ADSL (l)user
Joined: 16 Mar 2007
Posts: 19
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 Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:19 pm Post subject: |
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Here's one of the comments on the news from the site:
| Quote: | Share ratios as implemented are broken. In at least two typically occurring scenarios STARVATION CAN OCCUR: 1) when a torrent is well seeded, 2) when many torrents are unpopular.
When a torrent is well seeded, it may take an enormous amount of time to give back as much as a well-meaning user takes. In the extreme, if there are many well-connected seeds, it is possible that a well-meaning user with slightly smaller upload pipes never gets a chance to upload to anyone. If share ratios are enforced, the well-meaning user can be locked out of the tracker forever.
When a tracker has many unpopular files that are nonetheless seeded, if a well-meaning user downloads some of these unpopular files they can find themselves with a deficit that prevents them from downloading until they upload. Since the user has only downloaded unpopular files, it can take an unbounded time for the well-meaning user to fine others to upload to. In the worst case the files have declining popularity such that no one ever downloads them again, and once again the well-meaning user is forever locked out of the tracker.
These are not hypothetical situations. Just try downloading only old episodes of a television show. If you didn't also download a few popular episodes, you will have a bad share ratio with nothing to offer to get back in.
What we really want is for people to upload when a torrent is unhealthy, i.e., when download rates are slow. This is what Bram meant by taking into account the health of the torrent.
--Dave |
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