Thoughts on Peer-to-Peer(Technology Computer English)

Many of thes e PCs are home connections, usually dialup. They do not,
in general, have stable IP addresses, and are not ready to respond to incoming
Internet requests 7x24. The "Peers" are the normal PCs used by regular people
to do email, browse the web, word processing and personal applications.
Users are not just computer enthusiasts. They care more about various
forms of content than IP addres ses and protocols.
A sophisticated, professionally created and maintained server system is used to
organize requests and do content management functions such as searching.
Files are shared, with the original content being provided by the users
themselves, either by personal creation or copying from els ewhere.
Where this works:
Simple implementations that usually work for regular people. Complex
ins tructions will cut usage. For example, setting up Naps ter is easy, while
Gnutella (which doesn't use a centralized organizer) may need lots of understanding
of IP address es, routing, and firewalls. The implementations that
must be simple include how files are uploaded off of the sharing computer.
The fact that the shared copy goes to another random PC rather than a centralized
server has little bearing on how easy it is. The fact that Napster has a
special client-based program for uploading, like many photo web sites, is
what makes it easy, not that it's P2P. Separate FTP programs or using browser
primitives for uploading is not usually s imple.
The same data on many different PCs. If only one PC has the data,
access to it could be unreliable.The files are static, the information being
downloaded is never changed. The files shared with Napster are likely the
works of dead musicians.
Data such that you don't mind trusting the person sharing it. If a music
file for personal use was converted from CD to MP3 poorly, many people
don't care. If the file being downloaded was destined for broadcast or other
commercial purposes having an appropriate trust relationship with the source
may be important and that complicates things and may not be practical.
Lots of colle ge s tude nts with desktop s connec ted to l ocal
ethernets .
Peers 是人们收发email 浏览网页执行字处
理和个人应用程序的普通PC机这些PC机绝大多数
是家用并通过拨号上网的一般来说这些PC机没有
固定的IP 地址也不打算引入Internet 要求的7x24
用户们也不只是狂热的计算机爱好者他们关注
的更多是各种形式的内容而非IP 地址和协议
复杂专业创建和可维护的服务器系统常常被用
来组织请求和完成内容管理功能例如搜索
文件是共享的由用户们自己提供原始内容也
可以个人创建或从别处复制
在何处运行
简单的操作通常用于固定的人群复杂的命令会
阻止它的用途例如设置Napster 非常简单而
Gnutella 不设置中心管理器则可能需要对IP地址
路由和防火墙有很好的理解比较简单的操作包括怎
样上传共享的计算机上的文件共享的副本更多运行
的地方是另一台随机的PC而不是中央服务器这个事
实和它本身的简单程度关系不大Napster有一个专门
的基于客户端的程序可以用于上传就像许多图片网
站一样正是这一点使它变得简单而并不仅仅因为
它是P2P 独立的FTP程序或者使用浏览器单元进行
上传通常并不简便
许多不同PC 机都具有相同的数据如果只有一台
PC里有数据那要访问这些数据可能并不可靠文件是
静止的被下载的信息也决不会有什么变化用Napster
共享的文件像是去世的音乐家的作品
像这样的数据你是不会在意并相信人们正在共
享它对于个人使用的音乐文件如果从CD 转化成
MP3的效果很差许多人并不在意如果被下载的文
件打算用来传播或有其它商用目的那源文件的可信
度就会很重要事情也会变得复杂同时也不易应用
许多拥有桌面电脑的大学生连接到了当在本地以
太网

Where it probably doesn't work as well:
Unique content on each PC where reliability or constant availability is
important. When I want your pictures I don't want to have to call you up and have
you boot up your PC. (Like when you have one phone line and an old fax: call
first, then tell me to connect the fax -- if I'm home -- and then call back...). Many
of us live with laptops which are only connected during the day and infrequently
(hopefully) at night.
Content that cons tantly changes . This makes the copies people recently
downloaded obsolete, and effectively gets back to only one copy on one specific
PC, except you may not know it.
Content that requires a trus t relationship with the source. Becaus e
of the "s earch everywhere" nature and s imple s ignup of Naps ter-s tyle
P2P, caveat emptor.
Reliable connection speed. The data you want may be on a low-speed link.
Your T1 doesn't help much.
Some of these problems can be solved by clever servers and complex
protocols , but is it worth it? A lot of applications moved to centralized
s ervers because the ease of implementation led to fewer bugs and fas ter
deployment and more frequent upgrading. The cost of communications is
going to near zero in comparison to other costs like development and timeto-
market. Look at Lotus Notes in the "old" days and all the effort that went
into synchronizing dispersed computers when high-speed intercomputer
communication was a luxury. Today, a s imple web server anywhere on the
Internet is an easier way for implementing many of the s imple uses of those
systems at a fraction of the cos t and complexity.
Some systems, such as Freenet, use specially crafted Peer-to-Peer architectures
for the explicit purpose of implementing something without centralized
components, even though that is a much more complex implementation for its
simple file sharing. Freenet implements an alternative way of sharing that can be
used to move information in a way that inhibits censorship. Peer-to-Peer turned
out to be directly related to it's whole reason to be. Static-file sharing doesn't
inherently need P2P.
So, just like any other technology, the choice of system topology needs to
be thought through very carefully in light of specific application needs and requirements.
Like the hyped technologies of the recent past, Java and "Push", P2P
is not the answer to everything, just some things.
何处可能不能运行
在每台可靠性或者连续工作性很重要的PC机
上的独一无二的内容比如我想要你的照片但我
不想给你电话并让你启动计算机就像当你有一条
电话线和一部老式传真机时一样先打电话然后
告诉我连接传真机如果我在家接着回电话
... 可现在我们很多人都使用笔记本电脑且只
在白天连网晚上则很少有希望上网
不断变化的内容这使人们最近下载的文件
也变得过时除非你知道否则你只会从某一特定
PC 上拷回一个副本
需要可以信赖的信息来源的内容由于到处
搜索的本性和简单的Napster 模式的P2P 货物
出门概不退换
可靠的连接速度你想得到的数据也许在一
条低速链路中即使你的T1 也帮不上大忙
部分这样的问题可以由智能服务器和复杂的
协议来解决但这值得吗许多应用被转移到中央
服务器因为轻松的执行可以带来更少的BUG 更
快的配置以及更频繁的升级与其开发和市场拓展
等方面的其它费用相比通信的成本将趋近于零
当高速的计算机间的通信还是一种奢侈的时候看
看旧时代的Lotus Notes 以及那些研究同步分
散电脑的所有成就今天在少量费用和复杂度的
前提下互联网上任何一个简单的网络服务器都是
执行这些系统许多简单用法的一种更简单方式
还有一些类似Freenet的系统利用特殊技术
的P2P体系来实现直接支付的目的不用借助于其
它的中心组件即使它是用于简单文件共享的较复
杂的实现方法Freenet 实现了一种可选择的共享
方式可以用来移动信息且在某种程度上制约审
查机构P2P 去除了与其整体原由直接相关的因
素静态文件的共享本身就不需要P2P
所以就像其它技术一样体系布局的选择需
要针对特定应用的需求进行非常仔细的思考正如
最近大肆宣传过的Java 和Push 一样P2P并
不是万能的它只是适合于某些事物而已