Cache size limits

I have metered bandwidth, like just about everyone in the world except for a few privileged countries.
Why is there a 1 gig limit on cache size?
This has got to be the least bandwidth efficient way of socializing ive ever seen. Sitting around chatting with nothing in sight still makes me download 300 megs instead of 3k of text.
I dont know what on earth the game is downloading or how far a gig can take me but I would definitely not mind having 20 gigs of cache if it would save me RL money every month.

I agree a manually entered cache size, up to 1 TB, perhaps, of cache if you enter a number that high.

But something > 9 GB's would be kinda dumb, I mean, with the world being non-static and all, a really large cache would make lesser and lesser sense the bigger it gets.

But just so SL could take advantage of extra space on your HD, I recommend adding a manual entry of cache size.

I kind of have an inversed problem, my cache keeps using up all my system partition space. No matter what I set the cache to, it always grows to more than a gig. This would be no problem, if it could be set to another drive/path.

I've always wondered if the cache system is even working. I've done several experiments trying to get the traffic to subside, never been able to come close. Obviously whatever is loaded into memory for the video card is OK, but as you move around it sure seems like everything is being downloaded again. Maybe this is just checking timestamps or checksums on everything, but it sure SEEMS like a lot of traffic.

Another topic area reminded me that relying TOO much on what is in cache can have undesirable consequences. If your cache has a door open and the owner has subsequently shut it, what prevents you from entering? So it could be that although texture, sound and prim data is in your cache it has to be constantly polled for updates. Just a hunch.

I think the cache is just used to draw what's in an are during the interim, until the current prims/textures/states/etc are completely downloaded.

Uh mac, you can enter any house by sitting on a prim and changing its position, or by ordering your av to sit on something inside it.
Having said that, no sane caching algorithm would ever blindly rely on its cached data without verifying that its still up to date.

First of all, it irritates me that my cache is stored in a directory other than the SL game directory. I realize MS has started a standard by placing things in that dreaded Application Data directory, and that such a thing is useful if you have user data that is going to change from user to user (dependent on login), but it is totally unecessary to stash the cache there when the program itself can figure out with IT'S OWN USER LOGIN PROCESS and act accordingly.

Secondly, my cache hovers around the 2 gig mark. That is excessive. Why on earth is it so big, and yet every time I sign in I have to deal with huge downloads (and a ton of initial packet loss, which is NOT due to my 1.5mb SDSL connection that NEVER sees packet loss like that in any other medium, thank you very much) for data that has not changed since last login?

Thirdly, I'd like to see an explanation of how the cache works, on the whole - what goes in, when, and why. What files hold what data?

Something appears to be horribly inefficient. It is possible some of us users might be able to help find a solution if we understand a bit more about how it's being implemented.

Solution #1 - stop using WAVs.

-J

Amen. Compress these puppies on my hard drive! And let us change the darn cache directory!