Home
Software Mirrors are used with Open Source projects to help distribute official releases.
For a duration upon the release of the new software, there will be extremely high demand for the release.
This can cause a huge strain on the main project web server due to the sheer volume of reqeusts.
What happens when you download software distributed through a mirror-network is you are generally routed to the most appropriate mirror based on your
network location. The websites for projects will run scripts to check your location and match with the closest node they have to you. Often,
a big list of all the mirror nodes are given to the public. When a user tries to download the release, they are strongly encouraged to find their
nearest mirror. Sometimes a user has no choice as the main project server is down anyway! In some cases, the user-base is smart enough to know they
should seek out a mirror or obtain the release through bittorrent.
Sometimes, a software distribution mirror network will give their mirror nodes ample time to "seed" the release across their distribution network. Upon successful replication, the project will announce the availability of the new release.
Arguably the biggest type of project that uses the mirror network (especially in recent years with the falling prices of bandwidth) are Linux distributions. Another large use of this distribution technique is employed by the higher profile projects.