Can you explain how the EchoLink servers are set up?
The EchoLink servers, which have been custom-designed for use with the EchoLink software, are installed at various locations around the world. Typically, 3 or 4 servers are online at a given time. The total load is balanced among them so that no single server becomes overloaded. The servers replicate (exchange data) with each other every 20 seconds so that all servers in the network show essentially the same information to all users. The servers and the EchoLink software are also designed so that users are automatically shifted to another server in case one (or more) fails. This architecture has proven to be highly reliable, with the system experiencing approximately 99.98% uptime since September 1, 2002, even as load has increased from about 300 users online at a time to more than 3,000. The servers now process more than 1,000,000 transactions per day.
