4 ms·

This makes the claim that you don't need to run any additional software on the server, other than having an HTTP/1.1 compliant host. How does zsync diff agains

• arbie 9y ago
  "zsync is only useful if people offer zsync downloads." It works by expecting a .zsync metadata file which gets downloaded first and is used to guide the differential download.
  • deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
• deelowe 9y ago
  It uses a special file that has to be installed on the server. Perhaps you thought (as did I) that this was supposed to work with any file over http? That does not appear to be the case. http://zsync.moria.org.uk/server http://zsync.moria.org.uk/server
  • bruxis 9y ago
    I see, this really threw me off: "Rsync over HTTP — zsync provides transfers that are nearly as efficient as rsync -z or cvsup, without the need to run a special server application. All that is needed is an HTTP/1.1-compliant web server. So it works through firewalls and on shared hosting accounts, and gives less security worries." The other child comment also touches on something that I seem to have skipped over, the .zsync metadata file which contains pre-calculated rsync hashes. Using this means software isn't needed, but during upload the file needs to be processed to produce this metadata.
    • IanCal 9y ago
      Interesting note on the site is that these files don't need to be on the original server. Anyone can generate and host them. > in fact, the .zsync can be generated and offered by a third party, while still leaving most of the download to the original distribution site.
      • rripken 9y ago
        Interesting. How would that work for clients? If the destination file already exists on the client look for a .zsync on the hosting server, if its not there look for one at https://thirdpartyzsyncs.com?url=someurl https://thirdpartyzsyncs.com?url=someurl ? What happens if the .zsync is out of sync with the resource?
        • cat199 9y ago
          my uninformed guess is that the zsync URL would be provided in some HTTP header
        • IanCal 9y ago
          The client, from my very limited testing, expects the url of the zsync file as an input. The zsync file can point to anywhere else for listing the canonical version. So you'd zsync http://third-party/file.zsync http://third-party/file.zsync and this file would contain the url for the main file. > What happens if the .zsync is out of sync with the resource? I'm not sure, I've not managed to get it working on a simple file yet.
  • oliwarner 9y ago
    Installed on? Uploaded to. It's just a pair of files. The big thing you're trying to transfer and the zsync file that details the content of that first file, to guide the downloader.
    • deelowe 9y ago
      I'm not sure I see the difference?
      • DrJosiah 9y ago
        You can upload the .zsync file to anywhere Apache, Nginx, etc., can read, and it all just works. You don't need a plugin, you don't need to change your httpd.conf, ...
        • deelowe 9y ago
          Yeah. I assumed that.
      • oliwarner 9y ago
        Within the wider context of your comment, "install" implied a setup process or configuration change.
• deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]