Asset
From YTMND
An asset ID refers to a unique ID of every YTMND image and sound file. They're organized to save server space and bandwidth for YTMNDs which share the same asset.
- Like many multimedia hosting sites, YTMND uses the md5 cryptographic hash function to compute a unique filename for every sound and image uploaded to the servers.
- It is unclear if the asset ID refers to the md5 code of the file or another number.
- MD5 hash codes are 128 bit values represented as 32 character strings.
When a user creates a site and uploads a file, the server computes the md5 hash, and checks if any previously uploaded file's name exists with an identical hash code.
- This prevents duplicate files without having to resort to bit by bit comparisons of every file. What a computational bargain! However there is a very rare possibility of two different files having a hash collision. In this case, the YTMND author should slightly modify the offending file and re-upload. It is unknown if this has ever happened on ytmnd.
- In any case, once a file is uploaded it is stored with a filename and path based on the md5.
Each YTMND's assets can be viewed from link in that YTMND profile.
