Peer-assisted content distribution on a budget

In this paper, we propose a general framework and present a prototype implementation of peer-assisted content delivery application. Our system – called Cyclops – dynamically adjusts the bandwidth consumed by content servers (which represents the bulk of content delivery costs) to feed a set of swarming clients, based on a feedback signal that gauges the real-time health of the swarm. Our extensive evaluation of Cyclops in a variety of settings – including controlled PlanetLab and live Internet experiments involving thousands of users – shows a significant reduction in content distribution costs when compared to existing swarming solutions, with a minor impact on the content delivery times.