In
IRC terminology, minCPS is short for "minimum
characters per second". In practice, this is a setting found on most
file server programs which requires recipients of files be able to maintain at least a certain speed (in bytes per second) at all times. Normally this can be found stated in the
server ad which contains its
trigger. If you are on a slow connction, always be sure to check for a minCPS, as nothing is worse than waiting two days for a send, only to be dropped because you aren't fast enough.
While some may argue that this is little more than a conspiracy against modem users, there are several good reasons to have a minCPS set on your XDCC or fserve script:
1. It is of use in that if the recipient of a file crashes, but without disconnecting his sends first, it can take quite some time in many cases for the send to timeout fully. By having a minCPS, this will happen sooner, though admittedly a similar effect could well be reached by setting an ultra-short timeout time.
2. It keeps users from taking too many sends on at the one time. Nothing is worse than someone who decides to get 40 files from different servers, with the result that each runs at 2k/s. This just holds things up, and is selfish.
3. It keeps off people on unreasonably slow connections, such as dial-up. Quite simply, it's rather unfair for a queue of broadband users to have to wait for weeks on end while someone on a 28.8k modem tries to download the 4 CD SVCD version of The Two Towers.
There are however some disadvantages to having a minCPS:
1. It can cause a send to fail due to temporary network congestion, even if it is on the server's end rather than the recipient's.
2. I can be somewhat unjust to refuse downloadsto someone simply because they aren't fortunate enough to have broadband.
However, it should be pointed out that there is a third option in this case. Instead of setting a hard minCPS like had to be done in the past, now some scripts have an option for "send bumping" (one such script is sysreset from http://www.sysreset.com). Using this, if the total minCPS of your server is breached, instead of kicking the current users off, it keeps them on, and opens a new send slot. This way, you can permit slower users to remain on the server, but without slowing down the queue for others.