[BC] ftp sites

[Cowboy]

On Friday 15 September 2006 10:52 am, Don Niccum wrote:
> I have always been told that when I need audio from a ftp site, always
> download it and then play it locally, never to play it directly from the ftp
> site.

 If you want continuous unbroken audio, that's not necessarily bad advice.

> So that I have the info in my head for future reference, does playing audio
> directly from the ftp site affect the ftp server in some adverse way?

 No.
 The server will deliver a file ( FTP being File Transfer Protocal and not really
 a streaming protocal at all ) as it's requested to do, subject to the sharing
 configuration it's been set up for.
 Packets arriving out of order do not matter. Packets arriving late do not matter.
 Pausing the stream ( full buffer ) will cause the server to switch to serving
 a different request, and getting back to you whenever.
 In fact, playing from the ftp server is probably easier on the server, since
 a play out will demand far less bandwidth than a high speed transfer, subject
 to the connection limitations. Since your bandwidth demand will be much lower,
 you could be paused at random as the machine serves a higher demand
 connection subject to available bandwidth.

 There will be no adverse affect on the *server* in any way, but your playback
 could be severely adversely affected.
 By downloading the file first, your playback is affected only by your local disk
 ability to keep up with the sound card, and none of the network bandwith or other
 conditions that normally affect a file transfer.

-- 
Cowboy