"Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) Requirements", Sebastian Kiesel, Laird Popkin, Stefano Previdi, Richard Woundy, Yang Yang, 13-Jul-09. ( bytes)

Many Internet applications are used to access resources, such as pieces of information or server processes, which are available in several equivalent replicas on different hosts. This includes, but is not limited to, peer-to-peer file sharing applications. The goal of Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) is to provide guidance to applications, which have to select one or several hosts from a set of candidates, that are able to provide a desired resource. This guidance shall be based on parameters that affect performance and efficiency of the data transmission between the hosts, e.g., the topological distance. The ultimate goal is to improve performance (or Quality of Experience) in the application while reducing resource consumption in the underlying network infrastructure. This document enumerates requirements for ALTO, which should be considered when specifying, assessing, or comparing protocols and implementations, and it solicits feedback and discussion.

"Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) Problem Statement", Jan Seedorf, Eric Burger, 3-Jul-09. ( bytes)

Peer-to-peer applications, such as file sharing, real-time communication, and live and on-demand media streaming use a significant amount of Internet resources. Such applications often transfer large amounts of data in peer-to-peer connections. However, they usually have little knowledge of the underlying network topology. As a result, they may choose their peers randomly with respect to the underlying network topology or they may choose their peers based on measurements and statistics that, in many situations, may lead to suboptimal choices. This document describes problems related to improving traffic generated by peer-to-peer applications. In particular, this document discusses issues which better-than- random peer selection based on network-layer information may raise.

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