Client-server versus peer-to-peer

Abstract

This study identifies optimal transmission mechanisms for a video streaming service in a peer-to-peer network structure under different payment mechanisms: pay as you watch and pay upfront. We calculate a uniform, feasible service price using the utilities of the users and associated server profits for every possible peer-to-peer distribution tree. We prove that when the server has linear or concave costs, the client-server structure is more profitable than any peer-to-peer structure. This statement holds even when the users have maximal tolerance to indefinitely long pre-roll delays. When the server however, has convex costs, we show that the optimal network structure depends on the system parameters and there is no single distribution mechanism that provides the optimal server profit for every operating point of the network.