In file sharing, super-seeding is an algorithm developed by John Hoffman for the BitTorrent communications protocol that helps downloaders become uploaders more quickly, but it introduces the danger of total seeding failure if there is only one downloader.
[1] Peers attached to a seed with super-seeding enabled therefore distribute pieces of the torrent file much more readily before they have completed the download themselves.
[citation needed] Testing by one group found that super seeding can help save an upload ratio of around 20%.
It works best when the upload speed of the seed is greater than that of individual peers.
To avoid this, rTorrent continues to offer more pieces to the peers without waiting for confirmation, until it is uploading at its configured capacity.