1) Peer-to-peer is a communications model in which each party
has the same capabilities and either party can initiate a
communication session. Other models with which it might be
contrasted include the client/server model and the master/slave
model. In some cases, peer-to-peer communications is implemented
by giving each communication node both server and client
capabilities. In recent usage, peer-to-peer has come to describe
applications in which users can use the Internet to exchange
files with each other directly or through a mediating server.
IBM's Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networking (APPN) is an example of a
product that supports the peer-to-peer communication model. 2)
On the Internet, peer-to-peer (referred to as P2P) is a type of
transient Internet network that allows a group of computer users
with the same networking program to connect with each other and
directly access files from one another's hard drives. Napster
and Gnutella are examples of this kind of peer-to-peer software.
Major producers of cont