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Can anyone explain how this works? From previous experience I always thought that this was not possible without some cooperation on the other end because the pr

Can anyone explain how this works? From previous experience I always thought that this was not possible without some cooperation on the other end because the problem is you want to split the data being sent to you to different ips. If the other end sends all the data to the same ip, you cannot redirect/load balance to other ips before the data actually gets to you. What am I missing?

wmf 13y ago
Probably each TCP connection only goes over one IP address, so the remote end doesn't get confused. All the data coming back on that connection will have to come in on the same path the connection started on.
- chacham15 13y ago
  If that were the case, the download would be no faster than using a single connection. I guess it would help if you download multiple things, but that is a different claim than what is claimed in the title.
  - mikeash 13y ago
    You can use multiple connections for a single download (e.g. HTTP range requests).
    - anoncow16 13y ago
      I was thinking the same thing. A quick glance at the code (I don't speak js) seems it's not doing this.
    - chacham15 13y ago
      Yes, but that is at the application layer, not the transport layer (i.e. at TCP). Meaning, you need to be aware of what is actually being sent.
      - mikeash 13y ago
        Well, if you just balance TCP connections across physical connections, you could then combine this with a multi-connection HTTP download client and get the effect without any one piece having knowledge of it all (aside from the human). But yes, it's not going to be useful in general for everything.
p1mrx 13y ago
In theory, it's possible to load balance transparently across multiple IP addresses, provided that you have a well-connected VPS in a nearby datacenter to serve as an intermediary. From the world's point of view, you'll be connecting from the VPS's IP address, but between you and the VPS, you can do pretty much anything with the packets. Granted, that's now how dispatch-proxy works.

wmf 13y ago

Probably each TCP connection only goes over one IP address, so the remote end doesn't get confused. All the data coming back on that connection will have to come in on the same path the connection started on.

chacham15 13y ago
If that were the case, the download would be no faster than using a single connection. I guess it would help if you download multiple things, but that is a different claim than what is claimed in the title.
- mikeash 13y ago
  You can use multiple connections for a single download (e.g. HTTP range requests).
  - anoncow16 13y ago
    I was thinking the same thing. A quick glance at the code (I don't speak js) seems it's not doing this.
  - chacham15 13y ago
    Yes, but that is at the application layer, not the transport layer (i.e. at TCP). Meaning, you need to be aware of what is actually being sent.
    - mikeash 13y ago
      Well, if you just balance TCP connections across physical connections, you could then combine this with a multi-connection HTTP download client and get the effect without any one piece having knowledge of it all (aside from the human). But yes, it's not going to be useful in general for everything.

p1mrx 13y ago

In theory, it's possible to load balance transparently across multiple IP addresses, provided that you have a well-connected VPS in a nearby datacenter to serve as an intermediary. From the world's point of view, you'll be connecting from the VPS's IP address, but between you and the VPS, you can do pretty much anything with the packets. Granted, that's now how dispatch-proxy works.