On Mon, 29 Jul 1996, Peter Lothberg wrote: Roy <garlic@garlic.com> |} > They use the ping times to figure out which server would be closest. |} > All the servers are not located in the same place. The idea is that |} > european users may receive better service from a european server. Peter Lothberg <roll@stupi.se> |} The network topology and geography does not match very well, I would guess |} that the network center of Europe is likely to be somwhere on the US |} Eastcoast. |} |} Only Stockholm have multiple international E3 links.... There is still a rather high bit of latency to cross the Atlantic. Not to mention that within Europe, not everyone has an STM-1 backbone. I'm under the impression (anyone feel free to correct me :), that the majority of the infrastructure is based on multiple E1s with some E3 connections and perhaps a few SDH links. One could probably take this picture and copy it a few times to represent several other countries and/or whole continents; remove pieces and get a picture of even more countries. Distributing web servers to remote corners of the world can only be characterized as a good thing. Not to mention the added value that is gained in localized content *and* advertising. If the end-user is shuffled to a 'local' server rather than the 'master' server, the end-user is theoretically getting a higher bandwidth connection, perhaps content in his/her local language and perhaps directed marketing. If traffic is to be moved away from exchange points, a good way of doing it is to move the content. Developing a mechanism for end-users to access that content transparently around the world is another discussion entirely. -jh-