Achieving high-bandwidth peer-to-peer file distribution

Abstract

Commercial entities have started using peer-to-peer (P2P) algorithms for file distribution. For example, Sub Pop Records and Blizzard Entertainment use BitTorrent [2] to distribute large files to their clients. Given that last-mile bandwidths to home users are increasing rapidly, a P2P approach is perhaps the only viable solution to avoid a bottleneck at the servers. Furthermore, the fact that P2P algorithms exploit the bandwidth available to the clients and reduces the provisioning costs at the server, makes P2P even more attractive.