"Select the best server" *never* selects the best server

[David Curtis]

Ashish Yadav wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am using Ubuntu 8.04 and trying to update the system.
> 
> Whatever server I select by "Syetem->Administration->Software Sources"
> and then "Download from->Other" and "Select best server"; always
> points to a randomely selected server from where either nothing gets
> downloaded at all or I get a speed of 5-6 kbps.
> 
> Is there a reliable server which I can choose to download from, I am in India.
> 
If I were you I would try the Indian server (ftp.iitm.ac.in) and some 
others geographically nearest to you, China/Uzbekistan. The 'Select best 
server' test uses ping. IMHO not the best way to determine a FTP or HTTP 
server's capability/capacity or how busy it is.

You could also try using traceroute with the lft package, normal 
traceroute is basically useless now. But again, it's not going to tell 
you how busy the server is or what its capabilities are, just the number 
of hops between you and the server and the time taken for those gateways 
to respond.

Dave