Peer to Peer Networking

Peer-to-peer networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks between users, who are granted equal privilege within the network (thus the title ‘peers’), and who require no stable host or central server. Whereas in the client-server model there is a distinction between the one who supplies and the one who consumes, in a peer-to-peer network both peers in any given interaction are seen as both a supplier and a consumer. One of the great sources of publicity for peer-to-peer networking is due to the proliferation of peer-to-peer file sharing networks.

Peer-to-peer systems utilize abstract overlay networks on top of the native topology, rendering the network independent of the system’s physical topology. In structured P2P networks, peers are organized according to specific criteria, usually using distributed hash table-based (DHT) indexing. Unstructured P2P networks, however, do not provide an algorithm to organize network connections.

The peer-to-peer overlay network consists of each participating peer as a network node. Any two nodes that ‘know each other’ are linked, which is to say that a directed edge is formed between one node and another if the first peer knows the location of the other within the overlay network. The classification of a P2P system as structured or structured has to do with the way in which the nodes in the network are linked to one another.

There are several pros and cons to the use of such a network. On the plus side, within a given P2P network, each peer provides resources, including but not limited to bandwidth, computing power, storage space, etc. In a traditional client-server model each client presents only demands, which do nothing to improve the capacity of the network, whereas in P2P networks the system will grow with more interactions between peers. However, there is always the risk that non-secure codes could allow remote access to data on a user’s computer or even compromise the security of the entire P2P network. Measures can, of course, be taken (and today often are) in order to enforce file verification for security purposes on many networks; among these security measures are more advanced encryption methods, chunk verification and newer hashing methods. Internet service providers also tend to come down heavily on P2P networks, given their relatively heavy bandwidth use as compared to the most common browser activities (e-mail, etc.)

As much controversy as the illegal dissemination of protected content on P2P nations has aroused, this genre of network has also inspired some to view other topics on a peer-to-peer rather than server-client basis. Examples include the projected ideas of peer distribution, peer governance and peer property.