From: Greg C. <chi...@co...> - 2006-12-07 22:19:29
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On 2006-12-4 22:50 UTC, Dave Murphy wrote: > Greg Chicares wrote: >> Does >> >>> http://downloads.sourceforge.net/mingw/FILE-TO-DOWNLOAD >>> >> have the effect of choosing an "appropriate" mirror? Is its >> behavior documented by sourceforge anywhere? The reason I ask >> is that I download these files with a 'wget' script. That >> method continues to work, but in the past I've hardcoded a >> particular mirror--so if sourceforge offers a smarter way, >> I'd like to use it. >> > The downloads.sourceforge.net links do seem to select an appropriate > mirror, yes. The behaviour isn't documented by Sourceforge unfortunately > and they seem reluctant to support the web installer methods I've been > using. > > I've been running tests on the links using wget, the nsis download > plugin and some custom written code which does much the same thing. In > all cases it seems that a mirror is selected randomly and I haven't been > able to find a situation where the link will fail given an active net > connection. I did some tests today that confirm your analysis. In quick succession I got files from: miles away city mirror 2787 phoenix easynews 1306 minneapolis umn 3013 seattle superb-west 2787 phoenix easynews 2787 phoenix easynews 3013 seattle superb-west 2787 phoenix easynews 1306 minneapolis umn 1306 minneapolis umn 352 mclean superb-east Aside from their all being in the same country, geographical distance doesn't seem to be the measure they're minimizing. I didn't see real addresses, so I didn't try a traceroute. It is interesting that none of these downloads failed. In the past, I never found all the mingw files I was after on any single US server, so I'd been picking CH for reliability. In particular, I don't think I've ever gotten three whole files in one day from the 'umn' server, which was always the worst of the lot. |