Re: [cobalt-users] ftp hang raq3

[elmer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

On Fri, 16 Mar 2001, tushar wrote:

} We recently put raq3 in production, one of our client has lot of mp3 files
} and when I try to clik on it and save it. ftp process start but it just
} hangs their. It is a big problem for me.

Are you sure it is just hanging there, or is the mp3 downloading?

	We create and install roughly a 100mb of MP3 content every
week on a site that we maintain for a celebrity - fact is I'm
ripping 5 CDs right now for a monday morning upload, and many of our
hosting clients have MP3s on their web sites. Our experience is that
they run just fine on stock Cobalt's.

	However...

	Most of the MP3 rippers we're played with generate a CD
quality MP3. That translates into roughly 1mb of file size for
every minute of play time. You'll have to do the math as I don't
have time, but that means 10 minutes of MP3 music results in a 10mb
or larger file - and a file that size takes a whole lot of time to
download. Even if the end user is using Microsoft's Media Player 7 a
large percentage of the file has to be buffered before the player
will start playing it. On a dialup connection we're talking hours,
days perhaps for an mp3 of any length. On a decent cable connection
you're still looking at substantial portions of an hour in order to
download enough of the MP3 to start playing it. Worse yet, perhaps,
if they're not using Windows Media Player 7 and/or you haven't added
the 'm3u' file type to your /etc/httpd/conf/mime.types and are using
a meta to force the mp3 to stream, virtually all other players
require the entire mp3 to download before they'll start playing it.

	The point is, I doubt you have a problem. When our users
bring this kind of thing to me I rip a copy of one of the mp3s they
are having trouble with, this time using a 16 kbit/s Bitrate so it
will cook right along over even a slow dialup connection. That
usually eliminates the problem.

	Sometimes we miss the basic simplicities of things. Ripping
mp3s is a lot like running a Cobalt. While anyone can do it, there
is a reason why some of those who do it get paid big bucks for doing
it. Quite simply, anyone who can work a mouse can rip an mp3 with
Xing's really nifty toy, but making that mp3 usable by the average
surfer takes skill, a bit of talent and a thorough understanding of
the relationship between quality, file size and download times.