Hi John,

I've just received, and replied to, an email from John O'Connell (which I think was CC'd to you). He wants me to redirect all inquiries (with regards to Minds) to you.

I'm sorry I haven't been in touch lately - I've been quite busy in work for the last month and a half; which is something, as a student, I'm not used to ;) - but I'd like to thank you for all the help you've given the society. I'm certain we would not have gotten so far without your help. From what I've seen of the proposed access rights to the TIE/Minds machine, it's pretty much everything we want. Bart's been keeping us informed through

Message to John Keating ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Barrett" <mindschair@eircom.net> To: <john.keating@may.ie> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2001 12:25 PM Subject: Minds the

minds-disaster list on redbrick (set up at the time of the withdrawal of service and the Minds political headaches).

With regards to the firewall mentioned, what would you have in mind? Bart was saying that it would cost approximately £1000, but we might be able, if it is okay with you, to use a pre-existing machine to run a firewall (a P200 with FreeBSD running IPSec, for example). I'll have to discuss this with my committee, but it would be a lot cheaper than £1000. The price, however, indicates something like a Cisco Pix 506 - which runs on a P200 if I recall correctly. with 2x 10Mb NICs. A machine could be optained for a lot cheaper that might do the job better.

Bart wasn't clear whether such a piece of equipment was what you were suggesting to meet their needs, or if they requested it. Can you clarify this for me?

If a Cisco Pix or similar Cisco kit is required, I might be able to acquire it at a discount; as I work in a Cisco resellers. With regards to money, Minds unfortunately has very little left, but I might be able to supply some personally (I need to talk to Brian Gormley about this, as Bart wasn't too sure this was allowed, particularly not if I was lending the money). It *might* also be possible for us to secure some sort of loan; I'll get Des Traynor (Treasurer) to look into this, and also to figure out how much we can afford as is.

Cian Synnott also drafted up some network policy documents WAY back, for us to bring to the CC. Would you be interested in looking over them?

I'd also like to know the chances of Minds getting some sort of operational server (our existing machine or the new E450) for logging into by Fairs Day (the second week in October I think). We'd need SSHD, a news server + reader and the "hey" program ( http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~c-hey ) installed at a minimum for this... these being the most used programs on Minds at any time ;)

Once again, thanks a lot for your help. If there's anything you need, just give me an email at mindschair@eircom.net (I have my work machine set up to auto-check it every minute) and I'll get right back to you.

Regards,

David Barrett Chairperson, Minds mindschair@eircom.net