Connections tab information

[popey]

Can anyone help me understand the "connections" info in LW?

I used to have LW basic but recently got pro. So now I'm connected to 5 Ultrapeers all the time, but I still can't really tell which each is by reading the text abbrevations in their names.

Also some stay connected for over an hour, others keep changing.

What helpful info. does the in/out dropped %s give?
What helpful info. does the bandwith give? It seems to change by the second.

I've read the guide, FAQ etc. but I'm still confused (and have been for 2 years.)

Is there a book or something on the web that explains such things? I connect via a dial-up modem which is satisfactory for my purposes, but it would help to understand the whole bandwith and how it's divided up question.

Finally, I been leaving my machine available for uploads at 100% and with 3 slots and there have been a surprising number of successful uploads but I haven't been able to keep track of how many? Is there some way LW keeps this info.?

TIA to anybody who can answer these questions.

[stief]

hi popey

I'm no expert, but have had many of the same questions. I'll try to share some answers other have tried to explain . . .

the text abbrevations in the connections names is a bit more understandable than just the IP numbers that used to be used. Look especially at the last few letters and after a while you'll be able to recognize ISP's (like verizon, cox, shaw) or maybe some universities. Can be interesting, epsecially if the last two letters are country or state abbreviations.

Some ultrapeers stay connected for over an hour especially the newer 4.9.3* peers; others drop on and off the network as you noticed. Actually, this is one of the key features of gnutella: the computers are able to discover and connect to each other and form a network so searches can be as effective as possible.

For leafs, there may not be much helpful info. in the in/out dropped %s for the general user, which is why the entire connections Pane is turned off by default. Anyway, a search comes in, and may be dropped rather than passed on if it has reached the end of its life. Each time a search term goes to a computer, if it doesn't match, it will be sent on to the next computer. However, in order to stop searches continuing indefinitely and eventually flooding the network, they have a built-in "Time to Live" (TTL). So a search term might go out from your computer, with a TTY of 4 which means it will get passed on 4 times before it will be killed and not passed any further. All the messages (searches, connection messages, and other transfer info use up bandwidth. The bandwidth is broken down in categories in the Tools->Statistics->Bandwidth, but the connection page allows you to see the bandwidth used in communicating with each ultrapeer.

btw--the ultrapeers "shield" the leafs from a great deal of unnecessary traffic. A good ultrapeers will only send you searches that are likely to get hits, or relevant connections. That way searches can be more effective, and your bandwidth can be better used for your own transfers and connections, especially if you are on a modem.

I've found that the guide, FAQ etc. are difficult to trust, because the gnutella project develops faster than the public info can be updated. Frankly, I guess developers prefer writing new and interesting code rather than user documentation. Oh well
http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=22696 has a link to Arne's work explaining gnutella for general readers, and the developers try to keep http://www.the-gdf.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page current

To keep track of how many uploads, just go the the options->uploads, and uncheck the "clear completed" box. You can then select all the transfers, copy and paste them in a spreadsheet to look at in more detail. The statistics->advanced also has sections with far more detail.

cheers