Fastest CVS UP server
By Rayed
FreeBSD use a protocol called CVS to update its source code, it is also use it to upgrade FreeBSD ports.
But before you start update you must specify the mirror you want sychronize your code with, of course you should use the server near you to speed up the process.
I always had trouble finding the best mirror, I used pickup server in France, then I switched to servers in the US, but I never satisfied with the speed.
Until I discovered fastest_cvsup which is a tool that test all mirror of given country(eis) and give the fastest one of them, neat!
It turned out that the fastest mirror are indeede in france, here is the result:
# fastest_cvsup -q -c sa,fr,us,ca
-=(ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo)=(cvsup2.ca.freebsd.org)=-
cvsup4.fr.freebsd.org
The command check server in Saudi Arabia (nothing in Saudi Arabia but to make sure), France, US, and Canada.
You milage may vary, in fact teh result could change from day to day, so it might be a good idea to use a script like the one given with the tool:
#!/bin/sh
if SERVER=`fastest_cvsup -q -c fr,us,ca`; then
cvsup -g -L 2 -h $SERVER /usr/local/etc/cvsup/ports-supfile
fi