ThriftyTorrent: Cheap P2P Software Patch Distribution for Enterprise Networks

Overview

This paper presents a peer-to-peer method of distributing software patches or other data in an enterprise network, which aims to minimize the cost of bandwidth used subject to a specified quality of service in the form of a target download rate. In enterprise networks, the bandwidth of some links (e.g. transatlantic leased lines) may be charged by use, at high rates compared to the cost of traffic on local links. They obtained data from one enterprise patch server that served 7,355 machines in a large enterprise network over 66 days: on a peak day it sent a total of over a Terabyte of data in response to requests from five continents, and on an average day it sent over 50 GB of data.