[Blame]

Ok. Here's the problem.

When I download 4GB+ compressions containing thousands of files they are very often corrupt.

It happens the other way too. I uploaded a 10GB file and questioned the first downloader. I was horrified to find his download was corrupt. I checked and it was good till it was uploaded.

Since then I have been breaking the upload into under 4GB blocks and offering in 2 different compressions to provide a backup.

It seems to work but is far from optimal because it ends up with fewer mirrors. First because the downloads are spread between the two compression types. Secondly because the moment the download is finished most users stop sharing. So they are at most sharing only one block in one compression type. No use at all to anybody trying to download any of the others.

I am considering two options for the next upload:

1) Label the less popular compressed blocks (zip) as "backup copy" or some such in an attempt to persuade everybody to use the other compression (rar) as a first choice.
2) If I can find a compression that is nearly always recoverable without truncation then offer everything in one block with smaller blocks for patching. Next time all individual files will be already compressed so perhaps a way of packaging them without compression?

Whatever, I am determined to only use what works with preview. Anybody that offers huge files with no way of telling if they are child porn before they are fully downloaded should be shot.

This post has been edited by Blame: 04 December 2018 - 02:09 PM

[pier4r]

For reliability I prefer emulecollections linking hundreds of single files. As if I am interested in 20% of the contents of an archive I can get only than 20%. Plus I don't need to wait too long to discover that the archive has a nice title but not the content I expect.