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MirrorDot FAQ
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What is MirrorDot?
MirrorDot started with a couple of geeks simply doing a proof-of-concept project to
see if we could create a system to automatically mirror any Slashdot-linked pages and
ensure the content would remain available, even if the original site got
clobbered - trying to solve the Slashdot Effect. The project worked, so we
decided to make it available in September 2004 for anyone to browse and use.
Is MirrorDot perfect?
No way - far from it. :) Nonetheless, we found it to be
useful and hope others will too. MirrorDot is currently considered in a "beta"
stage, so if you find any broken stuff on this site, please let us know.
What about copyright and legal issues?
MirrorDot, Inc. does try to consider the copyright issues with mirroring other
sites and content. We look to things like
Google's cache,
Yahoo's cache,
Coral, and the
Way Back Machine as similar and "accepted."
They all cache/mirror sites and serve them directly. Likewise, MirrorDot's mirrors
are specifically transient - a page is automatically mirrored when it is linked
from a Slashdot front page story, and the mirror is automatically deleted from
MirrorDot a few days later.
MirrorDot followed the design model of Google's cache for the design of our
mirrored pages. We place a box on the top of each mirrored page clearly stating
that it is a mirrored page and providing a link to the original page.
What about a mirrored page's advertising?
MirrorDot certainly understands that many web sites depend on the advertising
displayed on the site for revenue to keep the site going. MirrorDot itself is
one such site.
MirrorDot tries to be as "friendly" as possible to the sites we mirror. When
mirroring images (like a site's banner ads and such), we only mirror images that are
served from the same domain name as the site itself. MirrorDot does this specifically
to allow content served from ad networks to not get mirrored - the original links in
the HTML remain in-tact, so when someone hits our mirror, the ads should still be
served by the ad network and the original site owner still gets credit for their ads,
impressions, and clicks.
Is MirrorDot affiliated with Slashdot?
No. MirrorDot is not affiliated with Slashdot at all. If you have questions
about MirrorDot please email us
directly.
Does MirrorDot have a RSS news feed?
Yup. You can find it right here.
You can also add MirrorDot's news feed to your My Yahoo account
here.
How can I use MirrorDot only as needed?
We have an experimental bookmarklet that should work
in all browsers. Simply save this link
« MirrorDot It! »
as a bookmark. Next time a link appears to be
Slashdotted, activate this bookmarklet and it will
take your browser to the MirrorDot version of that
page, assuming it exists. Remember, MirrorDot only mirrors pages that
are linked from a Slashdot story.
What is the point of MirrorDot?
MirrorDot really just started as a couple of geeks doing a proof-of-concept project,
trying to solve the Slashdot Effect. It worked, so we released it. We hope others
find MirrorDot useful and help spread the word.
How many web servers does MirrorDot run?
MirrorDot runs on only two dedicated web servers using round-robin DNS for
load balancing. Both servers run Debian
Linux with the Apache web server.
Can MirrorDot handle several parallel Slashdot Effects?
Yes, indeed. MirrorDot's web servers and network connectivity are highly optimized to
handle massive traffic loads.
Who provides MirrorDot's bandwidth and colocation?
MirrorDot's bandwidth and colocation are provided by the excellent folks at
Deru Internet. More information about Deru's
network is available here.
Can I view statistics about MirrorDot?
Sure thing. See MirrorDot's Statistics Page.
Where can I get information about supporting MirrorDot?
MirrorDot uses the displayed text advertisements to earn the money to pay for our
network and server expenses. You can find information about supporting MirrorDot on
our Support Page.
I have a comment/question/bug/suggestion about MirrorDot.
You can email us at pimps@mirrordot.com.
How can I contact you guys about other stuff?
You can email us at pimps@mirrordot.com.
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The groovy cats providing the resources to run MirrorDot are:
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Edgeos - Private Labeled Security Services
Create private-labeled security services for your customers, customized for your business.
Deru Internet - Colocation and Hosting
Deru supplies all the bandwidth for MirrorDot; their network can handle your needs!
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