Allow me to repost a page from mcs' board where jaan, a contract programmer for fasttrack, attempts an explanation. there are now about 4000 active supernodes at any one time:
Q. The supernodes don't cache search results at all? So is it cached at the client then?
A. yes, the client caches the results for 10 seconds or so, just to protect the supernode.
Q. You said something previously about using different branches of the network for repeated searches.
A. well, they are not completely different. for example, the supernode you are connected to is always searched (because that's cheap). so are its neighbours, if i recall correctly. it's the third step that (effectively) searches a bunch of random supernodes on the net. however, as the third step is really expensive, it is performed only if the first steps yield less than N results, where N is about 10. in other words, the different branches only kick in if you search for really obscure stuff.
Q. Is Morpheus simply remembering it once it found that this user had these files?
A. yes, it's remembering the user/IP. so if the user did not have a static IP or was behind firewall, the chances of finding him are not so good.
- js.
"bunch of random supernodes" being the key here.
i note that i was never able to find rare songs parked on my other computer in over a year of using napster without first using hotlist.
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