OT: a few thoughts on download managers...

Topic: OT: a few thoughts on download managers... (Read 3400 times) previous topic - next topic

OT: a few thoughts on download managers...

2007-09-26 11:09 pm

G'day all,
this is partly a whinge and partly informative...

As many of you know I've produced a couple of font suites for use with NWC. Now, even though the standard way you download them is via links on the Scripto, the files are actually hosted on my own web server.

As a matter of interest I occasionally check the logs to see if they're still being downloaded. I'm very pleased to say they there is a relatively steady stream - my work was not in vain

However I have noticed that on occasion someone will download with a download manager/accelerator... Believe it or not, this is not a great idea.

A recent instance may demonstrate what I mean.

All 3 suites were downloaded by the same person (well IP address) earlier this month.
Their manager was set for 30 threads.
My server duly delivered on each thread
The SwingDings.zip file size is 388776 bytes
The total data downloaded by the 30 threads was, wait for it, 6766470 bytes.
Yes folks, they downloaded enough data to get the file 17.4 times.
One thread actually got all but 1200 bytes of the file all by itself...
As my uplink is only 384 kbps (on a good day) it would have taken at least 3 minutes, actually more like 4 with comms overheads - not very long I guess,
But it would have been about 10 (say 14) seconds without the download manager
Hmm, not such a good idea I would think...
Of course, if my server supported it, they would have been able to recover from a broken download had it been necessary - but that only needs 1 thread...

I guess what I'm saying here is, download managers have their place, but be careful you don't end up paying for a lot more excess data on your internet service than you actually need to.

Small files or slow servers/internet links will end up using more of your data allowance than they should - and it will also cost you time rather than saving it.

Re: OT: a few thoughts on download managers...

Reply #1 – 2007-09-26 11:54 pm

The place to restart a 400k download is from the beginning... by hand.

I downloaded all 3 suites 2007/09/23, one at 9:24, another at 9:26. I unzipped them between downloads.
15 seconds/download seems about right.

Re: OT: a few thoughts on download managers...

Reply #2 – 2007-09-27 12:57 am

Download managers that start multiple threads are supposed to use the HTTP_RANGE header to acquire different sections of the file with each request. The server is then supposed to respond with a "206 Partial Content" that meets the request.

It has been our experience that download managers are not very well behaved (from the server perspective). Judging by their response against our server, they must really slow their clients down considerably, just as Lawrie points out.

For example, in some of our downloads, we issue a "Accept-Ranges: none" header to the client. There are numerous cases where a download accelerator will ignore this, making things slower for everyone.

See also:

14.5 Accept-Ranges
http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec14.html#sec14.5

14.35 Range
http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec14.html#sec14.35

Re: OT: a few thoughts on download managers...

Reply #3 – 2007-11-13 09:44 pm

G'day all,
though I'd add a little footnote to this...

The other problem that download managers create is polluted logs - all those multiple entries for what is, in reality, a single download.

Bear in mind, these files are less than 400k each - "HiVis" is only 14k

Anyhow I just figured out an easy way to report a little more accurately and I get the following results (I've been keeping the stats since the release versions of the font suites were available):

	Total	REAL
Files	count	count
SwingDings.zip	2050	1429
MusikDingsSans.zip	1043	672
MusikDingsSerif.zip	1285	809
NWC2HiVisLP.ttf	1389	1293

Now here I was thinking that I had some seriously good numbers and it turns out that nearly 40% are download manager threads - I was allowing a mere 10% - what a let down

'Cept for "HiVis" - now THAT little sucker has outperformed my wildest expectations!

Re: OT: a few thoughts on download managers...

Reply #4 – 2007-11-14 09:08 am

It's like playing to an almost empty concert hall, Lawrie. My band did a road trip once that included a mill town up the coast. We booked the theatre, and only 3 or 4 people showed up. Our groupies (significant others) outnumbered them 2 or 3 to 1.

The people who booked us couldn't have known the town's minor league hockey team would be playing a championship that evening, in the arena next door. We didn't have a ghost of a chance for a turnout.

We tend to be disappointed with a small audience, instead of rejoicing that the people who come really want to hear us. I think it is the same with your suite of fonts.

You are to be commended and congratulated on the actual number of downloads. That's quite an accomplishment, knowing that so many downloads were done within our relatively small Noteworthy community.

Re: OT: a few thoughts on download managers...

Reply #5 – 2007-11-14 11:43 am

G'day David,
thanks mate. I didn't really intend to sound quite so disappointed. On the contrary I'm really quite pleased with the level of interest.

It's just that here I was thinking there'd been 30% more interest than there really was.

Still, 2900 suite downloads and nearly 1300 downloads for HiVis is pretty impressive.

Actually , that's the one that surprises me. HiVis was originally created for "Pat" of another thread's fame (https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=5113.0) but I don't know if she ever ended up getting it. I lost contact - all my emails to her seemd to evaporate into the ether(net) and I don't think she ever came back to the forum after the font was available.

Anyhow, I sort of expected maybe a dozen or so people with vision problems might be interested - to have nearly 1300 downloads is simply amazing.

So, I'm not wingeing, rather, a very big thank you to all who've found the suites interesting and useful.