CODEWITHSUNDEEP
httpdownload-manager
Kevin Boyd
Kevin Boyd

Reputation: 12379

How do Download Managers download huge files on HTTP without multiple requests?

I was downloading a 200MB file yesterday with FlashGet in the statistics it showed that it was using the HTTP1.1 protocol.
I was under the impression that HTTP is a request-response protocol and most generally used for web pages weighing a few KiB...I don't quite understand how it can download MB's or GB's of data and that too simultaneously through 5(or more) different streams.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1491

Answers (2)

Jeffrey Bird
Jeffrey Bird

Reputation: 76

HTTP/1.1 has a "Range" header that can specify what part of a file to transfer over the connection. The download manager can make multiple connections, specifying different ranges to transfer. It would then combine the chunks together to build the full file.

Upvotes: 6

David
David

Reputation: 73564

There is no size limit in http. It is used for web pages, but it is also used to deliver a huge majority of the content on the Internet. It's more a matter of bandwidth that limits sizes, not the protocol itself. And of course, this was more of a limit in the early days. (and, I suppose, those still on dial-up)

Upvotes: 1

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