Metalink (mirror description) support

[antbryan]

.metalink files are simple XML text files that list the
multiple locations
(Mirrors/P2P) for files, along with checksums & other
useful info. There will
usually be more than 1 FTP & HTTP source, so a program
can get a
segment of each file from different sources at the same
time. If the download
manager doesn't support all or any of the P2P networks
listed, then it just
uses the mirrors.

This can be really nice for downloading large files
like ISOs.

<metalink version="3.0" xmlns="​http://www.metalinker.org/">
<files>

<file name=”example.ext”>
<verification>

<hash type="md5">example-md5-hash</hash>
<hash type="sha1">example-sha1-hash</hash>

</verification>
<resources>

<url type=”ftp”>​ftp://ftp.example.com/example.ext</url>
<url

type=”http”>​http://www.example2.com/example.ext</url>

<url

type=”bittorrent>​http://www.ex.com/file.torrent</url>

<url type=”magnet”/>
<url type=”ed2k”/>
</resources>

</file>

</files>
<metalink>

[antbryan]

Ubuntu ISO .metalink

[antbryan]

I've attached a sample .metalink.

The chunk checksums allow a download to be repaired.
SmartFTP supports Metalink, but not segmented downloading, so it chooses an FTP URL from those listed and just uses a single one at a time.

I'd like to put up a bounty if you're interested in working on this feature.
File Added: ubuntu-6_10-desktop-i386_iso.metalink

[Tim Kosse]

FileZilla is not a download manager. How does this help me managing my website or transferring files between me and some other selected host?

[antbryan]

They can list multiple files, so many files can be added to a download queue in one click. The checksum info lets you know when downloading that there have been no errors in the transfer. It isn't just download managers that use metalink, FTP programs, browsers, p2p apps, anything that downloads can make use of it.