Practical Load Balancing for Content Requests in Peer-to-Peer Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces Max-Cap, a decentralized load balancing algorithm for peer-to-peer networks that effectively manages heterogeneous nodes without load oscillations, outperforming previous methods dependent on update frequency.

Contribution

The paper presents Max-Cap, a novel load balancing algorithm that leverages maximum node capacities, addressing heterogeneity and reducing load oscillations in peer-to-peer systems.

Findings

Max-Cap handles heterogeneity effectively.

It is robust against update frequency issues.

It reduces load oscillations compared to previous algorithms.

Abstract

This paper studies the problem of load-balancing the demand for content in a peer-to-peer network across heterogeneous peer nodes that hold replicas of the content. Previous decentralized load balancing techniques in distributed systems base their decisions on periodic updates containing information about load or available capacity observed at the serving entities. We show that these techniques do not work well in the peer-to-peer context; either they do not address peer node heterogeneity, or they suffer from significant load oscillations. We propose a new decentralized algorithm, Max-Cap, based on the maximum inherent capacities of the replica nodes and show that unlike previous algorithms, it is not tied to the timeliness or frequency of updates. Yet, Max-Cap can handle the heterogeneity of a peer-to-peer environment without suffering from load oscillations.