Timwi wrote:
Why would a node that is close by be dead ??
Because people tend to turn off their own computers whenever they want to. And because computers sometimes crash, or Internet connections go down.
The redirection could be done within a frame. If mirror answers the page in less than x seconds, the page will load and a frame-breaker will destroy it. If not, the second frame can switch to the next server. Worst case for the server: it is busy answering petitions which, by the time it has the answer, the client is asking to another server. :/