MUD Administration

Netwyrm · 07-29-2005, 11:04 PM

I am wrapping something up for browser usage, for which I have an out of band signalling channel requirement. I can't use 80, though that is just about guaranteed to be open, because I'm already using that in the browser.

In testing, some folks have had to open ports, which is uncomfortable for many users. Thus, I have been trying to decide which port would be most welcome.

Many MUDs run on telnet. Should I put my out of band channel on that port, even though I am not using the telnet protocol, given that many MUD players will already have it open? Or is that just asking for other trouble?

Has anyone had to run two channels in their game before? I don't want players to have firewall issues, but also don't want to abuse ports.

Kylotan · 07-31-2005, 07:24 AM

You seem to have something mistaken - you don't need to open ports on the local machine to connect to a remote system. ie. you don't need port 23 open locally in order to connect to a telnet server elsewhere. Is this a peer-to-peer system or just a standard client-server one? If these people have firewalls that block outgoing connections based on destination port, then telling them to allow connections to those ports (which is not really 'opening' them) constitutes virtually no security risk whatsoever.

Netwyrm · 07-31-2005, 01:40 PM

I have to explicitly open ports even on my own machine for certain services. I suppose I assume others have to do similar things.

I put the signalling channel on 8080, finally, as the IANA has that listed as the alternate HTTP port, so it seemed apt to use it in conjunction with 80.

YFMV (your firewall may vary)

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07-29-2005, 11:04 PM	#1
Netwyrm New Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: San Rafael, CA Posts: 14	I am wrapping something up for browser usage, for which I have an out of band signalling channel requirement. I can't use 80, though that is just about guaranteed to be open, because I'm already using that in the browser. In testing, some folks have had to open ports, which is uncomfortable for many users. Thus, I have been trying to decide which port would be most welcome. Many MUDs run on telnet. Should I put my out of band channel on that port, even though I am not using the telnet protocol, given that many MUD players will already have it open? Or is that just asking for other trouble? Has anyone had to run two channels in their game before? I don't want players to have firewall issues, but also don't want to abuse ports.

07-31-2005, 07:24 AM	#2
Kylotan Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 113	You seem to have something mistaken - you don't need to open ports on the local machine to connect to a remote system. ie. you don't need port 23 open locally in order to connect to a telnet server elsewhere. Is this a peer-to-peer system or just a standard client-server one? If these people have firewalls that block outgoing connections based on destination port, then telling them to allow connections to those ports (which is not really 'opening' them) constitutes virtually no security risk whatsoever.

07-31-2005, 01:40 PM	#3
Netwyrm New Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: San Rafael, CA Posts: 14	I have to explicitly open ports even on my own machine for certain services. I suppose I assume others have to do similar things. I put the signalling channel on 8080, finally, as the IANA has that listed as the alternate HTTP port, so it seemed apt to use it in conjunction with 80. YFMV (your firewall may vary)

MUD Administration

Comfort level with ports