Ring Servers: A Rundown
Servers placed in the Furthest Ring are the backbone of the Age of Replayer Networks, tied together by timetravs and by the hard work of people whose only outlet is the Internet.
I know I covered the generalities previously in the Corruption writeup, but here's a sequence of what you need to do to establish a Ring server.
1: Why haven't you used someone else's?
Replayer networks are difficult to establish and difficult to keep. You must make a Deal for the safety of your network; there's no two ways about it. I would dissuade you if at all possible.
Note that launching a redundant server for Pits, or for other such distributed-federation networks, is already covered under someone else's Deal and thus does not carry the same level of risk. If you'd like to, go ahead!
If you think none of the current Replayer networks work for you - if you object to all their policies, perhaps - then we proceed to the next step.
How will yours be different?
Let's be honest, nobody will use an untested server whose only virtue is that it isn't any of the current ones, especially if they're coming from an existing Replayer network. What do you offer? (It's okay if "more stability" or "better moderation" is the answer. But you have to figure out how you'll be doing that, too.)
How you'll attract new users is a question, too. While there are plenty of loose Replayers still sweeping the skies looking for signals, recruiting from an existing Replayer network has the advantage that it'll jumpstart your growth by providing an initial seed community. The problem is that you're passing a high bar: are a large number of people dissatisfied enough to move? Is it something that fulfills a need that noen of the current networks do?
Usually... the answer is no. But if you think it's yes, do keep going.
How will you run your Ring server?
Remeber: your Ring server will be in the Ring. You will not be able to physically visit it and turn it off and back on again if it acts up. (The Horrorterrors can... for a fee. But best to minimize that possibility.) What hardware will you use? Software?
The Skaianet OSes are pretty stable, if you strip them down to command-line-only. Which requires that you know how a command line works. It's on the graphical level, I'm told, where problems tend to emerge.
You may want to try using a hypervisor - an outer operating system that is extremely simple, that lets you manipulate the inner OS in ways that would otherwise require physical access. For example, the hypervisor can let you monitor the boot sequence without being there, or restart the inner OS. Obviously, this requires that the hypervisor be even more stable than the server software you're running.
Do you have a plan for growth?
Many communities fall foul of this: that their governance structures work fine for an informal server of about eight friends, but it falls apart when a flood of people suddenly bloats the userlist to a hundred.
Write clear rules now. How will you enforce them? How will you select moderators? What gets your post deleted? What's a ban-worthy offense?
And what can you to do to try to preserve the character and intention of your Replayer network as it grows? True preservation is impossible, but you can try to foster the principles upon which you built your Network in those who join. Clickwrap is useless, moderators are mostly useless - what'll really acculturate people is other people. It is important to have consistent rules for what kind of content you like from the beginning.
Who will you Deal with?
This, unfortunately, is a personal decision I cannot help you with.
Keep in mind that researching Horrorterrors is inherently Corruptive. Doing too much reseach is dangerous. Unfortunately, doing too little research is also dangerous.
