Seed Scheduling for Peer-to-Peer Networks

The initial phase in a content distribution (file sharing) scenario is delicate due to the lack of global knowledge and the dynamics of the overlay. An unwise distribution of the pieces in this phase can cause delays in reaching steady state, thus increasing file download times. We devise a scheduling algorithm at the seed (source peer with full content), based on a proportional fair approach, and we implement it on a real file sharing client. In dynamic overlays, our solution improves by up to 25% the average downloading time of a standard protocol ala BitTorrent.