History of Computers - P2P Networks

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Page created by Brett Gutstein, 22 August 2011

Peer to Peer (P2P) Networks

Peer to peer (P2P) networking is a distributed application architecture that lacks a central server. In peer to peer networks, members make a portion of their resources available to other members of the network, so peers are both suppliers and consumers of resources.[1] Computers in P2P networks run the same networking protocols and software and share equal responsibility for processing data.[2]

200px-Server-based-network.svg.png <- Server Based Network200px-P2P-network.svg.png <- Peer to Peer Network

Overview

Peer to peer networks can be configured over LAN or the Internet. Local area P2P networks can be configured both wired and wirelessly, and allow the sharing of files, printers, and other resources between involved computers. Over the Internet, P2P networks can handle an extremely high volume of file sharing because the workload is distributed across many computers worldwide. Internet based P2P networks are less likely to fail or experience a traffic bottleneck than client-server networks for the same reason.[3]

The idea of P2P networking has been around since 1969, when the Internet Engineering Task Force pusblished its first Request for Comments.[4] However, the first dial-up P2P network was created in 1980 in the form of Usenet, which was a worldwide Internet discussion system. The difference between other web forums and Usenet was that Usenet did not depend on a central server or administrator-- it was distributed among a constantly changing group of servers that stored and forwarded messages to one another in bursts called news feeds. Individual users could read messages from and post messages to a local server, which would then send posted messages around the world.[5]

200px-Usenet_servers_and_clients.svg.png <-Usenet Network

Significance

References

Links


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