Dodgy Time Estimates

[Dan Pinder]

Does anybody else get this behaviour from DD: The time estimate says something like 1.5 hours, it gets half way through in about 20 minutes then HAULS ASS once it gets over the hump, making the entire transfer in something like 25 minutes?

[Gordon Lyon]

There are several factors that play into the estimated time remaining, including data transfer speed, compression ratio and packing/unpacking time. When sending a delivery, DigiDelivery compresses and encrypts the first chunk, then starts posting it while it starts compressing and encrypting the second chunk. When receiving, it has to download teh first chunk before it starts decrypting and decompressing. So it takes a couple of cycles before it can accurately figure out the average compression time, compression gain and transfer rate. Into all that, throw the vagaries of internet and LAN traffic, plus other processor tasks and you understand why these estimates are fairly approximate.