Ubuntu

Ubuntu country-specific software repository servers

Asked by Ankur Banerjee

Just curious - are the country-specific software repository servers (as listed in 'Software Sources') located _physically_ in the country they're intended for? For instance, I stay in India, so if I choose 'Server for India' does that mean I'm accessing a server which is physically located in India - or is it at the same location with other servers and just segregated to handle load? (The reason I'm asking this because the recent undersea cable breakdown near Egypt can have implications on this - if the server's physically located in India, then updates would quite possibly be faster than pulling it from the main server.)

Also, in general, how much of a delay is there before the changes to the main server is synced across all the country servers?

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Savvas Radevic
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Best Savvas Radevic (medigeek) said : 		#1

If it says "Server for India", then you're using the generic in.archive.ubuntu.com in the repositories file ( /etc/apt/sources.list )
in.archive.ubuntu.com redirects to the closest available server located in India. I believe that all the servers are actually physically available, but you have to check that with the list of archive mirrors:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archivemirrors

Most of the servers are donated from academic places, so I'm about 90% sure they're located in the country they say they are :)

Note that choosing such mirrors, sometimes takes a long time to receive updates, so if you are eager to be up to date the minute an upgrade is available, better use the main server from Software Sources

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Savvas Radevic (medigeek) said : 		#2

Just checked the only server for india:
http://ftp.iitm.ac.in/ubuntu/dists/intrepid-updates/

The release and contents files seem pretty up-to-date, so it should be fine :)

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Ankur Banerjee (ankurb) said : 		#3

Thanks Savvas Radevic, that solved my question.