Download redirector for debian-cd available
Michael Meier <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.linux.debian.user.mirrors |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
There is now an experimental download redirector for debian-cd image downloads under http://debian-cd.debian.net. Browse the usual directory listing under http://debian-cd.debian.net/debian-cd/ (this should look just like the official main primary cd image server linked to from the debian homepage). Once you select a file, the server will try to redirect you to a suitable mirror, that means: One that is up, has the file that you want, and is close to you. If you click the "Details" link next to a filename, you will see a page that tells you which mirrors are considered for you, and why (where it thinks you are). The redirector is based on "Mirrorbrain" and currently knows 129 active working mirrors (of 150 total), so in most parts of the world should always have a nearby server that it can send you to. Unfortunately, debian mirrors aren't perfectly distributed, a large part of them are in Europe and the US, so there are a few regions where it won't work that perfectly. The redirector verifies these mirrors are available every ten minutes, so that mirrors that are down are taken out automatically sufficiently fast. The content of the mirrors is currently checked only once a day since it usually doesn't change. Of course, the idea is to radically increase the scan rate when a new release is due, so that it learns fast which servers already have the new release and can redirect users to them. There is a lot more that can be finetuned here, e.g. mirrors that have little available bandwidth can get a lower priority, or mirrors can be restricted to use from their own country if they're known to have bad connectivity to other countries. I plan to implement some of that, and you can actually help with feedback if you have information that is helpful in that respect (e.g. "our mirror has 1 gbit bandwidth inside .fantasyland, but only 10 mbit international, it should be restricted to .fantasyland only"). Should this one day become a proper, official debian service, that information can be transferred, so it does make sense to tune it even if it's just "experimental" right now. I think that's all for now, I'm sure I'll remember what I forget a second after I hit "Send"...