File replication and distribution system for low bandwidth networks

In this paper, we introduce DISTREP, a multiplatform and operating system independent file distribution and replication package. It features dynamic distribution and low-overhead network connections that efficiently conserve network bandwidth. A complete replication to M machines of N bytes in DISTREP may only require a transfer of at least N bytes, less than the NM bytes that other systems require. The system also offers easy addition of compression methods and other bandwidth-limiting algorithms (like the ability to integrate rsync into the system) to further improve and speed up file transfers