Built independently by an author, for readers. Read the story and support ChapterPal
ChapterPal Logo
Log inSign up

keyword

SplitStream

SplitStream is an application-level multicast protocol and content distribution system designed for high-bandwidth peer-to-peer networks. Unlike conventional multicast architectures that rely on a single distribution tree where a small number of internal nodes handle most data forwarding, SplitStream divides content into multiple distinct stripes and distributes them across a forest of multicast trees. In this design, the interior forwarding nodes across the trees are largely disjoint, meaning a participating peer typically serves as an interior forwarding node in only one tree while remaining a leaf receiver in the others. By spreading the forwarding workload across all participating nodes in proportion to their individual bandwidth capacities, SplitStream provides scalable throughput, balanced resource utilization, and strong resilience against node failures.

1 item

SplitStream: high-bandwidth multicast in cooperative environments

SplitStream: high-bandwidth multicast in cooperative environments

M. Castro, P. Druschel, Anne-Marie Kermarrec, Animesh Nandi, A. Rowstron, Atul Singh

OrganizationsMicrosoftRice University

Why you should read this

Proposes a peer-to-peer multicast system that distributes forwarding load evenly across participating nodes by striping content over a forest of interior-node-disjoint trees, enabling high-bandwidth streaming and resilience to node failures.

In tree-based multicast systems, a relatively small number of interior nodes carry the load of forwarding multicast messages. This works well when the interior nodes are highly-available, dedicated infrastructure routers but it poses a problem for application-level multicast in peer-to-peer systems. SplitStream addresses this problem by striping the content across a forest of interior-node-disjoint multicast trees that distributes the forwarding load among all participating peers. For example, it is possible to construct efficient SplitStream forests in which each peer contributes only as much forwarding bandwidth as it receives. Furthermore, with appropriate content encodings, SplitStream is highly robust to failures because a node failure causes the loss of a single stripe on average. We present the design and implementation of SplitStream and show experimental results obtained on an Internet testbed and via large-scale network simulation. The results show that SplitStream distributes the forwarding load among all peers and can accommodate peers with different bandwidth capacities while imposing low overhead for forest construction and maintenance.

Added

2026-09-24