Things You Need to Know to get your SOCKS server up and running

If you already have a TCP/IP network running, you can skip over the domain-related information here. If not, this just suggests the basic information you need, and if there are additional issues you should consult online how-to documentation.

DOMAIN NAME:
To make things easier, you should choose a "domain name" for the private network that will be communicating through the SOCKS server. This can be anything you want, but shouldn't be a domain that is already defined in the "real" Internet, such as ibm.com. For example, I chose "clt.net" but more interesting names are certainly possible. This is the name you want for your network, not the domain name of the Internet service provider you are connecting to. Since it's private, this name won't be recognized or accessible from the Internet.

Examples: foo.bar, iamgod.net, woovie.foo, os2rules.world, boring.etc

DOMAIN ADDRESS and IP NUMBERS:
Each machine in the private network requires a unique number identifying it specifically. A network address must be used to assign these numbers in an orderly fashion. These are normal IP addresses, but they won't be visible to the "real" Internet (since it's a private network). The "10.0.0.0" address is reserved for private networks, so that you can safely choose numbers that aren't actually in use out there.

For a small private network, this means that the machines should be numbered as:

  10.0.0.1, 10.0.0.2, .. , 10.0.0.40
or in a similar orderly fashion. For example, I chose to number the machines in my private network
  10.10.10.100, 10.10.10.110, 10.10.10.120, 10.10.10.130
so my "domain address" is 10.10.10.0 -- i.e. I keep the "10.10.10." part always the same, and change only the last number.

DOMAIN NETMASK:
Just use a netmask of "255.255.255.0" unless you know specifically that need something different. Make sure that all the computers on the private network have IP numbers that are different only in the last number (i.e. 100,110,120 and 130, in my case).

MACHINE NAMES:
For each machine number, choose a specific name associated to that number only. Using names to refer to computers is easier than remembering the unique numbers.

For example, for my network, I have

   10.10.10.100          hobb   
   10.10.10.110          slug   
   10.10.10.120          deimos
   10.10.10.130          max
These are combined with the domain name to give each machine a full name, such as "deimos.clt.net" for 10.10.10.120 on my network.

SOCKS SERVER ADDRESS:
The unique IP number assigned to the machine on the private network that will be running the SOCKS server and domain name server. In my case, this is 10.10.10.100.

SOCKS SERVER NAME:
The name associated to the SOCKS server address. In my case, this is "hobb" (hobb.clt.net is 10.10.10.100.)

SERVICE PROVIDER DNS IP:
The Internet IP number of the machine on your Internet service provider, that runs a real domain nameserver (DNS.) This is the machine that your private name server will talk to get "real" Internet names. In my case, I use "165.87.201.244", one of the name servers operated by IBM Advantis, my Internet service provider.

SERVICE PROVIDER DNS NAME:
The Internet name associated with the DNS IP, if any. For example, my DNS server 165.87.201.244 is called "ns01.ny.us.ibm.net". Many providers don't allocate names to their nameservers. If this is the case, simply use the DNS IP number as its name (i.e. dns ip number: 199.166.254.4, dns ip name: 199.166.254.4.).

ETC DIRECTORY:
The configuration for TCP/IP and other networking functions are stored in an "etc" directory, on OS/2 and on other systems. To figure out where this directory is located, type

  ECHO %ETC%
from a command prompt under OS/2. Usually, it's X:\MPTN\ETC or X:\TCPIP\ETC, but could be something else. This will be needed for both the client and the SOCKS server machines.
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