Historia
TheP2ParchitectureembodiesakeyconceptofInternettechnology,whichwasdescribedinthefirstRFCdocument,HostSoftwareonApril7,1969.Underthegeneraltrendofexchangingmultimediafileswithoutacentralindexserverstructure,thisconcepthasbeenwidelypopularized.
Classification
Accordingtothedegreeofcentralization
PureP2P
Nodesactasbothclientandserveratthesametime.
Thereisnocentralserver.
Thereisnocentralrouter.
SuchasGnutella.
MiscellaneousP2P
Thereisacentralserverthatstoresnodeinformationandrespondstorequestsforthisinformation.
Nodesareresponsibleforpublishingthisinformation(becausethecentralserverdoesnotsavefiles),letthecentralserverknowwhatfilestheywanttoshare,andletthenodesthatneeditdownloaditssharableresources.
Theroutingterminalusestheaddresstoobtaintheabsoluteaddressbybeingreferencedbyasetofindexes.
LiketheoriginalNapster.
HybridP2P
ContainsthecharacteristicsofbothpureP2PandhybridP2P.
SuchasSkype.
Accordingtothenetworktopology
StructureP2P
Point-to-pointhaslinkinformationtoeachother,formingaspecificruletopologywitheachother.
Whenaresourceneedstoberequested,followthetopologyRulesearch,ifitexists,youmustfindit.
SuchasChord,YaCy,Kademlia.
NoneStructureP2P
Point-to-pointhaslinkinformationtoeachother,forminganirregularnetworktopologywitheachother.
Whenaresourcenodeneedstoberequested,itissearchedbybroadcast,usuallyTTLisset,evenifitexists,itmaynotbefound.
Exempli gratia, Gnutella.
LooselystructuredP2P'
Point-to-pointhaslinkinformationtoeachother,forminganirregularnetworktopologywitheachother.
Whenaresourceneedstoberequested,itisestimatedandsearchedbasedonexistinginformation,whichisbetweenstructuredP2PandunstructuredP2P.
SuchasFreenet.
commodaofP2Pnetwork
AnimportantgoalofP2Pnetworkistoenableallclientstoprovideresources,includingbandwidth,Storagespaceandcomputingpower.Therefore,whenanodejoinsandrequestsforthesystemincrease,thecapacityoftheentiresystemalsoincreases.ThisisnotpossiblewiththeClient-Serverstructurewithasetoffixedservers,becauseintheabove-mentionedstructure,theincreaseofclientsmeansslowerdatatransmissionforallusers.
ThedistributednatureoftheP2Pnetworkalsoincreasestherobustnessoffailurepreventionbyreplicatingdataonmultiplenodes,andinapureP2Pnetwork,nodesdonotneedtorelyonacentralindexservertofinddata.Inthelattercase,thesystemwillnotcrashatasinglepoint.
WhenP2PisusedtodescribetheNapsternetwork,thepeer-to-peerprotocolisconsideredimportant,butinreality,theachievementoftheNapsternetworkisthatthepeernodes(justliketheendofthenetwork)uniteacentralindextofulfill.Thisallowsittolocateavailablecontentquicklyandefficiently.Thepeer-to-peerprotocolisjustageneralmethodtoachievethis.
Applications
Point-to-pointtechnologyhasmanyapplications.Itisverycommontosharefilescontainingvariousformatsofaudio,video,data,etc.Instantdata(suchasIPphonecommunication,Anychataudioandvideodevelopmentsoftware)canalsobetransmittedusingP2Ptechnology.
Somenetworksandcommunicationchannels,suchasNapster,OpenNAP,andIRC@find,useamaster-slavearchitecturestructuretohandlesometasks(suchassearchfunctions)ontheonehand,andP2PstructureontheotherhandTohandleothertasks.Somenetworks,suchasGnutellaandFreenet,usetheP2Pstructuretohandlealltasks,andaresometimesconsideredtobetrueP2Pnetworks.AlthoughGnutellaalsousesadirectoryservertofacilitatenodestogetthenetworkaddressesofothernodes.
