On the Efficiency of Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

Abstract

In Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing networks, the average download time is determined by how efficiently the upload bandwidth of each peer can be utilized. In this paper, we will first propose a stochastic model for P2P file sharing networks. By numerically solving the proposed model, we will be able to gain interesting insight on how the performance of a P2P file sharing network is affected by different parameters such as the piece numbers of the file, the number of neighbors of a peer, and the seed departure rate etc. We will also validate the stochastic model through simulations and provide some useful guidelines on how to design an efficient P2P system based on our results.