Peer to Peer Systems

Peer-to-peer systems are bringing Windows-based computers onto the Internet as full participants. Peer-to-peer systems utilize the connectivity and capacity to share resources offered by the Internet without being bound by the constraints imposed by the Domain Name System. Peer to peer systems (P2P) are so named because each computer has the same software as the other – every computer is a peer. In contrast, an application on a server is far more powerful than the client which accesses the server. Peer computers are fundamentally equals. In the history of the network computation has cycled, from distributed on the desktop to concentrated in one centralized location. Peer to peer systems are at the decentralized end of the continuum. P2P systems utilize the processing power or data storage capacities at the end points of the Internet. The fundamental basis of P2P is cooperation. Therefore P2P systems require trust. Cooperation is required to share any resource, whether it be two children splitting chocolate cake or two million people sharing files. Discussions of P2P therefore require some discussion of trust and security.