AcademicP2Pnetwork
January28,2015,thedevelopersofPennsylvaniaStateUniversity,unitedtheMITOpenKnowledgeInitiative,SimonFraserUniversityResearchersfrom,andthesecond-generationInternetP2Pworkinggroup,aredevelopinganacademicapplicationofP2Pnetworks.ThisprojectiscalledLionShare,basedonthesecondgenerationofnetworktechnology,morespecificallytheGnutellamodel.Themainpurposeofthisnetworkistoallowusersfrommanydifferentacademicinstitutionstoshareacademicmaterials.TheLionSharenetworkusesahybridP2Pnetworktype,whichisamixtureofGnutella'sdecentralizedP2PnetworkandthetraditionalC/Snetwork.Usersofthisprogramcanuploadfilestoaserver,regardlessofwhethertheuserisonline,theycancontinuetoshare.Thisnetworkalsoallowsuseinsharedcommunitiesthataremuchsmallerthannormal.
ThemaindifferencebetweenthisnetworkandotherP2PnetworkscurrentlyinuseisthattheLionSharenetworkdoesnotallowanonymoususers.Thepurposeofthisistopreventcopyrightedmaterialsfrombeingsharedonthenetwork,whichalsoavoidslegaldisputes.Anotherdifferenceistheselectivesharingofindividualfilesfordifferentgroups.Theusercanindividuallyselectwhichuserscanreceivethisfileorgroupoffiles.
Theacademiccommunityneedsthistechnologybecausemoreandmoremultimediafilesareusedintheclassroom.Moreandmoreprofessorsusemultimediafiles,likeaudiofiles,videofilesandslideshows.Passingthesefilestostudentsisadifficulttask,anditismucheasierifyouuseanetworklikeLionShare.
commoda
Hasbetterparallelprocessingcapabilities.
Usingmemorytomanageexchangedata,greatlyimprovingperformance.
Noneedtoinvestalotofmoneyintheserver'ssoftwareandhardwareequipment.
Idonea forsmall-scalenetworks, facilia.
Incommoda
Thesetupismorecomplicated.Inadditiontoadevelopmentserver,italsoneedsadedicatedclient.
Adhibetur in magnis-scalamentis, opes indispositae, administratio difficilis, securitas humilis.
Quaestiones
Legalaspects
InUSlaw,the"Betamaxjudgment"precedentinsiststhatcopying"technology"isnottheessenceIllegal,iftheyhaveasubstantivenon-infringinguse.ThisdecisionbeforethewidespreaduseoftheInternetisappliedtomostdatanetworks,includingP2Pnetworks,becausethedisseminationofapproveddocumentsisalsopossible.Theseillegalandinfringingusesincludeopensourcesoftware,publicdomainfiles,andworksnotcoveredbycopyright.Otherjudicialdepartmentscanviewthissituationinasimilarway.
Infact,mostofthefilessharedonP2Pnetworksarecopyrightedpopularmusicandmovies,includingvariousformats(MP3,MPEG,RM,etc.).Inmostjurisdictions,sharingthesecopiesisillegal.Thishascausedmanyobservers,includingmostmediacompaniesandsomeP2Padvocates,tocriticizethisnetworkasahugethreattotheexistingdistributionmodel.Studiesthatattempttomeasureactualmonetarylossesaresomewhatunclear.Althoughtheexistenceofthesenetworksonpapercausedalotoflosses,infact,sincetheestablishmentofthesenetworks,theactualincomehasnotchangedmuch.Regardlessofwhetherthisthreatexists,theRecordingIndustryAssociationofAmericaandtheMotionPictureAssociationofAmericaarespendingalotofmoneytryingtolobbylawmakerstocreatenewlaws.Somecopyrightownersalsopaycompaniestohelplegallychallengeuserswhoengageinillegalsharingoftheirmaterials.
DespitetheBetamaxverdict,P2Pnetworkshavebecometargetsofattacksbyartistsandrepresentativesofcopyrightlicensingorganizations.ThisincludesindustryorganizationssuchastheRecordingAssociationofAmericaandtheMotionPictureAssociationofAmerica.TheNapsterservicewasforcedtoshutdownduetoacomplaintfromtheRecordingAssociationofAmerica.Inthiscase,Napsterdeliberatelyboughtandsoldtheseaudiovisualfilesthatwerenotlicensedfromthecopyrightowner.
Withtheexpansionofmediacompanies’effortstocombatcopyrightinfringement,thesenetworkshaverapidlyandcontinuouslyadjusted,makingitdifficulttoremovethembothtechnicallyandlegally.Thisleadstouserswhoreallyviolatethelawbeingtargeted,becausealthoughtheunderlyingtechnologyislegal,itsabusebyindividualswhospreaditinawayofinfringingcopyrightisobviouslyillegal.
