Seed scheduling for peer-to-peer networks

initial phase in a content distribution (file sharing) scenario is a delicate phase due to the lack of global knowledge and the dynamics of the overlay. An unwise distri- bution 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 [1]. In dynamic overlays, our solution improves up to 25% the average downloading time of a standard protocol ala BitTorrent.