Title: Multi-torrent: a performance study and applications

Authors: Yan Yang, Alix L.H. Chow, Leana Golubchik

Addresses: Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. ' Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. ' Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA

Abstract: Empirical evidence suggests that most nodes in BitTorrent (BT) participate in multiple torrents, but surprisingly little research exists on this topic. Here, we focus on a multi-torrent system, and specifically on (a) what incentives could be provided for nodes to contribute resources as seeds in a multi-torrent environment, and (b) what are the resulting performance consequences. We show why the current BT lacks incentives for nodes to stay as seeds. Motivated by that, we propose a cross torrent based method to encourage nodes to stay as seeds and present an extensive performance study to illustrate the benefits of our approach.

Keywords: BitTorrent; file sharing; P2P; peer-to-peer; content distribution; multiple torrents.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMC.2010.030005

International Journal of Advanced Media and Communication, 2010 Vol.4 No.1, pp.31 - 58

Published online: 03 Dec 2009 *

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