Gnutella, eDonkey/Overnet, and FastTrack (a.k.a. KaZaa) are perhaps the best known of
the file-sharing networks to rise since Napster??™s fall. What makes them similar to Napster
is the user??™s side of the process. Here is what a user does to get a file:
1. A user goes online to locate and download a copy of a file (for example, an MP3
music file).
2. The client connects to the P2P network and searches for the requested file among
the shared directories of computers online at that moment.
3. The client then displays a list of matching files and a little bit of information about
the computer the file is on (mainly download speed).
4. The user selects one copy from the list, and the client downloads the file from the
selected computer.
The good thing about the system is that no matter what you??™re looking for, chances are
someone on your network has it. The downside of this model relative to BitTorrent is that
you??™re a prisoner of your partner??™s connection: No matter how fast your broadband or
LAN is, if the person you??™re sharing with has a flaky dial-up that is only online an hour a
day, that??™s the connection you get.
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