Abstract: A method is provided to determine the optimal number of servers to connect to a download client, in order to achieve efficient file transfer. A number of connections are initially opened between the client and servers, and after waiting for a stabilization period, the over-all transfer speed is determined for the initial connected sources. Thereafter, source connections are sequentially added, until it is determined that adding a further connection will not increase the over-all transfer rate by at least an amount provided by a specified algorithm. One embodiment of the invention is directed to a method for use in a network configuration comprising a client and multiple servers, wherein the client is connectible to a number of the servers to simultaneously transfer respective portions of a specified file. After connecting an initial number of servers to the client, an additional source, associated with a transfer rate improvement factor, is connected thereto.