Peer to Peer: Collaboration and Sharing over the Internet

Chapter 2. Peer Architectures

With a clearer grasp of what the p2p concept means, we can now take on the task of classifying peer architectures. This analysis is fairly abstract and non-specific, at least to begin with, because any subsequent discussions of specific technologies and implementations must build on a common groundwork.

As a first step, we must define the fundamental terms and the basic p2p models. Including a summary of primary characteristics in this overview proves useful when comparing the functionality of different technologies, and also when we look in Part III at the future development of p2p applications.

We also need to discuss protocols, the “glue” that holds networks together. Later chapters dissect particular protocols ...