Comparing Peer to Peer File Sharing Technologies David

Comparing Peer to Peer File Sharing Technologies David Strom, [email protected] O’Reilly P2P DC Conference Sept 2001 (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 1

Summary Brief history of P2P file sharing The Post-Napster world Technology examples Business models Motivations for using P2P file sharing Corporate strategies (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 2

Brief history of file sharing Non-music related Music-related (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 3

Non-music related Set up a file server on Netware, Unix, NT Set up FTP server on the Internet Upload files to various newsgroups Send email around with attachments (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 4

Music-related FS First came used record stores Copy a CD to tapes Then came MP3s (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 5

Remember MP3 downloads? Locate an ftp server with music on it Try to connect to the server (often busy) Upload a few songs first Then hopefully find the right song and download it And much more work to host your own music ftp server! (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 6

Music-related FS (con’t) MP3s were quickly followed by busy ftp servers and ratios Then Napster Quickly followed by lots o’ lawyers Other transports and networks, like AOL IM (Aimster) Non-centralized directories (Gnutella) (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 7

Problems with music FS solved by Napster ftp sites often busy Had to learn the ins and outs of ftp client software Uploading requirement was onerous Search tools crude, could often only find ftp sites, not songs Setting up servers painful too. (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 8

Post-Napster world Gnutella clients (LimeWire, BearShare) FastTrack clients (MusicCity, KaZaa) Groove Others that don’t have anything to do with music and pre-teens RIAA non-starters like SDMA (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 9

Silly question If the music companies could figure out a technology that could allow reasonable persong payments (like 25 cents), would all this industry ever happened? (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 10

But the real killer P2P FS app: PORN! Porndigger is one example KaZaa et al. allow image/video searches! (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 11

Comparing KaZaa and LimeWire L: Multiple concurrent searches K: Better and faster results L: more users, K: more files K: better traffic/path analysis L: Java sluggishness in UI Neither will replace Napster! (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 12

Common elements of all P2P FS technologies Easy to search and share files Uses http and ftp protocols Each user's PC acts as client and server A community of users with common goals and interests -- maybe Build upon P2P services to increase the overall value of the system (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 13

The metrics for P2P FS Searchable directory Monitor/control incoming/outgoing traffic Access controls and scope of file sharing on each PC’s disk Speed of locating other peers and keeping connection up (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 14

How distributed does your network have to be? Napster: central server to authenticate and track users Gnutella: everything is distributed Aimster: uses AOL IM directory to authenticate/track users (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 15

But the real reason these services are proliferating: I want your (music, porn, whatever) files! Sharing my files with you isn’t a real motivation – yet. (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 16

Shirky’s list of lessons learned from Napster Centralize what you need to make your business model work A poor user interface isn’t an issue, especially if people can still get things done It routes around network admins/firewalls It allows people to create their own namespaces without specialized knowledge (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 17

Review these concepts for new P2P FS technologies Centralize nothing so lawyers can’t get you UI will become more important as competition increases Routing around Internet blockades is important The shared collection is critical if the community is going to thrive (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 18

Let’s look at non-P2P FS Mydocsonline or similar “Internet hard disk” PGP secure email, maybe Quickbase.com Maybe even a web-based Office suite like TeamOn, FreeDesk or Blox (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 19

Problems Motley collection difficult to manage Not everyone is willing to work with multiple tools Authentication is difficult – multiple logins Still need to download lots of software, despite “100 % browser” emphasis Tiresome email exchanges of documents Security by obscurity (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 20

One contender: Groove Networks Authentication is always on and setup is easy Different workspaces for different collections of people No browser, email file swapping needed Supports a wide variety of tools and information sharing models Great for sharing files between home/work PC (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 21

Other aspects of Groove Two-way sharing model vs. sons-ofNapster steal-this-file approach Not clogged with people looking to download music or porn files, yet May be overkill for simple home/work file sharing, though (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 22

What business models make sense? Advertising User charges Corporate site licenses Core technology licenses ISP/ASP volume purchases (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 23

Motivations: the network edge Right now network edge devices are underused or dumb when it comes to working with the network fabric itself Edge is more reliable than core servers from application perspective (sometimes) P2P FS adds intelligence, increased utilization at the edge Makes it easier for people to get more work done, just like c. 1981 PCs (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 24

P2P FS creates new kinds of “edge-to-edge” networks Only need a portion of the Internet infrastructure to be working Really targeted at small collections of people that need intense collaboration My desktop needs to talk to your desktop Need to get around firewalls, VPNs, and other corporate protection (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 25

Controlling your own network destiny Ask your IT department for the capability to bring up a new file server in the next hour without prior budget approval Now imagine being laughed out of the room (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 26

Advantages of P2P FS No need for setting up IP addresses, DNS configuration, firewall rules, web server hosting co-location agreements, IT policy pronouncements, lengthy approvals up the IT command structure, IT R&D review, IT rollouts, Do you detect a pattern here? (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 27

Drawbacks to P2P FS Security loopholes Loss of control over desktop activities Some companies don’t like to share and play with others (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 28

Corporate strategies Download and try Groove or uRoam Compare with downloading music or PC/Anywhere for functionality Examine your own programs for file transfer components that could benefit from peering Examine whether you can benefit from shared processing models Setup a trial Groove workgroup and project team (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 29

Places for more information Copies of this presentation strom.com/pubwork/P2P9-01.ppt My review of Groove: strom.com/pubwork/varbiz.html List of P2P FS technologies: 4arrow.com/users/my/html/sections.php? op viewarticle&artid 204 (c) David Strom Inc. 2001 30