AnonymousP2Pnetworkallowsthepublicationofmaterials,nomatterlegalorlegal,thereislittleornolegalresponsibilityinvariousjurisdictions.Manypeoplesaythatthiswillleadtomoreillegalmaterialsmoreeasilyspread,andeven(somepeoplepointedout)promoteterrorism,requiringregulationintheseareas.Othersobjectedthatthepotentialforillegalusecannotpreventtheuseofthistechnologyforlegitimatepurposes,andthepresumptionofinnocencemustbeapplied,asothernon-P2Panonymousservices,suchasemail,havesimilarcapabilities.
Importantcase:
U.S.law
SonyCorp.vsUniversalCityStudios (Betamaxverdict)
MGMvsGrokster
Securityaspects
ManyP2PTheInternethasbeencontinuouslyattackedbypeoplewithvariouspurposes.Examplesinclude:
Poisoningattacks(providingfileswithdifferentcontentanddescription)
Denialofserviceattacks(makingthenetworkveryslowEvencrashcompletely)
Betrayalattack(bloodsucking)(usersorsoftwareusethenetworkwithoutcontributingtheirownresources)
Insertavirusintothedata(forexample,thedownloadedortransferredfilemaybeinfectedwithavirusoraTrojanhorse)
TheTrojanhorseoftheP2Psoftwareitself(forexample,thesoftwaremaycontainspyware)
Filtering(networkoperatorsmaytrytoprohibitthetransmissionofdatafromP2Pnetworks)
Identityattacks(e.g.,Trackingusersonthenetworkandcontinuouslyharassingorattackingthemlegally)
Spam(suchassendingunsolicitedinformationonthenetwork--notnecessarilyDenialofserviceattack)
IfP2Pnetworkiscarefullydesignedandencryptiontechnologyisused,mostoftheattackscanbeavoidedorcontrolled.P2PnetworksecurityisinfactcloselyrelatedtotheByzantinegeneralproblemconnect.However,whenmanynodestrytodestroyit,almostanynetworkwillfail,andmanyprotocolswillfailbecauseoffewerusers.
OnApril23,2007,CAissuedaninformationsecurityalert,pointingoutFoxy,BitComet,eDonkey,µTorrent,Ares,Azureus,BearShare,Lphant,Shareaza,Hamachi,exeemlite,Fpsetup,Morpheus,iMeshThe14typesofP2Psoftwarehavesecuritythreats.ThepotentialthreatsourcesoftheseP2Psoftwareincludethepossibilityofoverwritingfiles,renamingfiles,deletingfiles,andimplantingmaliciousprogramsbythirdparties.
FutureofComputingTechnology
Strictlyspeaking,fromatechnicalperspective,bothpartiesinapeer-to-peernetworkarestrictlypeersandprovideandusedataequally,andthereisnodifferencebetweenaserverandaclient.ButsuchpureP2Papplicationsandnetworksarefewandfarbetween.MostofthenetworksandapplicationscalledP2Pactuallyrelyonorincludesomenon-peerunitslikeDNS.Atthesametime,multipleprotocolsareactuallyusedintheapplication,sothatnodescanbecomeclients,servers,andpeernodesatthesametimeortime-sharing;forexample,Usenet(1979)andFidoNet(1984)havebeenusedformanyyears,suchascompletelydistributedpairs.Waitforthenetwork.
ManyP2Psystemsusestrongerpeers(calledSuperNodes)asservers,andthoseclientnodesareconnectedtoasuperpeerinastar-likemanner.
Inthelate1990s,beforeinstantmessagingbecamepopular,inordertopromotethedevelopmentofpeer-to-peernetworkapplications,SunSun(SUN)addedsomeclassestoJavatechnology.Sothatdeveloperscandevelopreal-timechatappletsandapplicationsthatarenotcontrolledbythecentralserver.ThisworkiscontinuedbytheJXTAproject.
P2Psystemsandapplicationshaveattractedalotofattentionfromcomputerscienceresearch.Inthisfield,thereareChordProject,ARPANET,thePASTstorageutility,andP-Grid(aspontaneouslyorganizedemergingcoveragenetwork),AndaseriesofoutstandingresearchprojectsincludingtheCoopNetcontentdistributionsystem.
