maybe mentioning you the P2P concept you stay the same It is common for anyone who makes use of this system at the user level but who does not have knowledge at the level of advanced computing and the operation of information transfer through the network.
And this is precisely what it is about. P2P or Peer to Peersince it is a network with a communication method in which all users play the same role, that is, horizontal.
Discover what it consists of and how you can take advantage of this type of network to download software and applications in a much faster and safer way. Let’s go there!
What is a Peer to Peer network and what is it for? Definition
Peer to Peer or P2P network is a method of client-client communication that allows us to enjoy information from the network coming from an equal, which acts, like us, as both a client and a server. This means that it does not provide us with a superior, but rather someone who has characteristics similar to ours.
The information transmission aspect works without existing clients or fixed serversit is ourselves, each other, who supply content to other users and at the same time receive it.
Other aspects can be defined in relations but this, which is what gives meaning to the network, is it horizontal or parallelgiven, as its name indicates when translated into Spanish, between peers, between nodes that work in the same way.
The first application of the type was launched in the year 1999selling itself as software in which users establish a virtual network independent of the physical one, so there is no administrative authority or other restriction.
Though In general, this concept is designated to content download programsthe truth is that, due to its characteristics, the exchange that can take place is not limited to this aspect but we have to the peer network It is also used by telephony systems in the network as well as the manipulation of huge virtual information.
How does a P2P peer network work?
The contents of our computer (music, documents, videos, software…) are available to be shared and for another user, just like us, to download and run them at will.
In the same way, when we search and find a contentthis does not belong to a company nor is it on a server, but the results that are reflected correspond to the content that other users have on their computers, proceeding to download them, if we wish, from them.
Any computer connected to the same network offers and at the same time receives information in all formats. The implementation of the networks is overlapping, being built based on nodes and on others. The flow of information is given thanks to the bandwidth of the connected users.
What are the characteristics of Peer to Peer networks? Advantages and disadvantages
To consider a peer network as adequate, it is interesting that it has the following characteristics.
Characteristic
- Scalability: Its reach is global and, therefore, the potential user can number in the hundreds of millions. The greater the demand, the greater the need for nodes or points, something that is solved automatically because with our presence as a user we provide a unit for it. The addition of a new user does not imply a delay in the functionality of the services, as it does in server-client communications.
- Sturdiness: The distribution of the networks makes it more robust, essential when there are failures due to data replication.
- Decentralization: They are decentralized by definition, an intrinsic feature of the concept. The nodes do not have special functions and therefore are not essential. Interestingly, some of the networks we know as P2P do not have this feature.
- Cost distribution: Resources are exchanged for resources, the costs being divided among all the users that are part of the network.
- Anonymity: Anonymity is desired not only by whoever has a file to share but also by whoever wants to download it, for the server where it is located and even for the request that has been made to access it. However, this concept clashes squarely with copyright, with digital rights management coming into play, an intermediate point for which everyone is satisfied but, unfortunately, does not usually work.
- Security: Desirable but difficult to achieve, really. What is most demanded is the identification of malicious nodes to avoid content with embedded malware, espionage and other aspects that put all users at risk. For this, some networks have sandboxes, multi-key encryption, file comments, reputation systems for users…
Advantage
- Reduced costs: The ability to function by sharing resources means that these networks can even be free. Another matter would be that a free service is legally compatible when it comes to sharing files. In any case, those that work by subscription are very cheap, much more than acquiring the contents separately.
- Great efficiency: The way to share the files is simple and fast.
Disadvantages
- Legality: On many occasions, content that is copyrighted is shared, which turns out to be, in effect, illegal. The law penalizes this practice in many countries, among which is Spain.
- Risk: Many of these programs that enable Peer to Peer file transfer are a gateway to malware, especially spyware. Thus, it is necessary that you have protection and, if possible, look for a service with preview, user comments and other methods of detection of inappropriate and risky content.
What types of P2P peer-to-peer networks are there?
The most common and interesting classification that we can make is related to the degree of network centralizationhaving that these may be centralized, mixed or pure.
centralized
- Its architecture is monolithicwith transactions carried out through a single server that serves to link all the nodes at the same time that it makes a distribution of the nodes that will store the contents.
- Its administration is very dynamicthe content being permanently available.
- Privacy of users is limited.
- There is a strong lack of scalability.
- There are problems of single points of failurerelated to legality and the costs of maintenance and consumption of band.
Mixed
- There is a central server that acts as hub centralizing resources and managing them while waiting for requests.
- There is an index system that offers an absolute address that will act as a routing terminal.
- In addition, it is allowed inclusion of more than one server.
- The identity of the nodes is not known nor is their information stored, not giving the share between server and clients.
- These are the ones they save the informationwhich will be recognized by the server.
- Even so, with the server down, the relationship between the nodes can be maintained and their communication and file transfer.
pure
- It does not have central management nor does it need it.
- They are the users, the nodes, all of them clients and servers, requesting information, receiving the requests and, in turn, storing the files.
- Lacks a core router.
Legal issues with copyright and copyright and the use of P2P services
if you have ever seen how the popular programs we have seen above work, you will have verified that there is an abundance of content that, by all accounts, should not be distributed due to having rights. In other words, a constant crime is incurred both by the party that distributes without permission and by the party that downloads it knowing its nature.
However, these are also given a legal use, which includes the exchange of public content or with various licenses that allow this transfer of information, free programs, self-created content…
A) Yes, the UN talks about the exchange of files, indicating that it is very serious that citizens are denied access to the network (whatever the motivation), a totalitarian measure but which is taking place in some countries precisely because of the infringement of the regulations regarding copyright.
Regarding the situation in our country, there is a certain cloud that makes downloading content It is considered legal or illegal depending on, said of course, who represents you and who judges you for it.
It turns out that there is the right to private copying of content if it is not done for profit, like it’s supposed to be done when downloading files on peer networks, assuming own and private consumption. This means that a request is not necessary for the author to authorize the copy of the content.
In Spain it is allowed to use these networksWell, as we have indicated, they facilitate access to free content to be distributed. It is up to each person to make responsible or illegal use of these, downloading and helping to distribute free or copyrighted content.
In 2008, the Spanish government indicated that the link to these networks is not a criminal activity.. Yes we have a reform of the Penal Code in 2015 that tells us about a new crime that is committed by someone seeking economic benefit, harming a third party, facilitating, without neutrality, access or easy location of content that has intellectual property if its owners do not authorize it.
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