P2P

P2P networks works don't have a server, which would provide centralized coordination in a traditional client-server model Instead, it is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers

  • Each peer has equal privileges and each has equal power.
  • each peer designates a porion of their resources as available for consumption by other nodes in the network.
    • ex. can share resources like processing power, disk storage or network bandwidth
  • Peers are both suppliers and consumers of resources, in contrast to the traditional client-server model in which the consumption and supply of resources is divided. Put another way, each node acts as both a client and a server.
  • P2P networks implement an overlay network, whose nodes are a subset of the nodes found in the physical network.
  • data is still exchanged over TCP/IP, but P2P nodes can communicate directly at L7 by using the logical overlay links (each logical overlay link corresponds to a physical link of the underlying network.)
  • ex. WiFi Direct, Skype
  • Because there is no server, other strategies must be taken to accomplish tasks that would otherwise be handled by the server, such as login
    • To carry out login duties, a P2P network has what's called a Login Server

Place in history

  • P2P networks became popular with Napster, because the more traditional way to use the internet is more heavily regulated and corporately-owned. This means that Napster could skirt a lot of the authorities on the matter.

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