Restrictiones
ThePeople'sRepublicofChina
P2PtechnologyisinablankstateintermsofChineselawsandinprincipleisnotsubjecttoofficialrestrictionsbytheChinesegovernment.However,becauseP2Ptechnologywilloccupyalargeamountofnetworkbandwidth,andbecauseofthecurrentstatusofChina'snetworkfacilitiesandChina'sattitudetonetworkmanagement,therearevaryingdegreesofrestrictionsonP2Pcommunicationmethods.
AllmajorISPsinChinahaveimposedspeedlimitsonnetworkaccess,andwilltakemeasuresforbandwidth-consumingapplicationssuchasP2P.CommonmethodsincludelimitingthenumberofTCPconnections,blockingtheP2Pprotocol,andrestrictingdownloads/uploads.Speedetc.However,becausemostoftheseactionsarecarriedoutinsecret,manyP2PusersinChinaclaimthatthishasseriouslyviolatedtheirrighttoknowanduse.InChina,themostrestrictedP2PsoftwareisBitTorrentseriessoftwareandeMule.
InthecaseofincreasinglyscarceIPv4addressresources,mostareasofChinahavebeguntoadoptthe"largeintranet"approachtoreducetheconsumptionofIPaddressresources,thatis,mosthouseholdsandindividualuserswillconnectTherouteroftheISPusesnetworkaddresstranslationtoconnecttotheexternalnetwork.DuetothelimitationsofNATandsomeP2Pprotocols,mostP2Psoftwarecanonlybetransmittedontheintranet,whichhasagreatimpactontheP2Pindustrychain.
Inaddition,outofconsiderationofdomesticindustrysupportandinformationcontrol,ChinawillalsorestrictsomeP2Pinstantmessagingsoftware.TheMinistryofInformationIndustryofChinahasissuedadocumentrequestingthatVOIPcanonlybetestedondesignatednetworkoperators,andskypeisblockedinsomeareas,butsomeofficialshavedeniedthisandstatedthatitisonlyforPC-Phone.
InDecember2009,theMinistryofIndustryandInformationTechnologyrevokedtherecordnumberoftheBtchinawebsiteonthegroundsofignoringtheaudiovisuallicenseandforcedittoclosethestation.TheactionalsoaffectedBTsitesincludingYoyoBirdForum.
Iaponia
InIaponia,accordingtoIaponia'scurrentcopyrightlaw,allwebsitesinIaponiathatprovidefreecommercialsoftware/orotherdatadownloadsareillegal.Seriousviolationscanbesentencedtofixed-termimprisonmentandafine.BothBitTorrentseriessoftwareandeMulearebanned.ButbecauseoftheexistenceofShareandWinnysoftware,P2PtechnologyisstillpopularinIaponia.BothsoftwareusesIPencryptionanddataencryptiontechnology.MillionsofpeopleinIaponiausethesetwosoftwaretoexchangeanimation,games,music,softwareandotherdata,butitisclearthatthepolicehavetakencontrolofthemethodoftracingusers.OnMay9,2008,threeworkerswhopostedalargenumberofcopyrightedworksonsharewerearrested.Thepopularityofthesetwosoftwarehasalsobroughtsomenegativeproblems,suchastheleakageofconfidentialinformationandthespreadofcomputerviruses.
NewZealand
InNewZealand,accordingtoNewZealand'sSeptember2011copyrightlaw,downloadingcopyrightedcontentinNewZealandisillegal,anditismainlyaimedatdownloadingP2Ptechnology.Ifthedownloadedcontentreceivesacomplaintfromthecopyrightparty,theISPwillevaluateitbasedonthetimetheuserisdownloading.Ifthereiscopyrightinfringement,theuserwillbewarned.Threewarningswillresultinafineof15,000NewZealanddollars,whichisapproximately75,000RMB.However,itshouldbenotedthatonlineviewingandfilehostingwebsitesarenotwithinthescopeofthisfine.Inotherwords,usersmaybefinediftheydownloadacopyright-protectedworkthroughthetorrentsofTorrentsoftware,buttheywillnotbepunishediftheyuseofflinefiledownloadmethods.Moreover,thecopyrightholdersreceivingcopyrightprotectioninNewZealandusuallyonlyincludesomeEuropeanandAmericancompanies,soforlocalChinese,eveniftheyusep2ptechnologytodownloadChina,SouthKoreaandotherAsianvarietymovieswillnotbesued.
Vide
Foxy
eMule
BitTorrentProtocol
BitTorrentProtocolSpecification
I2P
DecentralizedNetwork