Using Multiple Sockets

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A very interesting technique, used effectively in older TCP/IP stacks, is the use of multiple sockets to parallelize data transfer. The technique is also known as “data-striping.” In data striping, multiple sockets are opened to a given target and individual segments of data are transferred through each of the open sockets (see Figure 7.3).

Figure 7.3: Data striping over multiple connections.

This technique has also been used successfully in peer-to-peer sharing programs in which a single file is downloaded in pieces from a number of different sources. This permits a user with a high-bandwidth link to download a file from a number of users with slower links, giving the illusion that the file is being downloaded from a single user with a similar link rate.

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