Bittorrent networks

Proposal by Øystein Kaldhol.

Established a few years ago, recently became popular. Bram Cohen.  P2P network for distributing files. The idea was to create a network that was able to withstand problems with scaling, flash crowds and reliability. Limitless scalability.

Compared to other p2p networks, it distributes load among the nodes, depending on bandwidth.

A central node, called a “tracker” monitors the activity and prioritizes downloads based on uploads. Other nodes are “seeds” and “downloads”. The more you upload, the more you get.

Aspects to be investigated:
-     The lifecycle of a torrent

o How many participants in the start vs towards the end.

o How does this affect download speed?

o How and when does it die?

- Distribution speed vs number of participants

Data-gathering:

- Many trackers release statistics on the web

- Release your own tracker?

Purpose:

- How can you optimize distribution of software, without requiring enormous amounts of bandwidth

- Is it wise to have one tracker, or several? How do you distribute the torrent file?