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A P2P network allows computers to share files without a central server. It has advantages such as continued downloading if one source goes down and faster speeds with more participants, but also requires large bandwidth and poses risks of downloading malicious files.
A peer to peer, or P2P, network allows multiple networks to communicate without accessing a central network. The term is typically applied to computers that share files with each other. For example, a person downloading a song over a peer to peer network will download portions of the song from several computers at the same time, while others downloading the song will download chunks from the person’s computer at the same time.
There are several advantages to using a peer to peer network. If everyone downloading is downloading from a single source, the source can crash and all downloads will stop. With a peer-to-peer network, however, if one goes down, the download will continue from another computer that has the file. It also allows multiple people to download and upload the same file at the same time. In a traditional configuration with a single central server, the server loads and the computers unload; the process cannot run in the other direction as it can in a peer to peer network.
Another benefit of P2P networking is that all participants provide the necessary resources, such as bandwidth. Since everyone participates, the more people show up, the more resources there are. Instead of slowing down the transfer or process as more people connect, the speed will stay the same and can even speed up. A central server cannot do this. If one person is downloading a song from another person, when more people with the song join, the download will be faster because they have more resources to draw from.
However, there are drawbacks to a P2P network. While it allows for faster downloading and sharing, it also requires a large amount of bandwidth to support cross-network file sharing. As technology continues to advance, P2P sharing will be possible without needing to use such a large amount of bandwidth. The second disadvantage is the ability to download or receive malicious files over the network. Because the person downloading connects to multiple sources, one of the sources may have a small piece of code transferred to different download computers that is intended to harm the computer or the downloaded file.
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