Check Out The Ways “Peer to Peer” File Sharing Works

Can you go back in time when you’d take forever to find the files you wanted to share, let alone download them? Well, that was the situation before technology made things easier for us & I don’t think I need to tell how easier it has become for us to exchange as well as download what we want.

With continuous technology improvements, files downloading as well as sharing have become a piece of cake, sometimes, without even a server. I mean, a server that you can use with the help of software & the whole thing is called Peer to Peer sharing or P2P sharing. Yeah, & that’s what we would be discussing here today as to what is Peer to peer sharing is & how does it work.

What is Peer to Peer Concept?

Not that complicated stuff apart from the fact that it literally breaks the traditional ways of sharing & downloading we know. Yeah!! Peer to Peer concept is all about connecting two or more computers getting connected with the help of P2P software.

P2P software isn’t like the servers we use while surfing on the internet when everything happens through a central server. With P2P, every single computer that’s been used in the process becomes a server. Though all the computers are connected to each other through the internet only, every device will have its own server to share files.

Peer to Peer Concept Existence

Napster is arguably one of the most popular platforms we have seen in the last decade & it was basically because of the file sharing system it came up with. In 1999, Napster had been launched on Peer to Peer model where all the members of the involved in it created a central database of all the music files they had.

Now the catch was simple as you’d be searching for the music files on the central server, however, to download the same, you will have to connect with another user. Once you both have connected through the same server, you can easily copy the files from the other PC without any hassle. & since every computer is working as a server, your downloaded file would be saved in Napster library so that it can be available for other users as well.

Additionally, Napster helped users add their own music files to the server so that after indexing, they would become available for the world to have access to.

Obviously Peer to Peer file sharing software had some limitations in the initial phase such as speed, downloading limits, & whatnot. However, eventually limits had been taken down with continuous improvements in the tech sector.

In 2001, Napster had been shut down for unknown reasons, but till then the concept had reached to the heights as many new networks started offering the same concept. Moreover, now apart from the music files, you could easily share files, images, movies, software, & whatnot.

How Does P2P (Peer to Peer) File Sharing Works?

One of the most popular platforms for sharing files, Peer to Peer software has made its way into everyone’s lives. & I believe the reason for that to happen is because of the easiness & simplicity it brings to the table. So now we will talk about how the Peer to Peer process works in below steps:

You start with downloading one of the best P2P file sharing software, Gnutella. Once the P2P app has been installed successfully following the downloading process, the user will be sending out a request to download the file they want. Now that you have sent out the request, the software will start looking for locating the file you requested for. Gnutella will start sending queries to those computers that have an active internet connection & are running the same Peer to Peer software. Now when the sharing software encounters the computer that has the file you wish to download, the downloading process will begin automatically. Same way, when other users who are looking for files that are on your computer, their system (Peer to Peer file sharing software) will narrow down your system. Resulting in, those users can get the files they need from your system’s hard drive easier than ever.

The whole process can go haywire sometimes when as soon as one of the users downloaded files he/she needed & disconnected without letting other users obtain what they wanted from your system. This whole situation results in limiting the computers while users would be looking for some specific file through P2P file sharing software.

Wrapping Up

Started in 1999, Peer to Peer file sharing has come a long way from Napster to your torrent platforms that you frequently use to download movies. Breaking the traditional way of using the central server, Peer to Peer software makes every single computer an individual server so that it can be a two way street. Some of us got introduced to P2P sharing by using torrent platforms because Napster had limitations to music files as well as got shut down in 2001. BitTorrent, Gnutella, Morpheus, & Kazaa are a few examples that came to existence because of the Peer to peer sharing concept.

So explore this amazing & indestructible Peer to Peer sharing software to keep exchanging movies, software, files, & whatnot.

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