alternative to SMTP as a method of accessing your Email, either because it is more convenient for you to run a POP3 client than an SMTP server or because you want to be able to read your Email from elsewhere on the Internet.
To receive Email by POP3 you should configure your mailer to access:
pop3.demon.co.uk
on the default POP3 port (110).
Note that the name sdps.demon.co.uk was only to be used whilst the POP3 service was in beta test. Although it is currently an alias for pop3.demon.co.uk, it is not guaranteed to remain so. Customers who participated in the beta testing should ensure that their clients now use pop3.demon.co.uk.
If you wish to receive mail only by POP3, then you should disable the SMTP listener on your machine (if it has one) otherwise, some mail may automatically be delivered by SMTP before your POP3 client can pick it up.
More detailed information on how to use the POP3 Service is available on the Web, click here
More information on using the POP3 server to check for waiting Email is in our Email FAQ which can be found:
- By FTP, from ftp.demon.co.uk in the directory /pub/doc/demon as ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/demon/pop3.txt
- From our mail auto-responder. Send mail to support@demon.net with the subject "Email".
News Server
The news server is actually a cluster of machines, synchronized to provide a coherent interface to customers for news collection; access to it is restricted to our customers who have UK accounts. This means that customers who travel abroad and use Demon PoPs in other countries do not need to change to a different news server or worry about synchronization problems since they always use the same news server no matter where they connect from.
The only supported method of accessing the UK news cluster is via:
news.demon.co.uk
on the default news port (119), which uses DNS manipulation to rotate connections amongst the individual machines which constitute the cluster. You should not attempt to connect directly to the individual machines in the cluster - if your software does not support DNS queries you should contact customer support for advice.
Demon Web Server
This server is used to provide information about us and the services it provides. The address is:
using the default HTTP port (80).
Some useful addresses on this server include:
This part of the service is continuously updated.
Homepages Web Server
This server hosts our subscriber's homepages. Each subscriber can make use of up to 20 MB of Web space included with their dial-up account.
The address of this server for FTP uploads of new pages is:
homepages.demon.co.uk
on the default FTP ports (data: 20; control: 21). You should login using your hostname and your standard password.
Web access to individual subscriber's pages is via the address:
www.hostname.demon.co.uk
on the default HTTP port (80).
You can use finger, to request certain information about your homepages usage. This works, only if you finger the addresses below, directly from your dial-up account. help@homepages.demon.co.uk Provides help text, listing the options available.
diskusage@homepages.demon.co.uk Provides information on your disk quota and usage. Note that discusage also works for those who prefer that spelling (or have difficulty remembering whether to use disk or disc).
bwusage@homepages.demon.co.uk Provides up to the last 20 lines from the file bwusage.txt in the root of your homepages directory, if that file exists (it will exist only if requests from non-Demon sites have resulted in more than 1 MByte of data being transferred in a single day). This allows you to monitor the usage of your site without having to fetch bwusage.txt by FTP.
All finger accesses should be made using the default finger port (79).
Note that if you use gopher URLs in your Web browser as a way of making finger requests and your browser uses a Web proxy server for gopher requests then the above will not work. Finger requests must be made directly from your own machine.
More detailed information on how to use the Homepages Server is available:
-
On the Web, click here
-
By FTP, from ftp.demon.co.uk in the directory /pub/doc/demon as wwwfaq.zip, a zip file of the Web pages for offline use.
Commercial Web Space Server
Demon Internet provides WWW (World Wide Web) services for Internet users and companies that want to make information available via this rapidly expanding new publishing medium. The commercial Web space provides additional facilities unavailable on our homepages server such as CGI-BINs, perl scripts and access logs.
More detailed information on Commercial Web Space is available:
-
On the Web, click here for Web Hosting
-
By FTP, from ftp.demon.co.uk in the directory /pub/doc/demon as www.txt
-
From our mail auto-responder. Send mail to support@demon.net with the subject "www".
FTP Server
This is the address of the huge archive of files for all platforms provided by us for the benefit of customers and users of the Internet in general. Many sites and software packages are mirrored on this server (a mirror is an exact copy of a remote site.)
Users in the UK are recommended to make this their first stop when searching for files. Local usage of this server relieves the traffic over the transatlantic link saving bandwidth and it also speeds up the local connection. Note that the FTP server limits the number of simultaneous connections available to non-subscribers so as to give preferential service to subscribers.
You should log into this server with the user name "ftp" or "anonymous". You should give your actual Email address as the password. You can abbreviate your Email address, so instead of having to enter username@hostname.demon.co.uk you can simply enter username@ because the server knows where you are connecting from.
You should give your real Email address as the password so that we can contact you if we find that a particular program has serious bugs or is infected with a virus - we log all downloads for this reason (if you are not happy with your downloads being logged then you should not use this service).
Material on the FTP server is provided without warranty or guarantee and under the condition that no liability for any situation or event directly, indirectly or otherwise caused by access to this system is assumed by the operators. It is the responsibility of the downloader to ensure any material downloaded is suitable and may legally be possessed in their country or establishment. The FTP server is:
ftp.demon.co.uk
on the default FTP ports (data: 20; control: 21).
IRC Servers
IRC is "Internet Relay Chat" where you can talk interactively with other people from around the world. IRC servers are organized into IRC networks: users on one server can talk to users on another server on the same IRC network; each IRC network has common channels; each network allows only one person to use a particular nickname at one time because the nicknames serve as unique identifiers.
There are several independent IRC networks such as EFnet, IRCnet, Undernet, Overnet and DALnet. The different IRC networks do not communicate with each other: each may have channels with the same name (such as #gb) but there is no connection between channels of the same name on different networks. The same nickname may be in use at the same time on each of the IRC networks.
Demon currently operate two IRC servers.
NB: IRC is an unsupported service.
IRCnet and Efnet Servers
The IRCnet and Efnet servers are:
ircnet.demon.co.uk
and
efnet.demon.co.uk
on ports 6665, 6666, 6667, 6668 or 6669.
If you have an IRC client and wish to chat on IRCnet or Efnet you should set it to use the ports above, but we recommend customers avoid port 6667 for faster access.
As a service to the Internet community, we may grant access to other Internet users provided that the network routing to those users is favourable.
Note that before IRCnet and EFnet split into two separate IRC networks, Demon operated a single IRC server called irc.demon.co.uk. This address is currently an alias for ircnet.demon.co.uk but may be discontinued without notice. Customers should ensure their clients now use ircnet.demon.co.uk.
Miscellaneous Services
Message of the Day
Some software cannot display the "message of the day" (MOTD) which is a brief summary of the status of various services given during the login sequence. If your software cannot display this you can obtain it by fingering:
using the default finger port (79).
Status
Status information reporting problems with our network can be obtained by fingering:
using the default finger port (79).
The status information is far more detailed than the information in the MOTD, and we try to retain one week's worth of status messages for the benefit of customers who do not connect daily. For this reason, the status information often occupies far more than a typical 24-line screen, so the newest information is placed at the bottom for the benefit of those who have finger displays which cannot be paused.
This information is also offered on our website here.