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| '''SteamPipe''' is Steam's new content distribution system. It changes the way games (including dedicated servers) are downloaded, updated and stored. More information can be found on the [https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7388-QPFN-2491 Steam Support page].
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| == Benefits ==
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| === Players ===
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| The benefits to players are:
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| *Faster and smoother downloads
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| *Faster game boot times and map load times
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| *Easier distribution, installation, and management of mods
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| *Smoother dedicated server distribution and update rollover
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| === Server administrators ===
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| Instead of a proprietary delivery protocol, SteamPipe uses HTTP, which allows datacenters hosting multiple servers to set up a caching HTTP proxy, necessitating only a single download of an update from Valve's servers.
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| === Game developers ===
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| Game developers using SteamPipe can [http://garry.tv/2012/08/16/approved-updates/ issue updates themselves]; the previous system required manual intervention by Valve when an update was to be published.
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| == Changes ==
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| * Downloads are performed using HTTP instead of a proprietary protocol.
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| * Data files are no longer placed into [[GCF]]s but directly into the file system.
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| ** To counteract the performance issues with accessing many tiny files (the reason why GCFs were used in the first place), [[Source]] games distributed via SteamPipe store their assets in [[VPK]] archives.
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| * Data generated before/during gameplay is no longer stored in user-specific subdirectories of ''SteamApps''; instead, the ''common'' subfolder is used.
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| * Dedicated servers are no longer updated using [[HLDSUpdateTool]] (known as <tt>steam</tt> on Linux) but using [[SteamCMD]] (a stripped-down version of the full Steam client).
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