CODEWITHSUNDEEP
udpfile-transferbittorrentquic
Jeff Burdges
Jeff Burdges

Reputation: 4261

Can QUIC streams be improved upon for file transfer?

If I understand, QUIC exists to multiplex multiple streams over the same UDP channel, including same key exchange.

QUIC also has an unreliable transport mode for VoIP, etc. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-pauly-quic-datagram/

Has anyone considered a “file" transfer mode for QUIC that uses either this unreliable mode or another "less" reliable mode? Would file transfer benefit much from even less ordered delivery than a QUIC stream supports?

There is a bittorrent variant µTP (BEP-29) which exists partially to interfere less with residential internet, but supports bittorrent's usual highly unordered delivery.

I suppose a file transfer protocol for QUIC could also be bittorren-like by accepting packet sized chunks from multiple senders, but that's another topic.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2254

Answers (1)

the8472
the8472

Reputation: 43115

One advantage of unordered, unreliable file transfer protocols is that they do not need to pay the memory cost of keeping a retransmit buffer that grows with the BDP of the connection. Incorrect sizing of those buffers can lead to significant performance losses on high-BDP links.

The random-access persistent storage used for the files at each end allows the reordering and retransmission to be handled on the application level.

The absence of head-of-line blocking may also lead to marginally better IO utilization.

But those issues are edge-cases. For bulk-transferring a single large file within one continent the reliable stream mode of QUIC will probably perform near the throughput optimum.

Upvotes: 2

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