Can P2P applications learn to play fair on networks?

Fri Oct 26 04:56:39 UTC 2007

On Thu, 25 Oct 2007, Marshall Eubanks wrote:
> I don't follow this, on a statistical average. This is P2P, right ? So if I 
> send you a piece
> of a file this will go out my door once, and in your door once, after a 
> certain (& finite !) number of hops
> (i.e., transmissions to and from other peers).
>
> So  if usage is limited to each customer, isn't upstream and downstream
> demand also going to be limited, roughly to
> no more than the usage times the number of hops ? This may be large, but it 
> won't be unlimited.

Is the size of a USENET feed limited by how fast people can read?

If there isn't a reason for people/computers to be efficient, they
don't seem to be very efficient.  There seems to be a lot of repetious
transfers and transfers much larger than any human could view, listen
or read in a lifetime.

But again, that isn't the problem.  Network operators like people who pay 
to do stuff they don't need.

The problem is sharing network capacity between all the users of the 
network, so a few users/applications don't greatly impact all the other 
users/applications.  I still doubt any network operator would care if 5% 
of the users consumed 5% of the network capacity 24x7x365.  Network 
operators don't care as much even when 5% of the users consumer 100% of 
the network capacity when there is no other demand for network capacity. 
Networks operators get concerned when 5% of the users consume 95% of the 
network capacity and the other 95% of the users complain about long 
delays, timeouts, stuff not working.

When 5% of the users don't play nicely with the rest of the 95% of
the users; how can network operators manage the network so every user
receives a fair share of the network capacity?