[OSM-talk] Geofabrik Download Server Update

[charlie at cferrero.net]

Frederik Ramm (frederik at remote.org) wrote:

> Hi,
>
>    for a few years now, the Geofabrik download server  
> (download.geofabrik.de) has been serving various, daily updated,  
> regional OSM extracts, in XML and shape file form, and for the last  
> half year also in PBF form.
>
> After a few hiccups in the past weeks, I have moved the server to  
> new infrastructure with more of everything so that you shouldn't see  
> any more "503 service unavailable" messages (except when you're  
> really trying very hard to abuse the machine).
>
> Before, the .pbf and .bz2 and .shp files were all created on a  
> machine in the Geofabrik office and uploaded to the download server  
> for distribution, and with the office only having 10 MBit upstream  
> connectivity, there was a limit to how much could be transferred  
> every night. I'm now slowly changing to a setup where the .bz2 and  
> perhaps eventually even the .shp files will be created directly on  
> the download server, giving me more room to create additional  
> extracts (think US states) and upload them in the time we've saved.
>
> Together with the added disk space on the download server this means  
> that I can continue supporting the bz2 format indefinitely, although  
> I expect it gradually to fall behind in currency (currently, the bz2  
> will show up a few hours after the .pbf; in the future this might  
> increase to half a day or so). The .pbf format is definietly the  
> preferred format.
>
> I would like to thank GWDG who are hosting a mirror for the Europe  
> and Germany extract, by far the most popular files on the download  
> server. The server will redirect you to their mirror if and only if  
> it is clear from the log files that the mirror has the complete  
> latest version of a file. (This is new, too - before, it was  
> possible that the server would redirect you to a stale copy on the  
> mirror.)
>
> You're welcome to continue using the server - but even though all is  
> new and shiny now, please act responsibly and download only what you  
> need. Hoarding doesn't make sense - who wants yesterday's geodata  
> anyway?
>
> Bye
> Frederik
>
Do you publish any stats on your downloads (top 50 extracts, location  
of downloaders, frequency of re-visit etc).  Would be interesting to  
see.

-- 
Charlie