Historia
TheP2ParchitectureembodiesakeyconceptofInternettechnology,whichwasdescribedinthefirstRFCdocument,HostSoftwareonApril7,1969.Underthegeneraltrendofexchangingmultimediafileswithoutacentralindexserverstructure,thisconcepthasbeenwidelypopularized.
Luokittelu
Keskittämisasteen mukaan
- PureP2P 
- Solmut toimivat sekä asiakkaana että palvelimena samaan aikaan. 
- Ei ole keskuspalvelinta. 
- Ei ole keskusreititintä. 
- Kuten Gnutella. 
- Muut P2P 
- Thereisacentralserverthatstoresnodeinformationandrespondstorequestsforthisinformation. 
- Nodesareresponsibleforpublishingthisinformation(becausethecentralserverdoesnotsavefiles),letthecentralserverknowwhatfilestheywanttoshare,andletthenodesthatneeditdownloaditssharableresources. 
- Theroutingterminalusestheaddresstoobtaintheabsoluteaddressbybeingreferencedbyasetofindexes. 
- Kuten alkuperäinen Napster. 
- HybridiP2P 
- ContainsthecharacteristicsofbothpureP2PandhybridP2P. 
- Kuten Skype. 
Verkkotopologian mukaan
- RakenneP2P 
- Point-to-pointhaslinkinformationtoeachother,formingaspecificruletopologywitheachother. 
- Whenaresourceneedstoberequested,followthetopologyRulesearch,ifitexists,youmustfindit. 
- KutenChord, YaCy, Kademlia. 
- NoneRakenneP2P 
- Point-to-pointhaslinkinformationtoeachother,forminganirregularnetworktopologywitheachother. 
- Whenaresourcenodeneedstoberequested,itissearchedbybroadcast,usuallyTTLisset,evenifitexists,itmaynotbefound. 
- Esimerkiksi Gnutella. 
- Löysärakenteinen P2P 
- Point-to-pointhaslinkinformationtoeachother,forminganirregularnetworktopologywitheachother. 
- Whenaresourceneedstoberequested,itisestimatedandsearchedbasedonexistinginformation,whichisbetweenstructuredP2PandunstructuredP2P. 
- Kuten Freenet. 
P2P-verkon edut
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.
Sovellukset
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.
Edut
- Paremmat rinnakkaiset prosessointiominaisuudet. 
- Usingmemorytomanageexchangedata,greatlyimprovingperformance. 
- Noneedtoinvestalotofmoneyintheserver'ssoftwareandhardwareequipment. 
- Sopii pienikokoisiin verkkoihin, helppo huoltaa. 
Haitat
- Thesetupismorecomplicated.Inadditiontoadevelopmentserver,italsoneedsadedicatedclient. 
- Käytetään suuria verkkoja, resurssien jakaminen on sekaisin, hallinta on vaikeaa ja turvallisuus on alhainen. 
Kiistat
Oikeudelliset näkökohdat
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.
Tärkeä tapaus:
- Yhdysvaltain laki 
- SonyCorp.vsUniversalCityStudios (Betamaxverdict) 
- MGMvsGrokster 
Turvallisuusnäkökohdat
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.
Tietojenkäsittelytekniikan tulevaisuus
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.
Rajoitukset
Kiinan kansantasavalta
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.
Japani
InJapani,accordingtoJapani'scurrentcopyrightlaw,allwebsitesinJapanithatprovidefreecommercialsoftware/orotherdatadownloadsareillegal.Seriousviolationscanbesentencedtofixed-termimprisonmentandafine.BothBitTorrentseriessoftwareandeMulearebanned.ButbecauseoftheexistenceofShareandWinnysoftware,P2PtechnologyisstillpopularinJapani.BothsoftwareusesIPencryptionanddataencryptiontechnology.MillionsofpeopleinJapaniusethesetwosoftwaretoexchangeanimation,games,music,softwareandotherdata,butitisclearthatthepolicehavetakencontrolofthemethodoftracingusers.OnMay9,2008,threeworkerswhopostedalargenumberofcopyrightedworksonsharewerearrested.Thepopularityofthesetwosoftwarehasalsobroughtsomenegativeproblems,suchastheleakageofconfidentialinformationandthespreadofcomputerviruses.
Uusi Seelanti
InUusi Seelanti,accordingtoUusi Seelanti'sSeptember2011copyrightlaw,downloadingcopyrightedcontentinUusi Seelantiisillegal,anditismainlyaimedatdownloadingP2Ptechnology.Ifthedownloadedcontentreceivesacomplaintfromthecopyrightparty,theISPwillevaluateitbasedonthetimetheuserisdownloading.Ifthereiscopyrightinfringement,theuserwillbewarned.Threewarningswillresultinafineof15,000Uusi Seelantidollars,whichisapproximately75,000RMB.However,itshouldbenotedthatonlineviewingandfilehostingwebsitesarenotwithinthescopeofthisfine.Inotherwords,usersmaybefinediftheydownloadacopyright-protectedworkthroughthetorrentsofTorrentsoftware,buttheywillnotbepunishediftheyuseofflinefiledownloadmethods.Moreover,thecopyrightholdersreceivingcopyrightprotectioninUusi SeelantiusuallyonlyincludesomeEuropeanandAmericancompanies,soforlocalChinese,eveniftheyusep2ptechnologytodownloadChina,SouthKoreaandotherAsianvarietymovieswillnotbesued.
Katso
- Foxy 
- eMule 
- BitTorrent-protokolla 
- BitTorrent-protokollaSpecification 
- I2P 
- Hajautettu verkko 
