Private Chat Server Operations

The Private Chat server is especially easy to use. There are only three entries you can make before you start it. One allows it to keep a list of the last few messages it has received and sent out to all connected clients. This list is called a message queue.

There is a check box to enable the message queue but by default it is not checked and the queue is disabled. If you click the check box, you will be able to enter a number between 1 and 150. The server will then keep the number of messages you have entered, and send up to that many to each new user as they connect to it. That provides a "bulletin-board" effect such that new logins can see what the on-going conversation has been about.

The remaining entry is for the channel (port/socket) the server will listen for connections on. That defaults to 28000, which is a safe number well above commonly used values. You can NOT use a number that is already in use by another program. If you use another number, you and anyone else that tries to connect to your server must use the channel number you assign to your server.

Now to Domain Names and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

Every computer connected to the Internet must have an IP address. Practically all home users, and most small business users, have a different IP address assigned to them by their Internet Service Provider each time they connect. That address is called a Dynamic IP Address (because it changes). That makes it difficult for your correspondents to know how to connect to your Private Chat server if your IP address is always changing. Fortunately, there is a cure for Dynamic IPs.

There are organizations and companies like DynDns.org that provide free accounts for translating a name you provide to your IP address. The name is called a Domain Name, and the only requirement is that it can't be a duplicate of one already in use. If you take the link above and scroll to the bottom of the page, you will find an entry blank you can enter a candidate domain name into and verify that it is not already in use. If it is already in use, just try other names until you find one that is available. Then you can 'sign up' for a free account with them using that name.

Your Domain Name will be the name you chose in front of ".homeip.net". Note that there are other choices besides homeip.net. You can have a .com, .org, or other type of Domain Name. Next, you go to the Clients page at DynDns.org and download one of the programs that are used to update your IP address at DynDns.org each time you reconnect to the Internet. The one I started out with (several years ago) and still use is DynamicUpdate, but I'm sure that the others available there are equally good. Once you have an account and have a dynamic IP address updater program installed, you're good to go. Other people will be able to use the domain name (mine is rixgroup.homeip.net, you'll notice that it's one of the choices in the drop-down list in Private Chat) to connect to your server even if your IP address changes every time you connect to your ISP.