Investigate: any patterns to how long it takes for files to begin downloading? #22
Description
In my own testing, which is only a couple of files, it takes upwards of 30 seconds between visiting the download link and the file actually downloading. Is this typical? (a research question)
Fancy approach: script* that fires off a download request, and times how long for a response. Script would need to loop through a set of specified links. Output the response times and date to a text file. Run the script periodically to see if timings are consistent.
Brute force, less scientific approach: Manually paste download links into browser, time how long before download happens. Record in spreadsheet. Easy, not that repeatable.
Why this matters: if we use these download links on our site and it takes an extraordinary time for downloads to begin, users may bail out thinking something is wrong. We wouldn't have any control over this since data are coming from USGS. It just takes time for their system to stage files for download.
*Note: if scripted, perhaps this issue could be address #21 at the same time? The script would fail if download link no longer persists.