Is it possible to use multiple proxies simulatneously?

chillu · 2009-01-20 08:31:16

I have access to four different proxy servers within my college. (Squid I think)
Each proxy has limitations on the number of simultaneous GET requests (4 I think. When I set anything higher
in Firefox images don't load, etc..) and allows only http and https traffic. I was thinking if it was possible to use
all/at least more than one proxy at a time to improve speeds.

Does wget/aria2c have this capability? To download segments of a file from different proxies simultaneously instead of just one?
I'd seen the manpages but as far as I can tell they use only one proxy server at a time (usually through environment variables)
In fact I'd be happy if I were able to get good download speeds for pacman updates using multiple proxies.

I've heard of network interface bonding but it looks like a lot of trouble to set it up (kernel recompilation! )
Is http://www.cyberciti.biz/howto/question … -howto.php the way or is there any other?
Just thought I'd know all possibilities before compiling kernels and stuff..

Xyne · 2009-01-20 13:50:06

I don't know if aria2 can use multiple proxies simultaneously, but if you want to download packages quickly through multiple proxies, you could do the following in a script:

generate a metalink for your packages using powerpill
split the metalink into separate metalinks with roughly the same download volume in each one
launch separate instances of aria2c for each metalink, each set to a different proxy

If you try this, don't forget to change the connection settings in the powerpill configuration file (or when you split the metalink) to avoid more than 4 connections per proxy.

chillu · 2009-01-20 15:27:44

Is powerpill in any of the default repos? Coz I can't seem to install it!

Anyways.. I was hoping for a more lower level solution in the sense that all programs would be
able to use all the proxies transparently without realizing the fact. Like they use some port on
the localhost on which some daemon runs and routes the requests to different proxies balancing
traffic between them.

No?

chillu · 2009-01-20 18:45:07

Hmm.. Multiple proxies doesn't mean multiple network interfaces right? So the NIC bonding solution
will not work for my case where I want to be able to use different proxy servers that reside on the
same LAN (that I'm in) that I access using the same eth0 interface.

So bonding is out of the question?

skottish · 2009-01-20 19:05:59

chillu wrote:

Is powerpill in any of the default repos? Coz I can't seem to install it!

Follow the link in Xyne's signature. It's safe to use.

chillu · 2009-01-20 19:29:04

I get a "ARIA2 Exception: Proxy connection failed error" when trying to download through powerpill.
Although I have set the env variables (and wget works fine)

Xyne · 2009-01-20 19:46:24

Could the proxy connection error be due to some of the URLs being ftp? Maybe you need to filter them out of the metalink. Otherwise, check aria2c's man page for how to set proxies. If you're using powerpill directly without manipulating the metalink, then you can comment out ftp servers in your mirrorlist.

I don't know how you configure your system to use the proxies on a lower level. I only suggested the metalink method for the packages because you specifically mentioned wanting to increase package download speeds.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-01-20 08:31:16

Is it possible to use multiple proxies simulatneously?

#2 2009-01-20 13:50:06

Re: Is it possible to use multiple proxies simulatneously?

#3 2009-01-20 15:27:44

Re: Is it possible to use multiple proxies simulatneously?

#4 2009-01-20 18:45:07

Re: Is it possible to use multiple proxies simulatneously?

#5 2009-01-20 19:05:59

Re: Is it possible to use multiple proxies simulatneously?

#6 2009-01-20 19:29:04

Re: Is it possible to use multiple proxies simulatneously?

#7 2009-01-20 19:46:24

Re: Is it possible to use multiple proxies simulatneously?

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