BitTorrent
CS514
Vivek Vishnumurthy, TA
Common Scenario
• Millions want to download the same
popular huge files (for free)
– ISO’s
– Media (the real example!)
• Client-server model fails
– Single server fails
– Can’t afford to deploy enough servers
IP Multicast?
• Recall: IP Multicast not a real option in
general settings
– Not scalable
– Only used in private settings
• Alternatives
– End-host based Multicast
– BitTorrent
– Other P2P file-sharing schemes (later in
lecture)
Source
Router
“Interested”
End-host
Client-Server
Source
Router
“Interested”
End-host
Client-Server
Overloaded!
Source
Router
“Interested”
End-host
IP multicast
Source
Router
“Interested”
End-host
End-host based multicast
Source
Router
“Interested”
End-host
End-host multicast using single tree
Source
End-host multicast using single tree
Source
End-host multicast using single tree
Source
Slow data transfer
BitTorrent
• Written by Bram Cohen (in Python) in 2001
• “Pull-based” “swarming” approach
– Each file split into smaller pieces
– Nodes request desired pieces from neighbors
• As opposed to parents pushing data that they receive
– Pieces not downloaded in sequential order
– Previous multicast schemes aimed to support
“streaming”; BitTorrent does not
• Encourages contribution by all nodes
BitTorrent Swarm
• Swarm
– Set of peers all downloading the same file
– Organized as a random mesh
• Each node knows list of pieces
downloaded by neighbors
• Node requests pieces it does not own from
neighbors
– Exact method explained later
How a node enters a swarm
for file “popeye.mp4”
• File popeye.mp4.torrent
hosted at a (well-known)
webserver
• The .torrent has address
of tracker for file
• The tracker, which runs
on a webserver as well,
keeps track of all peers
downloading file
How a node enters a swarm
for file “popeye.mp4”
www.bittorrent.com
• File popeye.mp4.torrent
hosted at a (well-known)
1
webserver
e nt
4 . t or r • The .torrent has address
Peer e ye. m
p
pop
of tracker for file
• The tracker, which runs
on a webserver as well,
keeps track of all peers
downloading file
How a node enters a swarm
for file “popeye.mp4”
www.bittorrent.com
• File popeye.mp4.torrent
hosted at a (well-known)
webserver
Peer
2 • The .torrent has address
of tracker for file
Addr e
s s es
of pee
rs Tracker • The tracker, which runs
on a webserver as well,
keeps track of all peers
downloading file
How a node enters a swarm
for file “popeye.mp4”
www.bittorrent.com
• File popeye.mp4.torrent
hosted at a (well-known)
webserver
Peer • The .torrent has address
of tracker for file
3 Tracker • The tracker, which runs
on a webserver as well,
keeps track of all peers
downloading file
Swarm
Contents of .torrent file
• URL of tracker
• Piece length – Usually 256-512 KB
• SHA-1 hashes of each piece in file
– For reliability
• “files” – allows download of multiple files
Terminology
• Seed: peer with the entire file
– Original Seed: The first seed
• Leech: peer that’s downloading the file
– Fairer term might have been “downloader”
• Sub-piece: Further subdivision of a piece
– The “unit for requests” is a subpiece
– But a peer uploads only after assembling
complete piece
Peer-peer transactions:
Choosing pieces to request
• Rarest-first: Look at all pieces at all peers,
and request piece that’s owned by fewest
peers
– Increases diversity in the pieces downloaded
• avoids case where a node and each of its peers
have exactly the same pieces; increases
throughput
– Increases likelihood all pieces still available
even if original seed leaves before any one
node has downloaded entire file
Choosing pieces to request
• Random First Piece:
– When peer starts to download, request
random piece.
• So as to assemble first complete piece quickly
• Then participate in uploads
– When first complete piece assembled, switch
to rarest-first
Choosing pieces to request
• End-game mode:
– When requests sent for all sub-pieces,
(re)send requests to all peers.
– To speed up completion of download
– Cancel request for downloaded sub-pieces
Tit-for-tat as incentive to upload
• Want to encourage all peers to contribute
• Peer A said to choke peer B if it (A) decides not
to upload to B
• Each peer (say A) unchokes at most 4 interested
peers at any time
– The three with the largest upload rates to A
• Where the tit-for-tat comes in
– Another randomly chosen (Optimistic Unchoke)
• To periodically look for better choices
Anti-snubbing
• A peer is said to be snubbed if each of its
peers chokes it
• To handle this, snubbed peer stops
uploading to its peers
Optimistic unchoking done more often
– Hope is that will discover a new peer that will
upload to us
Why BitTorrent took off
• Better performance through “pull-based”
transfer
– Slow nodes don’t bog down other nodes
• Allows uploading from hosts that have
downloaded parts of a file
– In common with other end-host based
multicast schemes
Why BitTorrent took off
• Practical Reasons (perhaps more important!)
– Working implementation (Bram Cohen) with simple
well-defined interfaces for plugging in new content
– Many recent competitors got sued / shut down
• Napster, Kazaa
– Doesn’t do “search” per se. Users use well-known,
trusted sources to locate content
• Avoids the pollution problem, where garbage is passed off as
authentic content
Pros and cons of BitTorrent
• Pros
– Proficient in utilizing partially downloaded files
– Discourages “freeloading”
• By rewarding fastest uploaders
– Encourages diversity through “rarest-first”
• Extends lifetime of swarm
• Works well for “hot content”
Pros and cons of BitTorrent
• Cons
– Assumes all interested peers active at same
time; performance deteriorates if swarm
“cools off”
– Even worse: no trackers for obscure content
Pros and cons of BitTorrent
• Dependence on centralized tracker:
pro/con?
Single point of failure: New nodes can’t
enter swarm if tracker goes down
– Lack of a search feature
Prevents pollution attacks
Users need to resort to out-of-band search: well
known torrent-hosting sites / plain old web-search
“Trackerless” BitTorrent
• To be more precise, “BitTorrent without a
centralized-tracker”
• E.g.: Azureus, nu-torrent etc…
• Uses a Distributed Hash Table (Kademlia DHT)
• Tracker run by a normal end-host (not a web-
server anymore)
– The original seeder could itself be the tracker
– Or have a node in the DHT randomly picked to act as
the tracker
Why is (studying) BitTorrent
important?
(From CacheLogic, 2004)
Why is (studying) BitTorrent
important?
• BitTorrent consumes significant amount of
internet traffic today
– In 2004, BitTorrent accounted for 30% of all
internet traffic (Total P2P was 60%),
according to CacheLogic
– Slightly lower share in 2005 (possibly
because of legal action), but still significant
– BT always used for legal software (linux iso)
distribution too
– Recently: legal media downloads (Fox)
