FOSDEM: Notes from MirrorBrain talk

[robbat2]

Sitting in the MirrorBrain talk at FOSDEM, taking notes.

Actively used since ~2007.
Split between the redirector and the tester, explicitly made separate.
SourceForge helped with the ASN/Closest-Network side.
Metalinks and P2P support.
Scans mirrors for filelist to see what's present.
Load limiting by making director support mirrors that are limited to a local network / AS / country etc.
MetaLinks don't have Magnet links presently, but I noted that it should be possible to include it.

Using GeoDNS directly for lookups can cause trouble with partial mirrors. Ideally need to put a MirrorBrain server on each continent/region, and GeoDNS to point to that. Also, from some countries, bandwidth to adjcaent countries that might have a mirror is MUCH worse than bandwidth to a well-connected country elsewhere. Past user experience noted with a user in Mozambique, for whom the fastest mirror was via satellite to Canada. Routing data IS needed to make that best choice.

MirrorBrain mailing lists also have a generic non-project-specific "networkers" list for talk between content providers and mirror admins, non-specific to any app.

Comments

Re: Comments to your MirrorBrain notes

[(Anonymous)]

> I can think of cases where that is not true [...]

yes, which is why I said "almost always", and not "always" ;-) and which is why MirrorBrain prefers local mirrors.

What do you mean by "routing data from the perspective of the client"? Do you think you could you use it to detect the best mirror to send a client to? Or any other clever idea?

Thanks,
Peter