What are the main characteristics of peer to peer systems?

Question :

Subject

Network Security & Cryptography

Standard

Computer Science Engineering

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5286

Asked By

Aanya

Knowledge
Answer / Solution

In a peer-to-peer network, all computer has the same access. All computers have the same responsibilities and abilities. All computers connect with each other because there is no server computer. All computers are connecting in a group to share files and other resources as well. A peer-to-peer system is a computer network which enables peers to share the network resources, computational power and data storage, without relying on a central authority.

A peer-to-peer (P2P) network is created when two or more PCs are connected and share resources without going through a separate server computer.

Characteristics of Peer to Peer Computing

Peer to peer networks are usually formed by groups of a dozen or less computers. These computers all store their data using individual security but also share data with all the other nodes. The nodes in peer to peer networks both use resources and provide resources. In peer-to-peer networks all nodes are act as server as well as client therefore no need of dedicated server. -The peer to peer network is less expensive.

Advantages of Peer to Peer Computing

Some advantages of peer to peer computing are as follows −

Each computer in the peer to peer network manages itself. So, the network is quite easy to set up and maintain.
In the client server network, the server handles all the requests of the clients. This provision is not required in peer to peer computing and the cost of the server is saved.
It is easy to scale the peer to peer network and add more nodes. This only increases the data sharing capacity of the system.
None of the nodes in the peer to peer network are dependent on the others for their functioning.

Disadvantages of Peer to Peer Computing

Some disadvantages of peer to peer computing are as follows −

It is difficult to backup the data as it is stored in different computer systems and there is no central server.
It is difficult to provide overall security in the peer to peer network as each system is independent and contains its own data.

Qayanat
Answer / Solution

Peer-to-peer networking is an approach to computer networking in which all computers share equivalent responsibility for processing data. Peer-to-peer networking (also known as peer networking) differs from client-server networking, where specific devices have responsibility for providing or serving data, and other devices consume or otherwise act as clients of those servers.

Characteristics of a Peer Network

Peer-to-peer networking is common on small local area networks (LANs), particularly home networks. Both wired and wireless home networks can be configured as peer-to-peer environments.

Computers in a peer-to-peer network run the same networking protocols and software. Peer network devices are often situated physically near one another, typically in homes, small businesses, and schools. Some peer networks, however, use the internet and are geographically dispersed worldwide.

Home networks that use broadband routers are hybrid peer-to-peer and client-server environments. The router provides centralized internet connection sharing, but file, printer, and other resource sharing are managed directly between the local computers involved.

Peer-to-Peer and P2P Networks

Internet-based peer-to-peer networks became popular in the 1990s due to the development of P2P file-sharing networks such as Napster. Technically, many P2P networks are not pure peer networks but rather hybrid designs as they use central servers for some functions such as search.

Peer-to-Peer and Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi Networks

Wi-Fi (wireless) networks support ad-hoc connections between devices. Ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks are pure peer-to-peer compared to those that use wireless routers as an intermediate device. Devices that form ad-hoc networks require no infrastructure to communicate.

Benefits of a Peer-to-Peer Network

P2P networks are robust. If one attached device goes down, the network continues. In client-server networks, when the server goes down, it takes the entire network with it.

Computers in peer-to-peer workgroups can be configured to allow sharing of files, printers, and other resources across all devices. Peer networks allow data to be shared in both directions, whether for downloads to a computer or uploads from a computer.

On the internet, peer-to-peer networks handle a high volume of file-sharing traffic by distributing the load across many computers. Because they do not rely exclusively on central servers, P2P networks scale better and are more resilient than client-server networks in case of failures or traffic bottlenecks.

Peer-to-peer networks are relatively easy to expand. As the number of devices in the network increases, the power of the P2P network increases, as each additional computer is available for processing data.