Vodacom Download Server

Tazz_Tux, what is the benefit then to the customer? :confused:
I might as well get the file myself directly from the international server and skip the montly subscription.

Isn't the whole idea here that VC saves on international bandwidth by mirroring or whatever and passes that on to the customer who gets his distros and stuff at a much lower cost? Please clarify.
 
The whole idea is that you don't have to do the download :)

I am just thowing ideas out there - maybe they can make a "cheaper" download - something like R10/500meg - almost like a vlive buy.

My ideas are purely from a tech. background - I would use this service if it was started purely because I don't have to sit and wait for a download to slug down on GPRS/EDGE or even 3G. I can sch. it and download it via HSDPA while at work and can be asured of a completed download.

If Vodacom decides to give you a discount for using the service then good for us - I will w00t for that !!!

Laterz !

ajax said:
Tazz_Tux, what is the benefit then to the customer? :confused:
I might as well get the file myself directly from the international server and skip the montly subscription.

Isn't the whole idea here that VC saves on international bandwidth by mirroring or whatever and passes that on to the customer who gets his distros and stuff at a much lower cost? Please clarify.
Click to expand...
 
Not to put a damper on things but M$ have stopped mirroring WUS. You can get a special server but your clients have to "subscribe" to it - join it via domain or something like that.

At a few installation where I do proxy configs etc. we find it very hard to even cache WUS since M$ changes the files just for the hell of it. We see wierd things like some updates get cached (2-3 day old updates) while older updates don't - totally against the RFC but somehow that happens.

What we found works well is to boost the "Time To Live" of the objects for WUS to something like 14 days - then hope and pray someone needs it every 14 days :)

Laterz !

DjStyles said:
This sounds like a brilliant idea. I particularlly like the sound of the Windows Update Server mirror.
Click to expand...
 
Sounds like some good ideas here! I'd definitely support the idea of Vod mirroring a few popular Linux distros along with open source Linux & Windows software. Also, how about offering cheap bandwidth to (for example) the local repositories for Ubuntu? Updating Linux can be as much of a pain in the wallet as updating Windows... ;)

vodacom3g said:
... This file is then downloaded during the off-peak time (between 1am and 6am) ...
Click to expand...
Slightly OTT - vodacom3g, is the idea of reducing data tariffs during off-peak times for the end user still being considered?
 
I'd love to see the following available: Microsoft Updates (including Windows, Office, IE, media player), AV updates (Norton, Avast etc), Adobe Reader, VodaFone software, firmware updates for data cards.

That would be a decent start
 
For example - the update for my U740 is 45.5 MB and since I've overcooked my data bundle already (eish - it's only the 17th!!) that translates to R91 for the update. Now if Vodacom were nice and gave it to me for free...
 
Well, the way I see it, is if vodacom had to mirror a popular download server, WUS, AV Defs, VMC and Firmware updates it will be all good, just as a start a mirrror to a download server is not needed, just as long as we can get the updates for VMC and Firmware for free or a reduced price is fine for now.
If vodacom had to charge something like R50 - R100 p/m for this service and you could download what you wanted then personally I would pay to get it.

If the service is free, well then, I would personally find v3g, thank him what whatever I can, find the MD of vodacom and thank him/her too. I would spend more money thanking people than I would have paying for the service :p

So basically what I think would be a good start is simply mirroring windows updates, av defs, vmc and firmware updates. Since these updates, as noted above, can be in excess of 40MB it would be a great thing to have. The only problem with av defs is the amount of av software there is on the market and being used by the vodacom community. I personally use AVG, but I know of many people that have stuck with Norton, I think since the majority of people use Norton it would be a safe bet to mirror that.
 
Does Vodacom already use their own transparent proxy to cache files? That alone could save them a bundle in int data costs, which could then be carried over to users in the form of lower data costs as time goes on...
 
I know this thread is on VCom having a download server, however....

Has VodaCom given any thaught to installing a download accelerator system on the network and provding users with the software?

1) is has the potential to save huge amounts of bandwidth traversing the network.

2) for email and web access compresion can yield effective increases in bandwidth for users.

I realise that this decrease potential profits but it could improve the user experience of heailvy loaded cells thereby having them online longer?

Just a thaught....

D
 
damian24 said:
I know this thread is on VCom having a download server, however....

Has VodaCom given any thaught to installing a download accelerator system on the network and provding users with the software?

1) is has the potential to save huge amounts of bandwidth traversing the network.

2) for email and web access compresion can yield effective increases in bandwidth for users.

I realise that this decrease potential profits but it could improve the user experience of heailvy loaded cells thereby having them online longer?

Just a thaught....

D
Click to expand...

Early adopters would remember, we used to get download speeds of over 500Kb/s on 3G when the Download Accelerators were in place.

But as with such things, one or two forumites kicked up a fuss about the jpeg recompression, to such an extend that it was turned off for everyone.

We're looking at how to put it back in again.
 
BishopZA said:
Does Vodacom already use their own transparent proxy to cache files? That alone could save them a bundle in int data costs, which could then be carried over to users in the form of lower data costs as time goes on...
Click to expand...

Yes, quite an extensive farm.
 
vodacom3g said:
Early adopters would remember, we used to get download speeds of over 500Kb/s on 3G when the Download Accelerators were in place.

But as with such things, one or two forumites kicked up a fuss about the jpeg recompression, to such an extend that it was turned off for everyone.

We're looking at how to put it back in again.
Click to expand...

What about having different "gateways" or whatever they are called. Like the normal one and the VPN one. Just add one for non-accelerated.
 
Hi V3G

What I was talking about was an optional method, where you active decide to install an application that uses a compressing proxy that allows you to select compression ratios etc...

If you want to bypass it, just switch the software off on your PC.

Telkom has a solution created by slipstream that hardly anyone seems to know about (well most dial-up users), slipstream also has mobile options (see http://www.slipstream.com/our_solutions/mobile.html for more

I wasn't aware of the early solution the was a user forced to take the compression or could it be disabled?

D
 
kaspaas, the APN idea is a good one and could be the way to go.

damian24, There are two options we could (and do) use. The one has the client as a separate application and the other integrated into the VMC dash.

We had tremendous problems with application clashes with the stand-alone application. Especially other products that also unhook the IP stream (eg. virus scanners, especially Norton) was a big problem.

For most forumites this is not such a big issue as they can manage the environment, but for average, non-IT-literate PC users it was a big problem and at one point was the biggest source of call desk complaints.

However, we are busy with the latest clients to see if we can address all these issues.
 
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