[wish] Microsoft P2P download system

Visual Studio 2005, .NET Framework 2.0, and SQL Server 2005 release to MSDN today, and so of course MSDN downloads got hit pretty hard this morning. After a shaky start, the download speeds appear to be picking up.

Still, it seems like a lot of wasted bandwidth on Microsoft's part. 2.8GB x 100,000 = some huge number. It would be great if they had a P2P download system so that popular downloads required less bandwidth from Microsoft's datacenters, not more.

Unfortunately right now, if you talk about P2P download systems like BitTorrent, people figure you're either (1) a high volume pirate, or (2) an open source zealot. The point is, though, that P2P download systems just make good sense from a technical point of view, both for the distributor and the consumer.

I'd like to see a professional alternative to BitTorrent proposed by Microsoft. It should support security, policy, DRM, etc. - it should be like WMA is to MP3. Waiting too long on something like this will make BT the de facto standard. I'd like to see MSDN ISO downloads use something like BT - you could elect to download direct from server, or could get better speed if you elect to use "cooperative download". Now, granted, file distribution doesn't necessarily have to include the DRM if you're handling security at the file level - product keys, media licenses, etc. However, if DRM isn't built into a system from the start it's very tough to add it in later (digital music is an example there).

Maybe Avalanche from MS Research will will fill this void. There was some buzz about it back in the April - June timeframe, and a short article in InfoWorld. No word about it since then, though (see "Whatever happened to Microsoft Avalanche?" on Channel9).