BitTorrent is a popular Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing application that divides files into small chunks and distributes...

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BitTorrent is a popular Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing application that divides files into small chunks and distributes the downloading tasks among clients. To download a file, a user first retrieves a ".torrent" file, which contains metadata about the desired file, including the addresses of "trackers." These trackers keep track of the peers participating in sharing that particular file. Once connected, the user's client downloads chunks from other peers and simultaneously offers the chunks it has already downloaded for others to retrieve. (a) Consider a traditional centralized file-sharing architecture where a single server hosts files for clients to download and a fixed bandwidth is used regardless of number of clients. Compare this with a decentralized Peer-to-Peer (P2P) architecture like BitTorrent. Which architecture can offer faster average download speed when a large group of clients simultaneously need to download the same files? Please briefly explain your reasoning. (b) Continuing on part(a). Which architecture provides greater resilience against disruptions or failures? Please briefly explain your reasoning. (c) For BitTorrent, suppose that some clients are sharing a single tracker for a file. What problem may emerge if the tracker becomes unavailable after some of clients have already established peer-to-peer connection and started file sharing? Can the file-sharing process continue? Please briefly explain your reasoning. (d) Can you think of some potential solutions to handle tracker failure like the scenario in part (c)? BitTorrent is a popular Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing application that divides files into small chunks and distributes the downloading tasks among clients. To download a file, a user first retrieves a ".torrent" file, which contains metadata about the desired file, including the addresses of "trackers." These trackers keep track of the peers participating in sharing that particular file. Once connected, the user's client downloads chunks from other peers and simultaneously offers the chunks it has already downloaded for others to retrieve. (a) Consider a traditional centralized file-sharing architecture where a single server hosts files for clients to download and a fixed bandwidth is used regardless of number of clients. Compare this with a decentralized Peer-to-Peer (P2P) architecture like BitTorrent. Which architecture can offer faster average download speed when a large group of clients simultaneously need to download the same files? Please briefly explain your reasoning. (b) Continuing on part(a). Which architecture provides greater resilience against disruptions or failures? Please briefly explain your reasoning. (c) For BitTorrent, suppose that some clients are sharing a single tracker for a file. What problem may emerge if the tracker becomes unavailable after some of clients have already established peer-to-peer connection and started file sharing? Can the file-sharing process continue? Please briefly explain your reasoning. (d) Can you think of some potential solutions to handle tracker failure like the scenario in part (c)?

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a In a traditional centralized filesharing architecture a single server hosts the files and all clients download from that server This means that the ... View the full answer