Peer to Peer Networking
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Peer-to-Peer Networking
Peer-to-peer networking in its simplest form is merely the interconnecting of two computers so they might share data and resources, or exchange messages. When connected as "peers" either system can initiate this sharing, either to distribute data or acquire it. The most popular application for peer-to-peer networking is file sharing, which has its own set of associated problems. In fact, the file-sharing program, Kazaa, is the "the most downloaded software, having overtaken the previous record-holder, ICQ, by reaching 230,309,616 worldwide downloads." However, there are other common applications that also use this technology. We're going to talk about what peer-to-peer was, what it is now and how it works.
Automobile dealerships inventory tens of thousands of parts, but not every dealership will actually have every part in inventory. Over time, some parts get used, and some parts just get older. The odds are, if you want a left rear lens cover for an eight year old car, the dealership you visit won't have the part you want, and at the same time, some other dealership, maybe even just across the river, is dying to get rid of their left rear lens covers, because they have five. If all of the dealerships used one central server for their inventory, they could see that the Vancouver dealership has the part...