pctechguide.com

  • Home
  • Guides
  • Tutorials
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • Glossary
  • Contact

P2P Networking

By early 2000 a revolution was underway in an entirely new form of peer-to-peer computing. Sparked by the phenomenal success of a number of highly publicised applications, P2P computing – as it is commonly referred to – heralded a new computing model for the Internet age and had achieved considerable traction with mainstream computer users and members of the PC industry in a very short space of time:

  • the Napster MP3 music file sharing application went live in September 1999, and attracted more than 20 million users by mid-2000
  • by the end of 2000, over 100 companies and numerous research projects were engaged in P2P computing
  • by early the following year, the SETI@home program, which uses distributed processing to analyse radio telescope data, had attracted more than 2.6 million users who had donated over 500,000 years of CPU time to the hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence.

P2P computing provides an alternative to the traditional client-server architecture and can be simply defined as the sharing of computer resources and services by direct exchange. While employing the existing network, servers, and clients infrastructure, P2P offers a computing model that is orthogonal to the client-server model. The two models coexist, intersect, and complement each other.

In a client-server model, the client makes requests of the server with which it is networked. The server, typically an unattended system, responds to the requests and acts on them. With P2P computing, each participating computer – referred to as peer – functions as a client with a layer of server functionality. This allows the peer to act both as a client and as a server within the context of a given application. A peer can initiate requests, and it can respond to requests from other peers in the network. The ability to make direct exchanges with other users offers a number of compelling advantages – both technical and social – to individual users and large organisations alike.

Technically, P2P provides the opportunity to make use of vast untapped resources that go unused without it. These resources include processing power for large-scale computations and enormous storage potential. P2P allows the elimination of the single-source bottleneck. P2P can be used to distribute data and control and load-balance requests across the Internet. In addition to helping optimise performance, the P2P mechanism also may be used to eliminate the risk of a single point of failure. When P2P is used within the enterprise, it may be able to replace some costly data centre functions with distributed services between clients. Storage, for data retrieval and backup, can be placed on clients. In addition, the P2P infrastructure allows direct access and shared space, and this can enable remote maintenance capability.

Much of the wide appeal of P2P is due to social and psychological factors. For example, users can easily form their own autonomous online Internet communities and run them as they collectively choose. Many of these P2P communities will be ever changing and dynamic in that users can come and go, or be active or not. Other users will enjoy the ability to bypass centralised control. Effectively, P2P has the power to make users autonomous.

Filed Under: Networking

Latest Articles

OLED Flat Panels – Explain oled

Many electronic appliances are at the threshold of a revolution that began with the discovery of polymeric conductors in the 1970s. Polymeric materials, which have historically been classified exclusively as electrical insulators, are now finding varied applications as both conductors and … [Read More...]

The Evolution of Digital Video

Evolution The digitisation of TV can be traced back a quarter of a century to the first digital video effects box, which scaled and rotated live images. This was followed by many expensive digital video devices: stills stores, caption … [Read More...]

Get around Facebook Quick With These Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts help you get around much faster than using the mouse. The mouse is a useful gadget, but there is nothing like being able to cruise through an application without ever leaving the keyboard.  But did you know Facebook also has a list of keyboard shortcuts? Believe it or not, they … [Read More...]

AI-Driven Software Improves Trading Strategies for Investors

Artificial intelligence technology is changing the state of modern finance. A growing number of investors are utilizing AI to improve the … [Read More...]

What You Need to Know When Choosing the Best VPN for an iPhones

Today millions of people have smartphones; most use them to access the Internet. Research shows that more than 50% of Internet users access it with … [Read More...]

Must-Have Software and Apps Every Remote Worker Should Have on Their PC in 2023?

In the last few years, the future of work has changed permanently. In a survey conducted near the end of 2020, 72% of people were fully remote, with … [Read More...]

Cloud Technology Changes the Calculus of Risk Management in a Global Economy

Cloud technology has changed the state of the global economy in previously unimaginable ways. Ninety-four percent of enterprises utilize some form of … [Read More...]

Risk Management Considerations in an Artificial Intelligence Environment

Risk management is about identifying, assessing, evaluating, and prioritizing risk. Although risk management has been practiced in some ways since … [Read More...]

New Software and GPS Tools Help Parents Monitor their Children

More parents are using technology to keep their children safe. One survey from Pew Research in 2016 showed that 30% of parents use technology to block … [Read More...]

Guides

  • Computer Communications
  • Mobile Computing
  • PC Components
  • PC Data Storage
  • PC Input-Output
  • PC Multimedia
  • Processors (CPUs)

Recent Posts

AffPlayBook.com – Review From Actual User

Hi, My name is Jacob Erdei and when you become a member of affplaybook you will recognize my user name inside the forum as jerdei. I have over … [Read More...]

ASUS P8Z77-V PRO

$229 - ASUS P8Z77-V PRO is an Intel 7 series mother board. Socket H2 (LGA1155) At this time the product has 2 great reviews on Tigerdirect and 1 … [Read More...]

Transferring Programs To A New PC (Windows XP to Windows 7)

In this particular article, we will discuss the various methods used to transfer programs to a new computer. We will also discuss various … [Read More...]

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 About | Privacy | Contact Information | Wrtie For Us | Disclaimer | Copyright License | Authors