Hacking: Server ratings?, Computers other than commlinks Options

[Backgammon]

How does one go about setting the Response/Signal/Firewall/System ratings of a server? I'm guessing they must be much more powerful than portable commlinks... But what kind of numbers are we looking at here? And since the OS are software, while maybe the device ratings can be pretty high, are you limited to the OS ratings? Or is there some sort of more powerful OS running on servers?

[BishopMcQ]

This will probably be addressed in Unwired--until then I'd say to treat all hosts as Rating 6 with the extra security being additional IC, Agents, and active deckers...

At least until the hardcap of ratings is removed...

[Jaid]

i doubt they will remove the hardcap on ratings unless they also remove the cap on skills (and possibly augmented attributes).

as it stands, i see no reason a GM couldn't make it a little higher if (s)he wants, but i would have to say the main thing will be lots of IC, agents, corporate security hackers, etc, not just as a temporary measure, but as the main difference.

essentially, the server is just doing more than a regular commlink. the ratings don't necessarily reflect the overall capability of the server, but rather how good it is at resisting hacking attempts and whatnot (since that is mostly the only thing that matters to the players anyways).

of course, i could be completely wrong on that... but that's my best guess, personally.

on the other hand, i would certainly expect differences in how servers work... for example, being able to run more than it's system rating in programs at any given time, being able to suscribe to more devices, and so on.

[Backgammon]

[Jaid]

IMO you should just disregard petty things like limits on the number of programs and number of devices subscribed. (unless it's something ridiculously huge... i mean, for example, if someone decides to upload a bajillion agents, or subscribe a bajillion agents to it, then you might have a problem. for the record, i used agents because they are about the cheapest way i know of to get that many things to subscribe to, although RFIDs could go pretty high i suppose... )

anyways, basically, i would treat servers and large corporate nodes as having effectively unlimited subscribed devices and whatnot. i would justify this (in the event that a player demands to see how it can be done in the rules) by having it simply be what makes the most sense, IMO... it's basically just a whole lot of other devices linked into a single thing. ie, it's like having 50 (well, the actual number is probably a lot higher, but you get what i mean) commlinks, all subscribed to one another, with special software to allow better integration than normal.

IMO, this would certainly justify being able to subscribe hundreds of devices to it, as well as being able to load many many programs.

now, in this event, just to keep players from turning their PAN into ultimate server of doom with no restrictions on programs running or whatnot, i'd probably have it be possible to overload the server in one specific sub section, and thus it could slow down in that section, but overall it would be fine. possibly some of the IC/Agents in any given area are actually subscribed to a different area of the server, just to keep people from slowing that area down and being able to stomp the IC there.


but that's just how i would handle it, personally.

[Eyeless Blond]

Keep in mind also that since tests are straight Opposed Tests now if you increase a server's Ratings too much you'll make it literally impossible to hack into a server. The main reason equipment is limited to rating 6 is that skills are too: most tests are Skill+Program against Program+Program, so if programs ratings go up too much it makes it impossible to hack a server.

So I guess I agree with those who think it's better to have servers just uncouple the ratings from the number of programs and number of subscribed devices.

[Chandon]

The game clearly implies that the same range of 1-6 applies to matrix "server" hosts as to any other matrix node, so you shouldn't just arbitrarily drop those rules and give them all sixes or say they commonly have ratings above six.

If you're really attached to the idea of single huge servers, say (as others have suggested) that their "server" nature allows them to run more programs than a commlink.

Another idea, which I think is more realistic wold be to assume that everything uses parallel clusters. A "server' is really fifteen (or more) hardware devices that each use the commlink rules that are linked together behind a load balancing router. It doesn't really matter which one you're on - they all act the same and share system files. If your group is up to it, you could use things like a more-secure master server where system files are kept - but you should avoid things like that unless both you and your players have a grasp on real world clustering.

[PlatonicPimp]

In the era of distributed networking, a server is effectively a number of Commlink-like processors linked together to act as a single system. Each one provides processing power to the network, and the utilities run on it are farmed out to those devices that have open space.

So if you want to be anal about it, the number of programs the server farm can run is the (system rating x number of linked processors x 2.)

Heck, If you want to be really anal about it, each of those processesor can be considered it's own node, meaning that we are back to the SR1 notion of a host being comprised of multiple nodes, and you have to find the right node to do what you want. YAY for system mapping!

[Backgammon]

[PlatonicPimp]

Yeah. Those old system mapping systems for SR1 were DAMN SEXY. Thank Deus, my Sweet, sweet nodes have come home. Come here baby. We'll never be apart again.