BitTorrent is an attractive peer-to-peer technology that attempts to reduce load on file sharers by allowing downloaders to share content between themselves. BitTorrent's current focus is to provide users with a fast download, which requires the file sharer to serve a disproportionate amount of the file. We present a modification to the BitTorrent seeding algorithm that reduces the load on BitTorrent file sharers. Essentially, if a block of a file is already available from a significant number of peers, the file sharer refuses to share that block, forcing peers to get it from each other. Using this modification, we show that there is a trade-off between the server's expended upload bandwidth and a longer peer download time. We also show some cases where we reduce the server's load as well as maintain a competitive peer download time by increasing the availability of rare blocks.
","abstract_html":"<p>BitTorrent is an attractive peer-to-peer technology that attempts to reduce load on file sharers by allowing downloaders to share content between themselves. BitTorrent's current focus is to provide users with a fast download, which requires the file sharer to serve a disproportionate amount of the file. We present a modification to the BitTorrent seeding algorithm that reduces the load on BitTorrent file sharers. Essentially, if a block of a file is already available from a significant number of peers, the file sharer refuses to share that block, forcing peers to get it from each other. Using this modification, we show that there is a trade-off between the server's expended upload bandwidth and a longer peer download time. We also show some cases where we reduce the server's load as well as maintain a competitive peer download time by increasing the availability of rare blocks.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sanderson, Brian T."],"institution":"Brigham Young University - Provo","degree_name":"MS","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:29:12Z","subjects":["BitTorrent","seed","P2P","peer-to-peer","Internet","networking","computer","Computer Sciences"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1428","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sanderson, Brian T."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2008-06-27T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Brigham Young University - Provo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["BitTorrent","seed","P2P","peer-to-peer","Internet","networking","computer","Computer Sciences"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1428","https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/context/etd/article/2427/viewcontent/ETD_CISOPTR_1432.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Physical and Mathematical Sciences; Computer Science"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["BitTorrent is an attractive peer-to-peer technology that attempts to reduce load on file sharers by allowing downloaders to share content between themselves. BitTorrent's current focus is to provide users with a fast download, which requires the file sharer to serve a disproportionate amount of the file. We present a modification to the BitTorrent seeding algorithm that reduces the load on BitTorrent file sharers. Essentially, if a block of a file is already available from a significant number of peers, the file sharer refuses to share that block, forcing peers to get it from each other. Using this modification, we show that there is a trade-off between the server's expended upload bandwidth and a longer peer download time. We also show some cases where we reduce the server's load as well as maintain a competitive peer download time by increasing the availability of rare blocks.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application:pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Brigham Young University - Provo"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Reducing Seed Load in the BitTorrent File Sharing System"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Sanderson, Brian T."],"dc:date":["2008-06-27T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Physical and Mathematical Sciences; Computer Science"],"dc:description.abstract":["BitTorrent is an attractive peer-to-peer technology that attempts to reduce load on file sharers by allowing downloaders to share content between themselves. BitTorrent's current focus is to provide users with a fast download, which requires the file sharer to serve a disproportionate amount of the file. We present a modification to the BitTorrent seeding algorithm that reduces the load on BitTorrent file sharers. Essentially, if a block of a file is already available from a significant number of peers, the file sharer refuses to share that block, forcing peers to get it from each other. Using this modification, we show that there is a trade-off between the server's expended upload bandwidth and a longer peer download time. We also show some cases where we reduce the server's load as well as maintain a competitive peer download time by increasing the availability of rare blocks.
"],"dc:format":["application:pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1428","https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/context/etd/article/2427/viewcontent/ETD_CISOPTR_1432.pdf"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["Brigham Young University - Provo"],"dc:source":["Brigham Young University - Provo"],"dc:subject":["BitTorrent","seed","P2P","peer-to-peer","Internet","networking","computer","Computer Sciences"],"dc:title":["Reducing Seed Load in the BitTorrent File Sharing System"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:29:12Z"}