Simtel (sometimes called Simtelnet, originally SIMTEL20) was an important long-running archive of

freeware Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...

and

shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer. ...

for various operating systems. The Simtel archive had significant ties to the history of several operating systems: it was in turn a major repository for

CP/M CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/Intel 8085, 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Dig ...

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free-software Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). The first version was released in 1993 developed from 386BSD, one of the first fully functional and free Unix clones on affordable ...

. The archive was hosted initially on the MIT-MC

PDP-10 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)'s PDP-10, later marketed as the DECsystem-10, is a mainframe computer family manufactured beginning in 1966 and discontinued in 1983. 1970s models and beyond were marketed under the DECsystem-10 name, especi ...

running the

Incompatible Timesharing System Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS) is a time-sharing operating system developed principally by the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, with help from Project MAC. The name is the jocular complement of the MIT Compatible Time-Sharing Syste ...

, then

TOPS-20 The TOPS-20 operating system by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) is a proprietary OS used on some of DEC's 36-bit mainframe computers. The Hardware Reference Manual was described as for "DECsystem-10/DECSYSTEM-20 Processor" (meaning the DEC PDP ...

, then FreeBSD servers, with archive distributor Walnut Creek CDROM helping fund FreeBSD development. It began as an early mailing list, then was hosted on the

ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first computer networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the tec ...

, and finally the fully open

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. The service was shut down on March 15, 2013.

History

Simtel originated as SIMTEL20, a software archive started by Keith Petersen in 1979 while living in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

. The original archive consisted of

software for early

8080 The Intel 8080 is Intel's second 8-bit microprocessor. Introduced in April 1974, the 8080 was an enhanced successor to the earlier Intel 8008 microprocessor, although without binary compatibility.'' Electronic News'' was a weekly trade newspa ...

-based

microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (P ...

s. The software was hosted on a

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

that also ran a CP/M mailing list to which Petersen subscribed. When access to the particular MIT computer was removed in 1983, fellow CP/M enthusiast Frank Wancho, then an employee at the

White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, where the Trinity t ...

, arranged for the archive to be hosted on a

DECSYSTEM-20 The DECSYSTEM-20 was a family of 36-bit Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-10 mainframe computers running the TOPS-20 operating system and was introduced in 1977. PDP-10 computers running the TOPS-10 operating system were labeled ''DECsystem ...

computer with

access, accessible via FTP at simtel20.arpa, later known as wsmr-simtel20.army.mil. At this time, Simtel began archiving MS-DOS software in addition to its archive of CP/M software. Over time, the SIMTEL20 archive added software for other operating systems, user groups and various

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Programming languages are described in terms of their Syntax (programming languages), syntax (form) and semantics (computer science), semantics (meaning), usually def ...

s, including the Ada Software Repository, the CP/M User's Group, PC/Blue, SIG/M(icros), and the

Unix Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...

/ C collections. In 1991, Walnut Creek CDROM was founded by Robert A. Bruce, which helped distribute the Simtel archive on CD-ROM discs for those not wishing, or unable, to access the archive online. In 1993, the SIMTEL20 archive at White Sands Missile Range was shut down due to budget constraints. From 1993 on, the Walnut Creek CDROM

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...

server and (later on) Web site became the focal point for online Simtel access. For much of its life the Web site and primary mirrors were located at www.cdrom.com, www.simtel.net, and oak.oakland.edu at

Oakland University Oakland University (OU or Oakland) is a public university, public research university in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson and husband ...

. In July 1998, the Simtel FTP server set a record for overall traffic with a total transfer amount of 417 GB of data in one day. In May 1999, the Simtel FTP server surpassed its own record by transferring, in one day, a total of 873 GB. In the same year it served 10,000 clients at a time, showing that the

C10k problem The C10k problem is the problem of optimizing network sockets to handle a large number of clients at the same time. The name C10k is a numeronym for concurrently handling ten thousand connections. Handling many concurrent connections is a differe ...

was tractable on contemporary systems. Due to a mirror licensing dispute situation with Coast to Coast Telecommunications in 1995 (now Allegiance Telecom, part of

XO Communications XO Communications, LLC, previously Nextlink Communications, Concentric Network Corporation and Allegiance Telecom, Inc., was an American telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the ...

), archive maintainer Keith Petersen left his employment with CCT and moved on to Walnut Creek CDROM. In October 1999, Digital River purchased Simtel from Walnut Creek CDROM for US$1.0 million and 143,885 shares of common stock. Mr. Petersen contracted with Digital River, along with small business owner and son Kurt Petersen of Petersen Business Management, to manage the Simtel collections and continued to do so until January 15, 2001. The service was shut down on March 15, 2013. Some mirrors may still be available.
FTP mirror ftp.forthnet.gr

FTP mirror ftp.icm.edu.pl

FTP mirror ftp.oldskool.org

ftp.sunet.se

Simtel 20 MS-DOS Archive CD-ROM : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Simtel 20 MSDOS Archive CD-ROM Sept 1992 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The Walnut Creek CD-ROM Collection

Search results simtel MS-DOS

Index of /mirror/archive/ftp.sunet.se

Index of /cpm/cdrom/SIMTEL

Index of /pub/simtelnet

Index of /mirror/archive/ftp.sunet.se

References

External links

* {{Cite web , url=http://www.simtel.net/ , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315145600/http://www.simtel.net/, archive-date=2013-03-15, title=Free Download of Computer Software, Games, Tools and Utilities - Freeware, Shareware, Demos and Trial Versions - Simtel.net
Simtel download (10 Gigabyte) at the Internet Archive

Original mirror that is still online
File hosting Internet properties established in 1993