A mirror site is a copy of a website or files hosted in a remote location, used for various reasons such as dealing with high traffic, backup, and combatting censorship. Mirrors can be static or live, and can act as file repositories or entire website copies.
A mirror site is a copy of a website or set of files hosted in a remote location. There are a number of reasons for establishing such a site, ranging from a desire to ensure people have access to information to attempting plagiarism. You may be familiar with the idea of a mirror site, especially if you’ve ever downloaded software and been asked to choose from a list of download locations. Each location in the list used to be a mirror website.
There are several ways a mirror site can work. Most commonly, a mirror is a static copy of the original site, almost like a snapshot, which requires the owner to frequently update the mirror if they want to keep the content current. It is also possible to establish a live mirror, which stays up to date with changes on the original site. Mirrors can copy entire websites or they can act as file repositories.
A common reason for establishing a mirror site is to deal with a sudden influx of traffic that would otherwise overload the server. By offering visitors one or more mirror websites, the site owner can keep the site running while making sure people see it. This can be useful when a site is down due to a server problem or influx of traffic. Mirror sites are also used as a backup, ensuring that a complete set of files is hosted somewhere else in case a server becomes damaged or corrupted in any way.
Software downloads are often hosted on mirror sites to avoid overloading the server and for the convenience of users. For example, a download site based in Germany might offer a mirror site based in Japan for Japanese users, making it faster to download files. Distributing the software across multiple servers also ensures that it will always be accessible to users, even if one or more sites fail.
Classically, mirror sites have been used to combat censorship. A controversial site might be mirrored to a remote location in case the site shuts down, for example, or sites banned by censorship software might host mirrors so people can still access them. A mirror can also serve as a repository for vintage content, a kind of living archive that lasts when the original site is removed or radically redesigned. This can be useful for users who want to see a site in its previous incarnation or access outdated but still interesting information.
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