nTorrent: Peer-to-Peer File Sharing in Named Data Networking

BitTorrent is a popular application for peer-to-peer file sharing in today's Internet. To achieve robust and efficient data dissemination as an application overlay, BitTorrent implements a data-centric paradigm on top of TCP/IP's point-to-point packet delivery, which requires each peer to obtain network layer connectivity information (e.g., peer IP address, distance to each peer, routing policies) that is exclusively available at the network layer in order to select the best peers for data retrieval. This paper presents the design of nTorrent, which provides BitTorrent-like functions natively in Named Data Networking (NDN). We use simulations to examine how well the NDN's data-centric communication model can natively support such an application. Our work exposes the differences between the IP- based BitTorrent and nTorrent, and the issues and impact of moving IP-based applications to NDN-enabled networks.