git-annex/doc/bugs/smarter_flood_filling.mdwn

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The assistant performs a flood fill, sending every file to every remote
that will have it. This is naive, but it's a good way to ensure the file
gets to every corner of the repo network that it possibly can.
However, this means that locally paired computers will still upload files
to a transfer repo, even when they're next to each other and that
is a massive waste of bandwidth.
It occurred to me this morning that there is a simple change that can avoid
this.
1. Ensure that locally paired computers have a lower cost than network
transfer remotes. (done)
2. When queuing uploads, queue transfers to the lowest cost remotes first.
(already done)
3. Just before starting a transfer, re-check if the transfer is still wanted.
(done)
> [[done]]
Now, unnecessary transfers to tranfer repos are avoided if it can send
the file locally instead.
It doesn't solve it for all network topologies of course. If there
are three computers paired in a line "A --- B --- C", and all 3 share
a transfer repo, A will still send to both B and the transfer repo
even though B can reach C via a faster route.
See also: [[assistant does not always use repo cost info when queueing downloads]]
[[!tag /design/assistant]]