Web downloading for Servers

[(T:S:B)Legionnaire]

for peeps with a slow upload speed (like me 256k), it is hard to host a server with a lot of downloads. i had been informed that instead of downloading from the server, a client (joining player) can download the server files from a website. i was told this worked with 227 and nephthys ONLY.

i tried out 227 -- worked excellent. download speeds were around 80-100kbs instead of the usual 10kbs. it also allowed me to compress the files with a compression ratio going up to 80%. the only down side to this solution was that ONLY 227 USERS could join.. and since most ppl out there dont use 227 i didn't get many ppl joining..

then i decided to make a 225 server with nephthys. i installed it, server was running, and i tried to set up the web downloading option. it came to my attention that if i wanted web downloading to work, both the client and server needed nephthys.. meaning players that wanted to join my server actually needed nephthys themselves. i kinda decided that this wouldnt work either cuz i doubt many ppl use it.

yesterday i saw that a new version of nephthys was released (oldunreal news section), and in key changes it said "* Support for web server introduced (separate package)"

so naturally i downloaded it, installed it, but to me it seemed the same as version 1.3. the user documentation (manual) still said it required both client and server for web downloads to occur. i didn't get the time to check it out tho (till 30th march im kinda packed), so i was wondering:

1. can i use nephthys 1.4 for web downloads such that clients dont need nephthys themselves to join?
2. apart from nephthys and 227, does anyone know another way to use web downloads so that it could work on a 225 server?
3. does anyone have an alternative solution to my problem of slow server upload speeds?

any kind of help will be GREATLY appreciated

yay color

[[§Ŕ] ŤhěxĐâŕkśîđěŕ]

Meh, my upload speed is teh same as yours, and if you wanna know, get someone with 225 without NPT to test your server.

[GreatEmerald]

With 227, you have an option "allow older clients to join" somewhere in your Unreal.INI file.

[[§Ŕ] ŤhěxĐâŕkśîđěŕ]

Yeah but AFAIK this can't be used in conjunction with AllowFastDownloads.

[[]KAOS[]Casey]

1. can i use nephthys 1.4 for web downloads such that clients dont need nephthys themselves to join?
2. apart from nephthys and 227, does anyone know another way to use web downloads so that it could work on a 225 server?
3. does anyone have an alternative solution to my problem of slow server upload speeds?

1: 227 doesnt support neph, if you want neph email zora to get it on 227, they don't want it on 227 for whatever reason.
2: no.
3: rent a dedicated server and "allowfastupload"  = true in [IpDrv.TcpNetDriver] in unreal.ini. if it's false it will download incredibly slow, I recommend you have that always on anyway.

as for only 227 problem - you forgot to turn on "AllowOldCLients" in [IpDrv.TcpNetDriver] in the unreal.ini.. :p

It's not caused by the HTTP download, since 227 supports both http and filechannel upload for older versions.

[[§Ŕ] ŤhěxĐâŕkśîđěŕ]

Yeah but AFAIK this can't be used in conjunction with AllowFastDownloads.

Pls correct if wrong.

[[]KAOS[]Casey]

http download, old clients, and fastdownload can be used at the same time.

old clients just can't get http downloads ;p, the fastdownload is a fix to change why the downloads used to be slow in 227 without http redirect

[[§Ŕ] ŤhěxĐâŕkśîđěŕ]

Ty, I gotta change that in my server's .ini.

[Smirftsch]

to clarify:

227 server can be used for older clients too (224,225 and UGold) with AllowOldClients. 226 Clients will not work and crash. This is because of some incompatibility by Legend- and there can be nothing done about it the problem was created in the past and can be only "fixed" by updating to 227.

AllowFastDownload was added when the fix for limited download speed on 227 servers was implemented. If set to false even a low bandwidth server will not be lagged out (of course with painfull speed for the downloader then)

HTTPDownload will only work for 227 clients, older clients will fall back to filechannel.

So maybe use AllowOldClient,HTTPDownload and FastDownload to false. Older clients can still join but won't lag out the servers and new clients can download at full speed from web.

[(T:S:B)Legionnaire]

first of all, thanks very much for the replies! i really appreciate it!

lemme give u guys some more background info:
- i share my internet connection with 2 other peeps, i can't have anyone downloading from my server cuz the other 2 ppl on my network will start complaining cuz of slow internet
- therefore i have to put > bAllowDownloads = False

[Jâçkrâßßit]

u got h4x0rd

lol.. but seriously: no. i'm serious

I don't think that is possible to do. DLL files cannot be sent through a webserver like .u files can. Looks like your best bet is to either use 227only clients or move to UT where every client has redirect. Just don't leave your login password on your server name so anyone can login and....................... yeah.

[GreatEmerald]

Yeap, that was discussed already, you can't send libraries to clients, and even if you could, they would be blocked on the client. So that way is no go.